The Matrix Revolutions (**** stars out of ****)

→ in
Tools    





The Matrix Revolutions (**** out of ****)
By: Cedric M. Grant

I am so disappointed. Not in the Wachowski Bros.—who have delivered what is in my the mind the greatest film achievement of our time with this trilogy that at its worst is three-hundred times better than everything, and I mean everything, Hollywood has to offer. Not in the final two entities of The Matrix trilogy—which is the whoafully underrated and superior film to the first installment which is known as ‘Reloaded’ and the completely misunderstood by millions but utterly mind blowing, inspiring, and crowning finale which is ‘Revolutions’ both which are deeper, broader, better, and more technically advanced than the first Matrix. No, I’m definitely not disappointed in any of those things. What I’m disappointed in are the millions of people who walked out of the last two Matrix films and dismissed them as utter trash made to consume money out the yin-yang and that’s it. What I’m disappointed in is the tons of overpaid critics who are obviously cinematic idiots who should be exiled from the union who write up damn near depressing reviews about a film that was obviously way over their heads. What I’m disappointed in are the supposed Matrix buffs that obviously have no idea what The Matrix stands for and are telling the masses their corny renditions of the trilogy. What I’m disappointed in are the supposed Matrix buffs who are even asking the insipid question “is the Matrix made for the masses?”—further implying their lack of understanding of the films. And before you scoff, let me explain:

For starters, yes!, you simple-minded ****s, The Matrix phenomenon was created for the masses. It was created to dominate the box office, rake in loads of cash, and give the Wachowski Bros. Hollywood power beyond their wildest dreams. It was created for pop culture. It was created to infect the minds of elders, young adults, and kids for generations to come. It was created to start a movement (a cinematic one and a very deeper one). That’s the obvious—it’s absurd to even think that people who “claim” to understand this movement would even question that. What makes the films and the Wachowski Bros. so brilliant is their reason for doing so. Simply put, the Matrix trilogy was created for the masses but with the biggest curveball ever thrown in Hollywood. The bullet-time, the shades, the guns, the action, the kung fu, the Hong Kong wire work, the cool clothes, the pop culture references—all a hoax to get the masses in the door. To get the very minds who need to see this sort of film in the theatre, have them strapped to their seat and spoon fed the remarkable messages that the film has to offer—all without most of them knowing so.

That’s right, you’ve been had. In the well-known tradition of a film trilogy, I’ll take you back to the beginning—the first installment to the Matrix series and say: The Matrix does have you. It has you pinned to your seats, shelling out your money, standing in line for hours in the cold to get tickets so you can see it first—but unlike all other Hollywood piles of cow dung made solely for money (such as Star Wars Episode I through XX or however many, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Batman, Superman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Terminator 3, and the list goes on and on and on) these films have a purpose. What is that purpose? To change the world. And not even in the traditional film sense. Not in that ‘after you leave the theatre you feel the warm and fuzzies and you might feel as if you should drop that homeless man who repeatedly rests outside your apartment whom you normally kick in the ass and tell to do everyone a favor and go die some spare change’-sort of way. It’s one that grows on you. That makes you think. That conjures up all sorts of questions—then answers some obviously, some vaguely, and some are left unanswered for the viewer’s own interpretation. Interpretations, if I may add, that are limitless but limitless in it’s own realm of limitlessness. Limitless in a realm that is relevant, real, and important to each and every human being on the planet in some shape, way, form, or fashion. That realm is reality—the real world. If you are gathering what I am getting at, chances are you love this trilogy just as much as I do. Chances are you understand that these films are metaphors told in reverse about the reality in which we live in. Chances are you understand that the words: purpose, reason, freedom, love, cause, effect, balance, unbalance, power, hate, war, and meaning all have a significant role not only in realm of the Matrix, but in the realm in which we live in. Chances are you’ll read the rest (or should I say beginning) of this review and feel that someone has cracked the code of the Matrix, hacked into it’s meaning, and found a truth (one of many). But of course, this is all a matter of chance. (By the way this review of ‘Revolutions’ will be one of a cinematic level: story, character development, direction, effects, etc., that contains the answers found in reality: meanings, philosophies, truths, interpretations, and metaphors within each aspect of the film.)

