Review of The Matrix Revolutions (2003) by Halfwelshman — 03 Jul 2012

What really stands out in The Matrix Revolutions? The lavish and complex Zion dock fight, where a small group of human-controlled heavily armed mech suits desperately attempt to defend the last human city from a seemingly endless horde of merciless "squiddy" machine sentinels.

That's really about it. The beginning of the film is OK, but the vast majority of it is so annoyingly mediocre, and some moments are so embarrassingly awful that Revolutions makes for a disappointing final chapter in the Wachowski's sci-fi blockbuster trilogy.

All the cast's performances underwhelm, apart from Hugo Weaving whose performance as the increasingly power-mad Agent Smith becomes so gloriously camp and over-the-top that it's kind of funny to watch.

He also has the only memorable line in the film - once Neo (Keanu Reeves) returns to an apocalyptic, stormy Matrix for his final showdown with his adversary, Smith asks him sardonically "Like what I've done with the place?".

This final battle is, disappointingly a bit silly and repetitive, resembling a knockoff fight from Dragonball Z rather than the epic clash of titans the series has been building towards. About the only thing this final, underwhelming set-piece offers apart from intense tedium is some pretty slow-motion water effects.

None of the film's characters really develop any further in this film, and most of the cast have very little to do apart from Reeves, who is basically playing Jesus in a big flappy coat. And don't even get me started on the clunky bit of exposition the Wachowskis crowbar in to explain why The Oracle is now played by someone else (Gloria Foster died between the second and third films).

The final part of this formidable franchise is incredibly sub-par, and apart from providing the viewer with a couple of good thrills and some form of closure to the story it offers very little except disappointment.