A few initial observations:
It was quite a pleasant surprise to run into casualot21 at the box office, watching him pick up tickets for his buddies—apparently, they’re all heading out to see "Captain Mifune and the Charge of the Zion Cavalry." After a quick round of greetings and some mutual excitement about how much fun we'll have tearing the movie apart once we get back to the Forum,
My thanks, truly. It’s a shame my connection cut out, otherwise I might have actually introduced you—unless, of course, you were already acquainted. Both gentlemen I introduced to the medium are immensely grateful for the anime recommendations. Jimmy, in particular, has quite a few requests lined up—which I fully intend to join—and he even offers a perfectly fair trade-off if there happens to be something specific you're looking for. I essentially opened his eyes to Cowboy Bebop. He was just praising me today for that opening sequence where the harmonica starts playing against the backdrop of Mars...
After enduring several trailers for absolute garbage—with the exception of that one for Troy—I finally sat through the one movie I actually prayed I wouldn't waste my money on. $6.75.
Troy! Troy! Troy! What absolute madness. I need to see this right now. Triremes, Greek heroes... pure escapism and epic scale. WUHU!
So, which screening did you actually attend? If you happened to wander into our showing, you likely heard a sudden burst of laughter right when Ban Bonk! slammed Trinity’s face into that steel wall. One of the people in my group couldn't even help themselves; they just started laughing uncontrollably at that exact moment.
Whatever. It’s nothing special. Just wait and see if GNN actually decides to bother writing anything.
Well, I suppose I’ll have to disappoint you, Melissa Moore32. I actually took the time to read through this entire thread, even if I did so somewhat cursorily. It seems that, unlike with the previous installment, there is a more or less uniform consensus here that the Wachowskis have essentially betrayed us all. Even those who were rooting for The Matrix Reloaded seem much more hesitant in their commentary now. Meanwhile, those who trashed the second film are finally putting in the effort to dissect all the significant nonsense presented in this one.
Look, I’m certainly not part of The Wachowskis, and unlike them, I believe I possess a certain sense of timing regarding when to stop before I become genuinely exhausting. It seems everyone else has overlooked all the essential details, and besides, I have no desire to kick an opponent while they're already down.
And what could I possibly have to say about The Matrix Revolutions?
I feel somewhat embarrassed that the dialogue was written with such adolescent energy—it all felt rather silly and entirely too predictable.
It’s a bit disappointing that the battle scene lacked any semblance of actual strategy. It felt less like a tactical engagement and more like watching a poorly played game of Starcraft, where the Terran players just spray bullets in random directions while the Zerg swarm them relentlessly with zero coordination.
It feels quite tragic that Morpheus is condemned to a fate far more agonizing than death: being relegated to a mere supporting character in a franchise where he started out as an absolute icon. I was being facetious when I asked if he would die in the third installment, but this is much, much worse. Actually, speaking of dying...
It honestly bothers me how Trinity dies in such a ridiculous fashion. While the main female lead of The Matrix is dying, I find myself rolling my eyes and checking my watch half the time; once we see her injuries, I can't help but smirk, because the only thing more nonsensical than those wounds would have been a cartoonish, perfectly round hole in her torso like something straight out of a Warner Bros. animation. Perhaps Morpheus’s fate at the end was actually the saving grace.
I feel somewhat regretful that The Merovingian wasn't actually cool; to me, he just came across as a ridiculous comic sidekick.
It’s a shame Monica Bellucci didn't have a significantly larger role in the film.
Even more regrettable is the fact that the actresses playing Niobe and Zee were—each individually!—more attractive than Monica Bellucci.
I find it quite bothersome that Agent Smith laughs with that "MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!11" kind of laugh.
The ending leaves me feeling dissatisfied. Specifically, if the Machines end up being noble and good, how does that account for all the people the Agents and the Zionist resistance slaughtered during the first two films? Conversely, if the Machines are evil, why didn't they simply crush Zion after Neo helped them? And what was the point of this entire charade involving the Resistance and their persecution when the Machines could have easily said to humanity, "Look, do you want out or not? Out here, you've got cold, darkness, dampness, and terrible plumbing. Inside the Matrix, you can have a wife, kids, a Labrador, a job, and a minivan. All we need is your thermal energy, and in exchange, you get a normal life."
I am also disappointed by about fifteen other things that I can't recall at this moment.
But my greatest grievance—and I mean this with total sincerity—is seeing how the second and third installments possess such brilliant ideas like Monica Bellucci, the Agent Smith clones, Monica Bellucci, the Architect, the Keymaster, Monica Bellucci, the highway fight, the vampires acting as outdated programs, the final battle between humans and machines, and a handful of small, stylish philosophical concepts. All of these surely could have been woven into the plot much more seamlessly and polished to create a film five times better.
I actually preferred the third part over the second, but then again:
1) I didn't go to the theater with any particular expectations.
2) It's hard to argue that it's actually *worse* than the other Matrix film.
What’s worse is that I don't really regret seeing the movie in theaters and handing over twenty bucks for it. Regardless of what anyone says, the reality is that Matrix Revolutions is the type of film best experienced on the big screen. Granted, the film was a spectacle, though perhaps not in the way The Wachowskis intended. In a way, it was like watching the Titanic sink: a magnificent, beautifully crafted, and fascinating project utterly ruined by the arrogance and greed of its creators. The Wachowskis bit off more than they could chew and ended up burning themselves in the process. Big yikes.
At least we still have the original Matrix and the Animatrix. I'll be sticking to those.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go binge-watch Brigitte Nielsen in Red Sonja.
HTH!
HAND!