Techtite's DVD Reviews!

"I don't know about you, but I did not watch over 6 hours of Neo's life, only to have this otherwise campy fairy tale sci-fi yarn suddenly wax all philosophical on me in the final reel, implying that there can be no real ending, because there are no real answers. Oh, cry me a river, Socrates!"

--from the review

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Sidebar ::

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Neo is cyber-jesus? Holy s---! Yeah, I know Battlestar Galactica is now offered on DVD in a cool Cylon-helmet collector case, but would everyone in Hollywood nix all the new-millennium, biblical sci-fi analogies, please? I had enough of that "Satan created the Cylons" crap in 1979, to have to endure "Darth Vader was an immaculate birth" in 1999 and now, "Neo is like Jesus" in 2003. No, sorry, Neo is just a man. You may even argue; this makes any sacrifice he makes all the more noble, because there is no chance of any latent, divine powers saving him here. If he sacrifices his life, it is heroic indeed, because his life is not the life of Jesus, though just a human being's. For the Wachowskis to even imply a "Jesus" analogy, negates the very impact of any sacrifice Neo might wish to make. However: NO, don't give us "Matrix 4" to correct any wrongs here, kids. I can only imagine such a sequel, with Patrick Macnee as Agent Smith’s dad, who, of course...is Satan! <Groan!>

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Matrix Revolutions

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Widescreen Also Available: Click Here.

A Techtite Review

As Always, a review of The Film and The DVD (extras)!

The Film: First things first: don't see this film if you haven't seen Matrix Reloaded. Unlike every single sequel I can think of, they are not unlike empathic twins, where one cannot exist without the other. Trust me on that one.

That said; it's clear that in order for someone to be honest about why they loved/hated Matrix Revolutions, they would have to offer their opinions of the prior sequel. Did I love Matrix Reloaded...? Well, "love" is too strong a word, though yes, I did give it a favorable rating --a Techtite.com large crater, in fact-- for three reasons:

• The Freeway Chase Scene. one of the best car chase/action scenes of any sci-fi film I ever saw in recent years; plain and simple.
• It DID NOT water itself down for a PG-13 rating. I’m so sick of comedies that could be the next Animal House only to water themselves down to junior high school banality, or the war epics that should be far grislier and realistic, only to be diluted into a PG-13 popcorn fluff piece (yes, Pearl Harbor, I’m looking in your direction). So yeah; Matrix Reloaded was about fighting for your very life, and yes that meant R rated violence, so no, it wasn’t edited for little kiddies. Bravo!
• I loved how Agent Smith was now a "virus"! This was a brilliant idea: that The Matrix was a big computer so therefore it was susceptible to viruses, which manifest themselves in human form within "The Matrix." The idea of renegade virus programs becoming "monsters" in the virtual world of The Matrix, was truly inspired. Cool!

So, that being said, what can I say about Matrix Revolutions...? Well, it still has all the above assets. Agent Smith is still a virus that Neo must face for the inevitable "final battle," there are lots of FX-savvy fights to enjoy (even if none are quite like that Freeway Chase), and again, the story is an undiluted, R-rated action thriller. That's the good news.

People used to my reviews know something is amiss. Whenever I say "that's the good news," get ready for the bad news. Here it comes: this is disappointing. Yes, I know all about "spoilers," so no I won't give away any particulars here. This is what I hate about being a film critic: I cannot in good conscience (and I won't; don't worry) spoil the actual ending of the film, and yet this being the ending to the whole trilogy, and this being so disappointing, I must voice my grievances. So, bear with me as I walk on eggshells to explain my gripes, without giving any particulars away. Wish me luck...

Here's the bottom line: some people will tell you that Revolutions is somewhat "artistic". To a point this is correct. Matrix Revolutions bends over backwards to try and be artistic, not a mere fairy tale cliché. That said, it tries to be artistic with its finale to the story, not merely tying up all loose ends in a bow. As the moral of this movie says: there are no real answers. This is indeed an artistic final moral to The Matrix Trilogy: few answers are answered, because there are no answers. How...artistic.

However, few fans of any three-film story want "artistry." They want an end to the story. We don't want artistic psychobabble. We want answers. We want to know that our hero, Neo (Keanu Reeves) and his henchwoman and lover, Trinity (Carrie Anne-Moss), defeat the bad guys and live happily ever after. If that is too much of a "fairy tale" for the Wachowski Brothers (who wrote and directed this entire trilogy), then they haven't paid enough attention to their own story. The original film was a fairy tale; a tale of a computer geek who discovered he was in a virtual world controlled by unemotional machines, only to learn to bend this world to his very whim, and allowing him to be, in a way, Superman. This is not a fairy tale...?

Let's consider, in depth, this film's moral: "There are no answers." Well, yeah, at times that can be true, though not when you're telling a story. Stories by their very nature have a beginning, middle, and an end. That's the whole idea. Stories may indeed leave you hanging with a question or two left unresolved, though rarely do they begin a story acting like "the truth is out there!" only to say in the final real, "Oops; I guess it isn't!" I don't know about you, but I did not watch over 6 hours of Neo's life, only to have this otherwise campy fairy tale sci-fi yarn suddenly wax all philosophical on me in the final reel, implying that there can be no real ending, because there are no real answers. Oh, cry me a river, Socrates!

