Toronto

Well, the original Matrix was a 10. Matrix Reloaded: 8. This: a 9. The first Matrix was a masterpiece because everything made sense, the philosophical mumbo-jumbo was kept to a minimum, and the action was wicked. Revolutions was just way too much talky-talky for me, with nothing but a couple of great fights and a car chase to make it interesting. Revolutions begins with a lot of talking and seemingly non-sensical pseudo-intellectual rubbish, but it is more interesting to watch here, and does make a bit more sense than in part 2... well, sort of. I think the Wachowski boys made a terrible mistake in the way they handled the final 2/3 of this trilogy. They tried to blend a religious, fantasy-like mythology with what the first Matrix really was, and that's good, solid action science fiction. The average movie goer is not likely to be able to get any meaning out of these last 2 installments. The ending of Revolutions only raises more questions, yet I think I may have figured it out... eh, I guess. I suppose if you're a good little boy or girl and you do what the Wachowski boys want you to do and buy the Animatrix DVD and the Playstation 2 game and eat the cereal and whatever, you will get more insight into just what exactly this movie is trying to say. I find the whole thing is just one great big marketing gimmick, showcasing these brothers' talents for trying to one-up the king of all movie merchandising maniacs, George Lucas. But at least George didn't make it mandatory to read all the garbage books and play all the wretched video games and buy all the toys just to be able to understand the Star Wars movies. It is quite clear that is exactly what the Wackoskis have done here, and I am not amused. Since when do I need a friggin' debriefing from a video game before I understand a movie. Sigh... Nevertheless, the action is wild, the suspense tangible, and there are more than a couple of surprises here to warrant a good rating. The big battle is top quality in its gun-blazing lunacy and certainly makes the movie. Still, I can't help but feel a little cheated. Oh yeah, one last thing; I said it once and I'll say it again: Keanu Reeves can not frigging ACT! Maybe now that they have some spare time, the Wackoskis can finish off their Bound trilogy. Hope I won't need to buy a game and a cartoon DVD to make heads or tails of that.

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