OK all, if you happened to actually read all of my Matrix Revolutions review and want a little more Revolutions Point/Counter-Point, here is a review my friend Josh wrote in response to my big long review. The more I think about it, the more I think Revolutions sucks. Josh seems to feel differently. Find out what he thought below.

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The Matrix Revolutions: A

First of all, Benjamin Q. Merrell, the movie never ever promised to answer every question. It promised an ending. That’s all. It fulfilled the only promise it made, which was to provide a resolution to the story. It did that. Zion is saved. The mystery of the existence of the One is finally explained as far as it can really be explained. The war is over. So if it didn’t answer all the questions you wanted it to, then that is a matter of your expectations, not what the movie is or is not, did or did not provide. I never thought Revolutions would, or could, answer every question. And I like that it didn’t.

I didn’t particularly like some of the early scenes of the film. I particularly disliked two scene that ran back to back. The first, where Morpheus asks the technicians to search the matrix for Neo, even though he’s not plugged in. Then right after that, the doctor does her thing, “you know, i’ve seen brain waves like this… when somebody’s plugged in!!!” very lousy storytelling right there. Would’ve been better for the doctor to say something like she did in Morpheus’ presence, then have him have the idea that maybe he’s like that cause he’s actually plugged in! or some other comination of those two scenes. There didn’t need to be two. Whatever. This is, for me, a pretty minor thing. It’s the reason the movie’s not an A, but it’s not really a big deal for me.

Oh, and you’re not going to hear me talking about the final duel between Neo and Smith as the super burley brawl. I always hated that name anyway.

Okay. Question one. How did Neo blow up the sentinels? Do they give you a direct answer to that question? No. Can you figure it out by looking at what they do say? And what they do show? Absolutely. The story of Neo is the story of expanding consciousness. The three parts of the trilogy correspond to three questions, all about neo. In the matrix, it’s what am I? In reloaded, it’s why am I? finally, in revolutions, we get to the most fundamental question, who am I? in each film, neo expands his awareness of who he is, and as he does so, he reaches some new level of power. Neo is, through the course of the movies, made aware of a level of existece apart from physical form. In Neo, we have seen that with awareness brings power. When he truly understood the control he had over himself while inside the matrix, he became all but invinceable. When he is blinded, he can see the world as energy, and being able to see it, awareness is cemented, and he is able to exert power over that energy. Why? Because I think the filmakers are saying that the essential principle that governs Neo’s power in the matrix is applicable to the real world also. If you achieve a high enough level of awareness, then you can exert power over the form. we’ve already seen him do this, with the squiddie at the end of Reloaded, and returning, as he did, from death in the first film.. Why could he do that? Because the awareness had been introduced into his consciousness. He can destroy the machines through thought because he understands the power of thought–or energy–over form and is able to harness that power. Same in the first film. Is it a literal answer that the film provides? No. But the answer is there because the film is consistent in what it says, and how it depicts it. With each new level of awareness, a new level of power is attained.

Phew.

I disagree about Seti, also. I thought she was a wonderful addition to the film, providing a sense of purity, innocence, that had been missing from the films for some time.

As for the machines knowing more about love, I don’t know that that’s true. I think their programming simply allows them to express it with greater precision than humans. And I very much enjoyed the actor playing Seti’s father. I thought he brought a spark of life to the Wachowski’s somewhat portentious dialogue that was missing from Reloaded.

In general, by the way, I thought the acting was much much better in this film. Why? Because the script was better. Rather than structuring the film as a series of elaborate philosophical debates, Revolutions actually involves human drama. People dying, love lost, so on and so forth.

Anyway, you can say that the machine’s explaining things is bad writing, but it’s better writing than in Reloaded. Besides, does he really explain what love is? He says that love is just word, that what love really is is the connection that the word implies.

Anyway, I believe the love between Trinity and Neo because I saw it at the end of the first film. And in the sequels, I see it in Trinity’s eyes, and I hear it in her voice. And if I don’t see that sometimes in Neo, it’s not because it’s not there, but because he’s being swept away into other things. But when Neo says he’s in love, I believed that. But you said you’ve ever heard an explanation for why they love each other. Love is rarely explained easily.

I actually disgaree that the new Oracle is introduced seamlessly. They spent a good minute of screen time on dialogue meant to explain and excuse the switchover. And it’s only seammless if you’re not thinking, throughout, “they only did this because gloria foster died.” i agree that the switch works. the new oracle is a nice variation on the earlier model.

Okay. On to “club hell.” which is as stupid a name as the burley brawl, by the way. Anyhoo, I don’t disagree with you that the shootout was kind of underwhelming. But not because Trinity and Morpheus are “uber-Ones” and not because of the reasons you cited. It’s disappointing because the sequence is poorly shot and edited. Spatial relationships are destroyed so you never know where you are in the room, and as such the whole sequence felt almost claustrophobic to me. I’m glad it wasn’t just a repeat of the lobby sequence, though. I would’ve rather they just came in, shot down the guards, and stormed the club. But whatever.

