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Matrix Revolutions SPOILER WARNING: I tried to keep it as spoiler-free as possible but sometimes you just can’t. Nothing major is divulged but if you insist on not knowing anything…blah, blah, blah… In trying to come up with a simple way to describe The Matrix: Revolutions a few phrases such as “eye-popping” and “mind-blowing” immediately come to mind. But in the end, there is only one that I feel adequately fits the bill: “jaw-dropping”. I say this because me and my fellow movie patrons had our chins firmly planted on the floor for the entire two hours and nine minutes (and in my case, for the entire 30 minute ride home as well) of the Wachowski’s explosive final chapter. There is no doubt in my mind that Revolutions delivers on its hype. My theatrical experience with the previous chapter in the Matrix trio, Reloaded, left me disappointed and worried about the possible quality of the third installment. Sure, it had a handful of top-shelf hand to hand combat scenes and what is most likely the best car chase sequence ever filmed, but the first half an hour was horribly paced and, to be gentle, boring. However, the recent DVD release, and my subsequent ability to skip right to the part when they leave Zion, has converted me into a fan of the film. The action, as stated above, is second to none and I have actually learned to love the dialogue scene involving the Architect because every time I watch it I understand something that I did not pick up the first 10 times. All in all, Reloaded did what a second act of any play or trilogy should do, and that is to get most of the remaining character exposition out of the way, put our protagonists in the worst possible position they could ever be in and set us up for a thrill ride of an ending. Revolutions starts up exactly where we last left off, with Neo in a “coma”, Agent Smith multiplying like a rabbit and a heard of machines headed toward Zion to scrub it clean of every last human that inhabits it. The first half hour of the film, as with its predecessor, is admittedly a little on the boring side with some fancy dialogue about some of the brother’s favorite thematic issues (love, karma, etc.). But after the obligatory visit with the oracle, who has changed her appearance for some reason or another, Morpheus, Trinity and Seraph head off to rescue Neo who is apparently jacked in without being jacked in (if that makes sense) and being held in a kind of Matrix purgatory controlled by the always-fun-to-watch Merovingian. This scene turns into a wicked anti-gravity version of the lobby sequence from the first film with some major gunplay and some very neat camera work. After the heart-warming reunion and another obligatory trip to la casa de Oracle, Neo is told that the end of the war will depend on the out come of a final showdown between him and Smith (who has now spread himself throughout almost the entire system), but more on that later. Ten minutes of relatively unimportant dialogue later and the turbo on the movie reel spools up as the film gains some major speed. Neo and Trinity hop on a ship and decide to head for the machine city while the rest of the crew high tail it back to Zion to participate in the most epic and glorious sci-fi battle seen to date. The 20-minute action set piece of the movie is everything I had hoped for and more, including giant, man-piloted mechs with huge guns squaring off against a gruesome number of sentinels. The beauty of watching thousands of mechanical squids come pouring through a hole while a wall of lead offers contention is simply something you have to see to appreciate; it literally rains machines at some points. The other major action sequence in Revolutions is the Neo/Smith brawl, this time a one on one affair, in which we are treated to some of the coolest usage of rain ever seen on a movie screen. Do not expect the carefully choreographed kung-fu ballet that we are all used to seeing in a Matrix film because this fight is more of a no-holds-barred deal with the participants delivering some punches and kicks with enough power to stop a freight train. In fact, it seems as if the whole film relies less on the talents of fight coordinator Mater Wo-Ping and more on explosions and gun-play. One of my main beefs with Reloaded were the sometimes sloppy and obvious visual effects that plagued a few of the action pieces, namely the burly brawl. Well apparently the better of the special effects guys were sent to the Revolutions department because there was only one shot in this film that I thought looked blatantly computer generated. The shear amount of things happening on the screen during every shot of the Zion battle will require multiple viewings to fully take in. It looks like the guys working on the battle of Gondor for the upcoming Return of the King film have their work cut out for them, and a mighty piece of work it is. Other notable effects include the amazing shots of the machine city and the artful use of the rain in the Neo/Smith encounter. In the end, The Matrix: Revolutions was everything we were all hoping for: a balls-out, break neck ending to what has been a cultural phenomenon that will not soon be forgotten. While I was not totally satisfied with the ending of the film, it did leave enough questions unanswered for the directors to re-visit their franchise in 20 or 30 years and butcher the integrity of a thing we all love with bad acting and Jar-Jar Binks. I guarantee it will leave you glued to your theater seat for at least half of the credit reel while you roll questions around in your head. It is indeed a fond farewell to the characters we have come to identify with and love on their journey for freedom. I know I’ll go back to my local cinema and see it again; I want to, I have to. My hat goes off to everyone involved in this project. Steve Korfhage
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