I had a desire to review Matrix: Revolutions ... before it came out. Quite frankly, I'm not sure I can muster the energy to critique the Worst. Damn. Ending. Of. All. Time. I mean, did the Wachowskis just hand it over to George Lucas (of Prequel years) and ask him to have at it? Did they decide to give the guys from Ishtar another crack at infamy?
[spoilers within]
For the record, aside from some terrible lines, I actually liked the first 2/3 of the movie. I always argued that Neo would only be truly interesting outside of the Matrix, rather than inside, where he was all powerful. The mixing of the worlds - not just a blurring but an outright fusion - had amazing potential. The battle for Zion, which some reviews I read found worthless, I thought was just as good as, say, Attacking the Death Star (no, the second Death Star). Whereas the Death Star represented the monolithic destruction of worlds by a powerful War Machine, the diverse, flexible, intelligent, and multitudinous Squids remind us of the constant fear of detection, location, and destruction in modern warfare. Two different but powerful images of tyranny.
And, quite frankly, I'm glad they killed Trinity, precisely because I didn't want them to. By the time the film was complete, I was pretty damn glad Neo was dead too (until Matrix: Resurrection).
By that time Matrix: Revolutions would have actually improved had an Ewok, rather than "the Kid," jumped up on a rock and screamed "the war is over!" to the disbelief of the audience, if not to those hiding in the Temple-Wait-It's-Soul-Train. Seriously. I think the residents of Zion stood there staring for those 3 or 4 heartbeats not because they were instructed to, but because the actors were stunned: "Are they serious? This is it???" *blink* *blink*
Hurray, indeed. Or, in Ewok, "Aieee Aieeeeee!"
Maybe in "Matrix: Resurrection" it'll be his twin brother Viejo.
Posted by: Tanya at November 20, 2003 10:07 PM | Permalink to CommentI. am. vindicated.
http://ghw.wordherders.net/archives/000219.html
Alas, that was about Matrix: Reloaded, George, not Revolutions ;-)
But X-Men 2 was pretty good - better than the first.
Posted by: Jason at November 24, 2003 9:43 AM | Permalink to Comment"Alas, that was about Matrix: Reloaded..."
...which also blew.
;-)
Posted by: George at November 24, 2003 1:45 PM | Permalink to CommentYou know, I have little desire to see Matrix: Revolutions and not just because of the dismal reviews. I'm not sure if it's the lack of buzz or what, but something happened after the second film that left me less than enthusiastic for this film.
Posted by: chuck at November 24, 2003 2:24 PM | Permalink to CommentYou, George, KF and all say basically the same thing... And not to the degree of the so-bad-it's-good kind of bad.
But, it does seem like a great point for commisseration and agreed bemoaning. Count me in. We'll be watching it this Friday - the selection for post Thanksgiving Day leave the kids with the grandparents movie fling.
Posted by: weez at November 25, 2003 10:19 AM | Permalink to CommentHope our words don't discourage you too much Weez ;) Really, I enjoyed it to a certain degree - it's just sad to see some poor decisions sink an otherwise sea-worthy ship.
And that'll be the last sailing metaphor I'll use on this blog.
Posted by: Jason at November 25, 2003 12:04 PM | Permalink to Comment
Glad you mentioned Return of the Jedi. Didn't that whole ship running through sewer system with a swarm of enemies trailing behind it, trying to beat the clock, seem very very familiar? Heck when the crew of whatever ship Jada Pinkett Smith's character is looking out to the ship they've abandoned to Keanu and Carrie Ann, did you recall the "I don't think I'm going to see her again" line Solo tosses off before Lando takes the helm of the Falcoln? (Incidentally, Solo _was_ never supposed to see the Falcon again, as it wasn't supposed to make it out of the Death Star in the original Jedi script).
I *did not* know that MP - very interesting...
but yeah, somehow I think the Wachowski's had a failure of imagination ...
Posted by: Jason at December 10, 2003 12:03 PM | Permalink to CommentIm sorry but I loved, everything about the matrix from the beginning to the end, It is the Adam and Eve of all movies to come. (THE MATRIX FAN WILL PREVAIL)
Posted by: Neo(TheOne) at January 19, 2004 6:00 PM | Permalink to Comment