Seraph: Seraph is, at no time in either film, depicted as being a warrior first. He is a guide, a guard. A broker of peace. What exactly were you expecting him to do? I didn’t want to see him be the showcase of his own fight. He isn’t a main character. He hasn’t earned that kind of status. The Wachowski’s used him within the parameters they had already established for him. Those parameters were enough for me. I thought the part was well acted, anyway.

I don’t know that you’re version would be better, either, I’m afraid. Sorry. We already understand why they’re going into the club. To save Neo. We don’t need a moment to make that clear. And Morpheus would never be the voice of “reason.” he always believes. Plus, it’s just a club.

As I said before, I basically agree that the action sequence with the weapons guys was kind of a throwaway, but no more so than the first fight between Neo and the agents in Reloaded. And I think generally Revolutions as a lot fewer self indulgent moments than Reloaded.

As in Reloaded, I think the Merovingian’s “rambling” is deceptive. He’s doing exactly what he was trying to do in Reloaded, which is to leverage whatever power he does or does not have to improve his own status, increase his own power. I think this sequence is also important because, throughout the early parts of the movie, we get a sense of the action shifting away from the actual matrix and the people inside. WHeras the Merovingian had quite a bit of leverage in Reloaded, here he has less, and wheras before, a gun to the head wouldn’t have gotten Trinity anything, here it does.

Why does the Merovingian keep his word? Good question. I agree that that’s something of a hole.

And Monica, well… Her face and her expressions were enough to keep me happy. Someone should put her in a slapstick sex comedy, and soon.
And no, someone could not have shot seraph, trinity, or morpheus, because those three were in the process of kicking the asses of anyone who would’ve shot them. Did I miss something?

Another reason why Neo and Trinity are in love: is it love? well, depends on what your definition of the word is. but their love is predicated on their mutual need for one another. neo could not get to the source without her, and she could not have survived as long as she has and come to understand as much as she does without him. they love each other because they have to love each other in order to do what they’re supposed to do. it goes back to purpose. they love each other because they’re supposed to love each other.

Yeah, it takes Neo four hours to figure out the dude is smith in a flesh suit. Of course, it’s not actually four hours. It’s about ffteen seconds in Reloaded in which Bane wishes him luck and doesn’t do anything that you’d otherwise call suspicious. Then they’re, let’s see, unconscious lying on slabs next to each other. Yes, Neo should’ve just known though. You think Neo should’ve just known that when Smith took over a plugged in person, that conquest would extend to the physical world? That’s true. Can’t imagine how Neo wouldnt figure that out. Anyway, as for the whole Mr. Anderson thing, yes, you might think Neo would figure it out sooner. But let’s say you didn’t know that Smith could transfer you into the real world. Wouldn’t the guy just sound like a nut job? Plus, Neo’s just watched the guy holdinga knife to Trinity’s throat. Do you really think he’s processing everything like he would under normal circumstances? Would you assume that the guy;s crazy and maybe THINKS he’s an agent, or would you think that it was actually agent smith. Hmm.

Anyway, the battle for Zion is, truly, an extraordinary sequence, like so many things in the movie.

Why would Locke suddenly change? At what point in the movie prior to the sentinels powering down has he seen anything to make him change his mind? Every victory they have is tempered by its inadequecy in stopping the machines.

As for the Kid, I can see why he would still be annoying. I’m not going to argue that point really, but I liked his storyline, and I’m impressed that a character given such a terrible intro in Reloaded actually works on his own terms in Revolutions. Plus, he makes for some nice comic relief.

Mifune fucking kicks ass. As do the APU’s.

Actually, I think the machine’s strategy is a good one. If you throw an overwhelming force at the APU’s, you’re much more likely to overwhelm them than if you go one at a time. If you send them everywhere at once, you’re ultimately just dilluting your fighting force, and making it easier, not harder, for the humans to pick them off one at a time. But fine. That’s a matter of strategy. To each their own.

Zee and Vasquez. Gee. I don’t know. I thought their sequences were pretty suspenseful. Whatever.

I did not notice a larger number of blacks in the orgy than in the fight. But I did notice that in the orgy, they focused on two white characters, neo and trinity. and in the battle sequence, they focused on two black characters–mifune and locke–and, after the logos (?) arrived, they threw in two more, morpheus and niobe. so do tell me what you think that means? i assume you’re implying that you found some racial issue here. there are many things you can say that are wrong with the matrix movies. i don’t really think racial or sexual politics are among them.

I loved the hovership chase. What a great sequence.

“Neo is now blind because of Bane/Smith. This actually matters very little, as Neo can pretty much see everything anyway because of his new Jesus in the machine vision.”