To indulge, the machines enslaved humanity. They breed human beings in endless fields called “Machine City” that harvest their body heat as energy to keep them powered. These human bodies rest in an oval cubicle that houses them in a system that is a prison for their mind, called ‘The Matrix’. This, is a metaphor for the present day society. A society controlled by a system of government that keeps its inhabitants chained and shackled to a way of thinking—that of pay taxes and die and don’t try to change anything, just accept things, the wars, the bloodshed, the corruption, the insignificant differences in people (race or gender) that divide them, the class status, and the lies that give you the very liberties in which you cherish, just accept them and power the society forward. Just be born, go to school, go to college, get a job, get a family, and work but never, under any circumstances, question the system. This is a way of thinking that these films are pleading we should “rebel” against, “free our minds” from, and ultimately return back to what’s simply pure about being human (hence: the much-discussed dance and sex scene from ‘Reloaded’)—carefree, liberated, proud to be human, happy to be alive, and in touch with existence. It is also why those who do rebel, when plugged back into the Matrix, wear those cool clothes, cool shades, and have cool, kick-ass weapons at their very disposal. This, is also a commentary on society. It is a commentary on how everyone wants to belong. Everyone wants to be seen as cool. Everyone wants to fit in. That is why the residual self-image of everyone who hacks into the Matrix from Zion is that of a cool existence.

On the flipside of that metaphor, The Matrix is a system that has the rules of a computer. It has programs that run it, make it function, keep it stable, that balances it—these programs are it’s creator, The Architect, it’s co-creator, The Oracle, it’s hitmen that can hotwire into any mind plugged in The Matrix’s system (so they are potentially everyone) The Agents, it’s rogue programs that have power, want power, or need power for it’s very purpose, The Oracle, The Merovingian, and The Keymaker. And the list can go on. Aside from the programs, are the humans. The slaves who allow these programs to have power in the first place. As we were told, the first Matrix was built as a perfect utopia, a Pleasantville, which was a complete and utter disaster. The human mind would not accept this as real and most crops woke up from it, like it was a dream too good to be true. This, is metaphor for the history of human nature. Humans have proven to be vile, vicious, cynical, naïve, power stricken, and corrupt while still proving through shades of holiness that they had a reason to exist. They have done some of the most ungodly and forsaken tragedies in the history of existence (slavery, holocaust, war for power, etc.). Their used to war, death, despair, and discrepancy of power. But, have also done some great things of meaning as well.

So, a program, The Oracle, came up with a solution. Create a world like the one the human mind is used to. Lower the number of rebels and allow The Matrix to function. But as we learned in ‘Revolutions’, The Oracle had an ulterior motive the whole time. As you well know, the system she envisioned was eventually created and for the few minds that did rebel—an alternative place was created. That place was called, “Zion”. Fortunately for mankind, along with the minds that did rebel came a systemic anomaly that possessed powers inside the Matrix to change it as he saw fit. But this was not a problem for the machines, as it was not all beyond a system of control. Something to give to the rebel minds as a sign of hope. To keep that rebellion at a minimum. This, is a metaphor for religion. Religion was created at a time when man’s mental development had evolved and he knew too much about the world and started pondering a bigger existence and meaning. He/She feared the coming days ahead of him and things like death and what does it all mean began to come about. Thus, was born the bible. A book that has been used for centuries as a system of control to give people in a society a reason to live a life according to government rules. It became a source of power. Giving humans an illusionary choice of free will—note to the overtly religious: This is a not a diss to your beliefs, I am not a Pagan, I believe in a higher power but the thought that choosing a side (such as Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Baptist, etc. “Hello! You’re all praising the same thing, people!) will effect my creator’s decision on casting me to Hell and not the fact that I live my life the best way I know how is a crock of **** to me. Sorry . The Matrix seems to be the Wachowski’s creating their own religion on screen. Just like early man did when he began to question his existence, the Wachowski’s question this society, and created the Matrix for that purpose.

To explain, Neo is to the Matrix what Jesus Christ is to the bible. And just like The Bible, the Matrix’s multiple storylines are all fictitious accounts of man’s faith in something greater (Noah’s Ark—The Oracle’s creation of a better Matrix, Moses parting of the Red Sea—Neo stopping the sentinels etc.)—it’s all relative. And that’s what makes the brainchild of the Wachowski’s so masterful, so original, so ahead of its time, and so important—they have created a cinematic religion. A religion with the purpose and intent of any other religion that man has ever created—to question. They question society. They question our current way of life. They question our existence. They question our biased system. They question our past. They want peace, humanity, love, and hope to reign supreme. It’s all circling throughout the beautiful narrative of the final entry to the Wachowski’s religious wake-up-call of a journal to society.

