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 ho knew the Wachowski brothers had a Jesus Christ
fixation? As it turns out, the entire "Matrix" series is nothing more
than a remake of Jesus' life. Who would have thunk it?
"The Matrix: Revolutions" opens with human rebels
Neo (Keanu Reeves), Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), and Morpheus (Laurence
Fishburne) stuck in the open plains, even as Zion, the last human city, gears up
for the inevitable machine attack. But as it turns out the annoyingly French
Merovingian (Lambert Wilson) has somehow gotten his mitts on Neo, trapping him
in a "train station" that acts as a conduit between the Matrix and the
real world. It's up to Trinity, Morpheus, and Jet Li-wannabe Seraph (Sing Ngai)
to kick some sense into the Merovingian, save Neo, and through him, save the
human race from complete extinction.
Along the way, a whole lotta stuff blows up at the cost of,
oh, about $100 million or so; give or take a couple of dozen million.
As mentioned, the entire series has been building toward
the life of Christ, with Neo standing in as the Savior of Man. It's not very
subtle, proving once again that the Wachowskis are not skilled enough writers to
make an allegory without smashing their audiences in the face with it. Neo has
done everything Christ has, including bringing his beloved Trinity back from the
dead ala Lazarus. Now, with the rogue Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) having somehow
become Neo's exact opposite, wishing only to destroy and having gained the power
to do so, Neo and the machines have something in common. They must put their
battles aside to stop Smith, or all is lost -- both in the Matrix, and in the
real world.
Of course with the script's insistence on prophecies and
choice and fate and destiny and enough blah blah blah to bore even the most
patient mindless audience, it's no surprise how the film will end. And taking
the whole Neo as Jesus Christ angle to the very end, it's also no surprise how
the characters will come out of this -- if they do at all, that is. What's left,
then, is a simple ending, painless and, unfortunately, mostly pointless. For
those who groaned during the lengthy blah sessions of "Matrix:
Reloaded", have heart. "Matrix: Revolutions" is all about
action, action, and more action. The movie breaks down into two sequences: the
battle for Zion and Neo's battle with Agent Smith back in the Matrix.
And to be honest, it's a good thing the series is ending,
because Keanu Reeves has never looked more bored, or dull. To say that he
sleepwalks through the role is too kind. I don't want to sound mean, but Keanu
Reeves is a mannequin masquerading as an actor. I'm quite sure you could have
inserted a completely CGI Reeves into the role of Neo, and there wouldn't be
much of a difference. In fact, considering the expressive realities of CGI
nowadays, I'd dare say that a CGI Neo would have felt more alive. I kid
you not. Reeves is a walking dead man here.
On the bright side, special effects junkies will get their
fill with "Revolutions". The movie is chock full of state-of-the-art
effects, including "fire effects" meant to represent a blinded Neo as
he "sees" the world in a whole new light. Unfortunately the cost of
this barrage is that there's barely any humanity to be found, although that's
not necessarily a bad thing. If "Reloaded"
spent much of its time rambling about uninteresting junk, then
"Revolutions" spends the vast majority of its time delivering the
money shot.
It's often been said that the series is parts pseudo
philosophy and parts allegory. I like to think of it as a remake of the Bible,
with a piece of driftwood playing Jesus Christ. To take the series seriously is
to believe that George Lucas was trying to accomplish something important with
his "Star Wars"
films. It's all pure entertainment, folks; nothing more, nothing less. Taken as
just that, "The Matrix" series is actually quite outstanding. Part 1
was allowed to be talky, as it needed to explain a lot of things; Part 2 was
needlessly too talky, as it just spent most of its time regurgitating the same
things that had already been said and done in Part 1; Part 3 closes out the
series with sound and fury that attempts to signify nothing -- or at least, very
little.
If you like seeing giant walking metal robots taking on
giant flying metal robots, then "Revolutions" won't disappoint.
There's a 15-minute sequence in the film that mind as well be a video game. The
film as a whole is rarely boring, and things are generally always moving. All of
which is a good thing, especially coming after the talkfest of the previous
installment.
To sum up the series: You never knew movies could talk so
much for so very long and yet say so bloody very little.
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