The Matrix Revolutions

• Renner’s Rating
• Reel Critic Grade: C - Running Time: 130 minutes Rated: R

Like other Matrix fans, I was thrilled I didn’t have to wait four more years for the final episode in the Matrix trilogy. The six months since the release of the second film, The Matrix Reloaded, past as quickly as fall in Central Oregon. Finally, all the questions raised by the first two installments would be answered and the core cast of characters, Neo (Keanu Reeves), Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), would win the day and take back their world from the machines.

Right? Wrong! Not only does The Matrix Revolutions fail to deliver a satisfying ending, it is almost completely devoid of any new and exciting elements which made the first two films cutting-edge achievements. It’s like the Wachowski brothers ran out of creative gas.

The film picks up at the end of Reloaded with Neo’s real-life body on a metal medical table and his mind stuck in-between the real world and the Matrix. He finds himself in a deserted train station having a conversation with a nice Indian family (Yeah, I was scratching my head too). It’s a painfully slow beginning with none of the out-of-the-gate action that kicked-off the first two films. Instead, the opening is saddled with cliché dialogue, proselytizing, and confusing story elements which do little to clarify past questions or set up for future pay-offs.

It isn’t until well into the film that we witness the heralded action sequences we enjoy and expect. Even then, we only get regurgitated scenes from earlier films with miniscule levels of new creativity. Come on, you guys are the Wachowski brothers! You’re creative geniuses! Be creative!

Once the film settles in, it follows two main story lines. The first is the humans of Zion engaged in an all out battle against the sentinel machines who would exterminate them. The humans ride giant metal robots whose arms and legs act like extensions of the pilot’s own. These machine warriors are cool, but it’s obvious from the start they are out-matched and out-numbered the lightning-fast sentinels who enter Zion by the thousands. The second story line has Trinity and Neo racing against time, to the center of the machine world, in order to bargain with the Wizard-of-Oz-like ruler. The hope is that Neo can somehow stop the advance of the machines before the human race is decimated. Neo’s only bargaining chip is his belief that he can defeat the program Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) who is running amok in the machine-controlled world of the Matrix.

Now, maybe I’m a simpleton when it comes to Matrix back-story, but to my understanding the machines pretty much control everything (except a few rebel humans). If the Agent Smith program is a problem, why not shut down the system and reboot? Or, create a virus that would gobble him up? Why make a deal with Neo and end a war the machines know they can win? It all seems silly given the lopsided balance of power.

Revolutions spends most of it’s time outside the Matrix, which like Reloaded, is a drawback. Inside the Matrix is where the fun stuff happens. One sequence inside the Matrix is the final show-down between Agent Smith and Neo. It’s a fight scene billed as the most complex ever and technically it may be, but the result is cartoonish and far from thrilling. There’s not much tension or suspense watching two guys pummel each other when they and the audience know neither one can be defeated.

The biggest uh-oh in Revolutions is that it violates the rule of trilogy. In a well-done three-film series, the final installment must pull together all the loose pieces of the first two films to complete the jigsaw puzzle. It doesn’t matter whether the main characters win or lose, that’s the choice of the story teller.

But, it is crucial the story be concluded in a clear and concise way, so the faithful followers have a picture of the entire saga - beginning, middle, and end. Revolutions loses sight of this. It feels more like a middle episode rather than the final film. That being said, Revolutions does have some entertainment value. Its special effects continue to impress, its core story remains compelling, Carrie-Ann Moss still wears tight patent-leather outfits, and most important - theater popcorn.