No. It matters a lot. The loss of his vision allows him to SEE. It’s all right to say that that’s a clumsy symbol, but I’d say it is effective and efficiently used in making a point. The loss of vision provides him with the ability to see the world from a new perspective, which alters his perceptions and cements the shift in consciousness required to allow him to make the journey to the source. This is a pivotal moment.

I don’t understand really what you found so disappointing about the jesus imagery. That is was so blatant, or that it existed at all? The journey of the One has always been messianic in nature. They pour on the religious imagery a little heavier than needed, but what movie doesn’t? Every movie in which the hero is ultimately sacrificed plays on the jesus imagery. Even Scarface.

I would hope you can buy the hovership going above the clouds. We’ve already seen that the hoverships can do more than just hover.

How did the sentinel go through Neo? The sentinel didn’t go through Neo. The Sentinel crashed into the front of the ship. The energy of the sentinel passed through neo and, for a moment, zapped him a little bit. Foreshadowing the transmission of energy through Neo by the Big Machine Baby Thing later on.

The ending is not, as you wrote, thrown away to the mystical. Because the mystical is the point of all this. The Big Baby Machine Thing is NOT a deus ex machina. It’s The Source, sisn’t it? And that’s been Neon’s destination since the beginning of the film, to reach the source. He does so.

Anyway, I’m not sure exactly what you’re referring to when you say that the ending is thrown away. You mean the end of the Neo/Smith fight? I assume so.

Anyway. Here’s my take on this. Neo goes into the matrix to defeat Smith. He emngages Smith for the third time in hand to hand combat. He finds that, once again, he cannot defeat Smith. Let me side track for a moment onto Smith. The Oracle says that Smith is Neo’s negative half. Yang to Neo’s Ying. He thus represents a part of Neo that has been seperated. The part of Neo’s programming that was overwritten onto Smith at the end of the Matrix? It would seem that in becoming THe One, Neo disrupted not only the natural order of the matrix, but the natural order of himself as well. Therefore, in the sequels, the challenge is, ultimately, to resolve the two warring factions. Make Neo whole again. Or, to put it another word, allow Neo to fully realize himself. How does he do this? By realizing that he cannot beat Smith, as he cannot beat himself. So he instead surrenders. Smith assimilates him. The part of Neo that was removed when he destroyed SMith is restored.

Smith was able to do what he did in Revolutions because he transcended the programing of the Matrix. As such, the matrix could not control him. The Big Bad Baby Thing needed Neo to become the One in order to re balance the equation, to remove the Smith factor. When Neo surrendered, that was achieved. And the Big Bad Baby Thing then used Neo as a conduit to restore the programming to its natural order. Thus the big explosiony thing.

Having restored the part of himself that he lost to Smith, and having been used to reboot the matrix, Neo has reached the end of his jourey. He has filled his function, and having come to a complete awareness of himself, he dies, his journey completed.

How is the Jesus thing too easy? First of all, it’s a little more complex than that. Second of all, this is a creative, wonderful way of exploring the Jesus figure to its fullest. I mean, Neo is, inmany ways, the most complete and fully realized Jesus figure since The Last Temptation of Christ. It’s where the movie has been headed all along. And it’s handled, for me, about as well as it could be.

Anyway, the ending is a victory, because it is not a defeat. Every other time, the war has ended in defeat for the humans. This time it has not. Not losing is, perhaps, the first step on the road to actual victory the next time. The peace will not last, says the oracle. But when it falters, the human’s will have a greater capacity to defend themselves.

Who wouldn’t choose to be in the matrix, given the alternative? Well, obviously there’s a pretty large population that wants that. Look at Zion. It’s about choice, and about desire. Do you want to live an illusion or not. If you don’t want to live a lie, if you want truth, then you want the truth no matter how unpleasant it might be.

The ending is not the same as every other incarnation of the matrix. it’s so clearly not that that i’m surprised you don’t see it, or if you do, that you don’t buy it. the circumstances at the end are totally different than what has come before. But whatever.

I basicaly loved Revolutions. I didn’t love everything about it. But I thought it was a more human work, dealing more in true emotion–and the circumstances that can evoke true emotion–than Reloaded. I thought it resolved the story in a way that I expected, but expressed that resolution in a way that surprised me. It has it’s faults, but they are, to me, minor. Revolutions is a thrilling conclusion to a trilogy that could’ve limped off into the night. Instead, it is as intriguing, mystifying, and exciting a film as I could’ve hoped for.

Anyway. I wish I could’ve written some of my points a little more clearly, specifically the “why” of Neo’s ability to defeat the squiddies. It’s the same reason that people can fly in Crouching Tiger, the same reason Neo can stop bullets in the matrix. Because thought sufficiently aware of itself as energy in physical form can exert control over the form. Damn. Still not quite as clear as I’d like it to be. Oh well. Hopefully you get the basic point. Do feel free to argue whatever point you want. But if you pull one of your, “I don’t care what the reason is, it was BORING” things I might have to slap you. You hear that? Huh? Tough guy?