This, brings us to ‘Revolutions’—the film that illuminates the light in which the Wachowski’s were trying to shine from the beginning. It is the film that solidifies the entire trilogy’s reason and purpose for existing. It is a film that does exactly what the final part of a trilogy is supposed to do: which is to reveal something you believed to be true from the previous two flicks and turn that entire belief upside down (that of the meaning and reason this trilogy was even created). With Neo, our savior, in a coma and beside him lying “Agent Bane Smith” as I like to call him, in a similar coma, and all the questions of the Matrix hanging in the balance to be answered, the film begins just as ‘Reloaded’ left off—with tension and inquiries mounting. And that tension never lets up as ‘Revolutions proves to be a mind-rollicking, hair raising, action/sci-fi/adventure movie while at the same time being the brilliant commentary on our time and a creation of the Wachowski’s Matrix religion for which the entire premise was created.

From there, we find that Neo is trapped in a place between The Matrix and the real world. A train station that has a train which travels in and out of the Matrix for none other than The Devil himself—The Merovingian (we’ll get to that a little later). A man known as ‘The Trainman’ oversees it. A fact that is told to Neo by a young Indian girl named Sati that stands before him when he awakes. Her parents are there with her. Her father had to make a deal with ‘The Devil’ to get Sati freed. He speaks to Neo of love, peace, karma, and happiness and Neo finds that even programs can grasp the concept of human emotion—something that a particular program named Smith rejects fully. Then, we go back to our other heroes, Morpheus and Trinity, as they receive a call from Seraph to meet with the Oracle at once. When they arrive, they see the Oracle’s appearance has changed (something that was an idea of the Wachowski’s to be written into the script before the amazing Gloria Foster’s passing, she is now played by the wonderful Mary Alice), because she fears for her life. She has made a choice that she must now face the consequences of and she will do so out of faith in Neo. She tells Morpheus that Neo needs everyone’s help and to help him they (Morpheus, Trinity, and Seraph) must find the Trainman, get the location of The Merovingian, and demand for Neo’s releasing.

The next scene is huge because in every religion if there’s an extreme of good, there must be an extreme of evil. This is when the Wachowski’s true vision begins to unfold. After tracking down the Trainman, they head to The Merogvingian’s club (This is where The Merovingian’s correlation with the Devil is revealed). After pummeling some bouncers outside of the club, Morpheus, Trin, and Seraph, head into an elevator where Morpheus presses a red button, labeled “Hell”—which is the lower chamber of The Merovingian’s spot. After an eye-popping action sequence harkening back to exhilarating first film, they proceed inside the club. Where the Merovingian sits, dressed in an all black suit, a red shirt, and red tie (devilishly charming), with his beautiful wife (who is obviously over the knob job he got in ‘Reloaded’ or was she ever mad?, my guess is that kiss from Persephone in ‘Reloaded’ is what put Neo in the Train Station coma to begin with). As they negotiate, the Merovingian asks for the Oracle’s (or the “fortune teller’s, as he so eloquently puts it) eyes in exchange for their savior. But Trinity says F-that and opens up a can-o-whoop-ass and tells him that either Neo gets freed or they all die right then and there. So, naturally, Neo is freed. After being freed, Neo knows he must now see the Oracle, for he doesn’t know what his next move will be because of all the clouded doubt that surrounds him. She tells him that she sees the “darkness spreading”, that “everything that has a beginning, has an end”, her reason for existing (to unbalance the equation of existence that The Architect so erratically tries to balance (because to have good there must be evil, to have light there must be darkness, and to have the sun there must be the moon), and that by the end of the night, the fate of not only The Matrix world but the real world will be in the hands of either him or Smith. This, is all a metaphor for reality. As I’ll delve into more later, Smith represents that cynical, inhumane, evil, and power-stricken leader that wants nothing short of world domination (a.k.a Adolph Hitler) who is needed for the simple purpose of giving everyone on earth, despite race, religion, gender, nationality, class, or government affiliation, a reason to stand together in peace and fight together for survival (World War)—the entire film is this understandable if you pay attention.