Is there some form of an ending here...? Unfortunately, yes. "Unfortunately," because what answers we are given, are pretty sucky answers. To wit: the way they misuse --and in a way, abuse-- Trinity in this film...? It just plain SUCKS. I provide this minor, cryptic spoiler, because I care. I wouldn't want someone to see Return of the Jedi if Lucas had stupidly left Han Solo rotting in a metal shell for all eternity. Trinity, in a way, was The Matrix. At times, she was more the heroine than Neo was the hero. She was the Princess Leia to Neo's Han Solo; the yin to his yang. Yes, she also looked too sexy in tight leather, to be treated so callously in the final film. To treat her in a crappy way in the final film is, well, crappy.

What about Neo, you ask...? Indeed; this being the end to the story, we all want to know once and for all how our hero saves humanity, as is his (alleged) destiny. Well, spoilers intact, this is where "artistic vision" comes in. In other words: based on what we see, it's hard to say for certain, because nobody's positive about what they saw!  Not unlike the overstated ending to (ugh) 2001: A Space Odyssey, the answer is a mixed bag of visuals, more than any coherent storytelling technique. Thank heaven for small favors: at least Neo doesn't become a giant space fetus looking at Baby Earth, nor does Keanu Reeves have to say something like, "Oh, my...The Matrix is full of stars!" However, there is a religious metaphor present, implying that Neo is, in some way, like Jesus. No, he wasn't an immaculate birth, and yet he can walk on (faux) water in The Matrix so gosh of golly Miss Molly, he's "like Jesus." In other words; he must be ready to make sacrifices, if that means sacrifices for humanity. Does he make such sacrifices...? Ah, ask not that question my friends, because...there are no real answers!

<Groan!>

Spoilers intact, consider something here. Consider, fair and impartially, how hard it was to make any real ending to The Matrix saga. When Neo first escaped the Matrix, it was implied that every single muscle was atrophied and needed to be rebuilt over several weeks. It was a painstaking healing process, and that was just the physical: the psychological took added time. Every single person in The Matrix, if Neo were to free them in one swoop, would have to have at least one human each, nursing them back to health. The concept is almost impossible.

However, it's this sort of real ending that the Wachowskis dared to promise us, and this is the definitive reason why I didn't like Matrix Revolutions: it's a cop out. Yes, it would have been impossible (or at least improbable) to free all humanity from machines, though the finale we're given here is not a resolution at all. It's as if Neo went to the machines and said, totally out of character, "Uh, it's the last reel of the last movie; can't we just get along?" No, this isn't the real ending, though the real ending is no better. The feeling given is that this "is" the end...but, if the Wachowskis want more money, get ready for another war, just in case. Give peace a chance...as long as it's profitable!

<Double Groan!>

In the end: yes, I liked Matrix Reloaded --the middle of the trilogy-- if just because of its ingenuity. However, not unlike Empire Strikes Back, that "like" was on escrow, based on the resolution of the story, i.e., this film. Be honest: how sucky would Empire be, if Return of the Jedi implied that the war was ended...though maybe not...and oh, by the way: Chewbacca gets hungry and eats Princess Leia...? Let the fanboys tell me this was an "artistic vision." Maybe so...though as films go, it was not very good.

---Techtite

The DVD: Let's be candid; this was a stinker of a conclusion to the trilogy. Worse than Godfather 3; even worse than a gaggle of Return of the Jedi Ewoks. to say "It ain't so" is to say "I am a diehard fanboy."

So, what do you do if you're releasing the film to DVD? Well, one thing you do not do, is offer any director's commentary. All the extras are on disc 2 of this peculiarly 2-disc set, so don't expect any extras on disc one aside from the film itself. For anyone who would like an explanation from the Wachowski brothers as to why they chose to end the trilogy...this...way, you'll have to just read an interview elsewhere.

Disc two is basically a featurette menagerie. Thanks for small favors, guys; at least you didn't pull another "Matrix Revisited" and offer these features separately (yeah; as if that stunt would ever work again!). There's "Revolutions Recalibrated" (the making of the movie; aka the "standard" behind the scenes featurette), "CG Revolution" (special effects featurette), and "Super Burly Brawl" (centralizing on the final Neo/Smith showdown). In addition, there is a timeline regarding the Matrix "universe," for those who want to know, post-story, what happened and when, even prior to the films. Add to this a promo for the online game, and a "multi-dimensional" stills gallery, and that's it.

In conclusion I can only recommend this as a rental: nothing more. So poorly constructed was this finale to the trilogy, I would dare say that leaving it out of your collection is a better ending. Don't take my word for it; rent it, and tell me what you think. Otherwise, accept the lament of everyone but only the most diehard of fanboys: this was the most disappointing film of 2003. What a sad shame this was.

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