Thursday, November 06, 2003
WARNING: MATRIX SPOILERS
So I just finished watching The Matrix Revolutions, and I must say, I'm a little let down. First off, I'm glad that Neo died, but I'm not happy that they hint at him somehow not being really dead at the very end. Once again, Smith is great, and probably the coolest character in the movie. His speech about why Neo keeps on going against all hope is probably my favorite dialogue:
"Why Mr. Andersen? Why? Why? Why do you do it? Why? Why get up? Why do you keep fighting? Do you believe you're fighting for something more than your survival? Can you tell me what it is? Do you even know? Is it freedom, or truth, perhaps peace, could it be for love? Delusions Mr. Andersen...temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify an existence that is without meaning or purpose, and all of them as artificial as the Matrix itself. Although, only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love. You must be able to see it Mr. Andersen, you must know it by now. You can't win, it's pointless to keep fighting. Why Mr. Andersen? Why? Why do you persist?"
That's about as deep as the movie gets. It's basically the meaning of life question, and asking what's really worth living for. Also though, it's questioning the things generally accepted as truly deeply important; freedom, peace, love, etc... and saying that these things are no more important or true than anything else, which basically leaves no answer. Well, there is Neo's answer: "Because I choose to." Whatever. There were quite a few cheesey lines like that, which bothered me. I liked the first Matrix movie when it first came out. Looking back at it, it's only average. The point is that it was revolutionary for its time. The second and third movies, however were not. I definitely don't like the direction that they took. I understand that sequel=money, but I think the first movie should have been a standalone. I definitely consider it a sellout. Also, the second movie, while rather confusing and vague, had potential. There were so many other better routes that the directors could have taken rather than what is presented in the third movie. It definitely leaves you with a "That's it?" feeling. To be fair, however, after the impact of the first movie, the expectations for the second and third were enormous. I guess my biggest gripe with the third movie, as is my gripe with most movies is the relatively happy and predictable ending. Zion is saved because of Neo, even though he had to die, but he might come back somehow. Everybody's happy. Yay. That's just stupid. Things shouldn't always end like that. Life does not always have happy endings. I think that it would have been cool if the ending had resulted in everything leading up to it being for nothing. This could be accomplished in so many ways. The machines could have won, it could have been revealed that the "real world" was just another layer in the matrix, etc... etc... I think this kind of ending would have nicely complimented Smith's speech nicely. It could have shown that indeed, everything is meaningless and fake and empty. That is probably my favorite conceivable type of movie ending. Just as long as it doesn't become commonplace and expected. So basically, that's my short take on The Matrix Revolutions. At least it was free. Viva la network!
(edit) Oh yeah, and I was pissed that the credits weren't done to a Rage Against the Machine song. The millions of sentinel droids were very cool though, and that was one of my favorite visual effects parts.
"Why Mr. Andersen? Why? Why? Why do you do it? Why? Why get up? Why do you keep fighting? Do you believe you're fighting for something more than your survival? Can you tell me what it is? Do you even know? Is it freedom, or truth, perhaps peace, could it be for love? Delusions Mr. Andersen...temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify an existence that is without meaning or purpose, and all of them as artificial as the Matrix itself. Although, only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love. You must be able to see it Mr. Andersen, you must know it by now. You can't win, it's pointless to keep fighting. Why Mr. Andersen? Why? Why do you persist?"
That's about as deep as the movie gets. It's basically the meaning of life question, and asking what's really worth living for. Also though, it's questioning the things generally accepted as truly deeply important; freedom, peace, love, etc... and saying that these things are no more important or true than anything else, which basically leaves no answer. Well, there is Neo's answer: "Because I choose to." Whatever. There were quite a few cheesey lines like that, which bothered me. I liked the first Matrix movie when it first came out. Looking back at it, it's only average. The point is that it was revolutionary for its time. The second and third movies, however were not. I definitely don't like the direction that they took. I understand that sequel=money, but I think the first movie should have been a standalone. I definitely consider it a sellout. Also, the second movie, while rather confusing and vague, had potential. There were so many other better routes that the directors could have taken rather than what is presented in the third movie. It definitely leaves you with a "That's it?" feeling. To be fair, however, after the impact of the first movie, the expectations for the second and third were enormous. I guess my biggest gripe with the third movie, as is my gripe with most movies is the relatively happy and predictable ending. Zion is saved because of Neo, even though he had to die, but he might come back somehow. Everybody's happy. Yay. That's just stupid. Things shouldn't always end like that. Life does not always have happy endings. I think that it would have been cool if the ending had resulted in everything leading up to it being for nothing. This could be accomplished in so many ways. The machines could have won, it could have been revealed that the "real world" was just another layer in the matrix, etc... etc... I think this kind of ending would have nicely complimented Smith's speech nicely. It could have shown that indeed, everything is meaningless and fake and empty. That is probably my favorite conceivable type of movie ending. Just as long as it doesn't become commonplace and expected. So basically, that's my short take on The Matrix Revolutions. At least it was free. Viva la network!
(edit) Oh yeah, and I was pissed that the credits weren't done to a Rage Against the Machine song. The millions of sentinel droids were very cool though, and that was one of my favorite visual effects parts.
Comments:
Post a Comment