To begin, I must take you back to the previous film (‘Reloaded’) because like a good sequel is supposed to, ‘Revolutions’ ultimately makes ‘Reloaded’ an even better picture albeit being a superior film in it’s own right. Remember the 35-minute-sequence in Zion people were in disarray over—the one I knew would pay off in the finale, when the Counselor and Neo had a conversation about humans and machines at the engineering level of Zion. The conversation that leads to the Counselor discussing how machines keep humans alive and humans keep machines powered but at the same time machines are coming to kill them and when Neo came to the conclusion that humans need machines and machines need humans—meaning that the two beings had to find some sort of way to coexist. Yeah?!? Well, that reason is Smith. That is his purpose. To threaten both the world of the Machines (The Matrix) and the world of free humans (Zion) and give both worlds a reason for peace and to ultimately end the war between the two because they “have to coexist”. This, is another plea by the Wachowski’s, because it is sad that we sit and wait for that terrorist (hello! Bin Laden, 9/11) to come along and give us a reason to stand together and coexist despite our differences (whether racial, social, or otherwise)—but we do.

Though, Smith does have some trouble dealing with his purpose. He doesn’t believe in fate, love, freedom, or peace. He wants to rule the world. There’s a brilliant sequence that involves Smith (Hugo Weaving is absolutely amazing in the entire film, to me the best supporting performance this year) with Seraph and Sati (“Oh, I’m not so bad, once you get to know me”, Smith says) and then Smith with the Oracle. When Smith reaches the Oracle, the film’s dialogue shines immensely. He asks her, “if she’s the all powerful Oracle, then why in the hell would she sit in the room and wait on him to get there knowing that when he reached her he would spread into her program as well”—now we know why (that damn Oracle, she’s a sneaky, sneaky, bastard). Then, he gets mad and slams a plate of cookies against the wall and yells, “maybe you knew I was gonna do that? Maybe you didn’t?”. It’s funny as hell (no pun intended). You gotta see it! The Oracle then has to come face-to-face with her decision when she let’s Smith spread through her like the viral infection he is and become some sort of “Super Smith”. But that was all a tactical choice that we’ll get to later.

The film then shifts to Zion and the defense back home. I won’t delve into this in deep meaning, but I will say it is the most realistic CGI battle scene ever put on film, an action fan’s dream, and a flawless hook by the Wachowski’s to keep the spoonfeeders glued to their seats. And it is a great sequence showing the love Zee has for Link and shows what Kid’s meaning in the film is—He represents the future, the (as they so blatantly put it with the name they gave him) kids! How they need to be willing to fight for what’s right and believe in something greater, because they are the future. They are the next generation. They are important. There are also some great performances in this sequence as well, one by Harry J. Lennix as Commander Lock and a surprisingly powerful performance by Nathaniel Lees as Captain Mifune. But it all pales in comparison to what comes next.

The last 30 minutes of ‘Revolutions’ is really where they film becomes the ultimate love letter to the Wachowski’s religion, philosophy, and commentary of the times. After being blinded by Bane, yes, Neo is now the ‘Blind Messiah’, he and Trinity head to the Machine City to the Source to find a solution to war before it’s too late. There’s a surreal, out of this world, and simply unbelievable feel to ‘Revolutions’ during this entire sequence. As you can tell by the film’s mood, Neo and Trinity’s shared love will come down to this. The fact that Neo is the first of the Ones’ to fall in love becomes crucial. And their love will ultimately be given a purpose, a reason for existing—and it does. That reason is to embed into Neo a reason to fight for peace, to feed him that food for thought so he can make the difficult decision that lies ahead for him. After escaping from Sentinels, Neo and Trinity, fly towards the sky into the darkly clouded abyss and then, we are treated to a beautiful shot. The ship flies out of the darkness and into the light. Trinity and Neo get to see the beautiful sun’s glare, not the one from the Matrix, the real sun. They get to see the beauty of white clouds glistening from the sun’s light, light with no darkness, and a boyishly blue sky. They get to see existence. If this doesn’t move you—seek help. Seconds later, they plunge back down into the darkness and are recked by the sentinels. The light doesn’t last long—especially for Trinity. As she lies helpless on the floor the ship, bleeding from wounds to her chest and stomach, she dies. This scene showcases some darn good acting by Keanu who is more than believable when he breaks down into tears from her death—or maybe it was just because his eyes were covered? Interesting.

Anyway, what we do know, it is her death and his love for her, which prompts Neo to do what he does next. With nothing but a mere shred of hope to guide him, Neo walks into the Source mainframe. The mainframe looks like something out of The Wizard of Oz, but it’s dark and sinister. He tells them that the program Smith has grown beyond their control and that he will eventually become powerful enough to destroy both Machine and Humans alike unless they let him fight—for a peace (truce) between human and machine—because as mentioned earlier, they “have to coexist”. This, is yet another metaphor by the Wachowski’s saying that someone’s leader, whether the terrorist’s, the government’s, or the people’s leader has to come forward and be willing to die in the name of peace and maybe, just maybe, others will follow. The machines accept Neo’s offer and sends him back into The Matrix to fight and ultimately discover his purpose as the one.

This, leads to the Super Burly Brawl, which not only showcases live action Dragon Ball Z stunts, ONE HELL OF A PUNCH, and a brilliant performance by Hugo Weaving—but the meaning of this trilogy as well. After Smith has Neo down and out, he begs, yells, pleads, and demands Neo to explain to him why he is fighting: “is it for love, peace, or freedom”, he asks standing in a crater that he and Neo’s bodies created after they descend from over 50,000 miles in the air. Neo stands up, gazes into Smith’s confused and hopeless eyes, and says, “He fights because he chooses too”. This infuriates Smith because he sees peace, love, karma, freedom, and choice as illusions created by man to justify his existence. His rage allows him to beat Neo into a corner—a corner that he has seen before. “This is it”, he says. “This is the end….this is how I’ve seen it…you were there and you were lying there just like that and I was standing here….and then I’m supposed to say something, I say, I say, ‘Everything That Has a Beginning Has an End’.” Eureka! The same words the Oracle said to Neo. Neo notices those words and realizes the Oracle’s choice—to sacrifice her self and become Smith so that she could help him in his quest when the time was needed. This allows Neo to discover his purpose—to die. To sacrifice himself, destroy Agent Smith, end the threat to both The Matrix and Zion, and ultimately end the war between humans and machines in the name of peace. And that’s exactly what he does. The final shot of Neo’s body being carried away by the Source is eerily ironic to the crucifixion of Christ, further justifying the creation of the Wachowski’s religion.

Another metaphoric scene is the final one. When the Architect approaches the Oracle and tells her that “this was a very dangerous game you played”, then she says, “Change always is”. This is the Wachowski’s speaking directly to the audience. Yes, this change, this religion, this way of thinking, this new system of law will be difficult and dangerous to pursue—but it is a necessity. So when The Architect asks, “How long do you think this peace is going to last?”, and The Oracle replies, “As long as it can.”, we should all know that this, is the Wachowski’s saying peace is the answer, but by the law of physics, the nature of humanity, and necessity to balance the equation of existence peace will fall and then and only then must it be pursued again—their will never be a perfect utopia, a Pleasantville because it’s not in our nature. There are also questions surrounding Sati, who Smith refers to as “the last exile”, and who obviously possesses power to control certain things in The Matrix. But those are questions that needn’t be discussed because I don’t see a sequel in the making—not by the Wachowski’s anyway, but maybe by Joel Silver. Is she the next Oracle? The next One? Something greater? I don’t know. It’s the only unsolved mystery in the puzzle. For the solved mysteries, which are the pieces to the entire film that is ‘Revolutions’, I must say it couldn’t of came to any better conclusion. The Brothers W didn’t look for easy answers to their brainchild. Didn’t look for a scapegoat or a cop out. They held their breath and dove nose first into a realm beyond the imagination and found the inspiration to create this epic trilogy. It is a colossal work of art, a masterpiece, an instant classic, an amalgamation that so effortlessly weaves, biblical, philosophical, and social facets into a melting pot of exhilarating, mind-blowing cinema. It is the greatest work of our time. It is the creation of a cinematic religion, a vision so beyond it’s years it’s scary, a visual juggernaut, a film lover’s feast. It is the reason—the very purpose for cinema to exist.



SystemicAnomaly's Avatar
0100001101001101
^^^bravo!!

i feel exactly the same way.
__________________
I am a systemic anomaly inherent to the programming of the matrix



I think anyone who really sits down and analyzes these remarkable films must come up with "something" similar. I knew there had to be some people who were on the same page as I, that's why I posted it.



SystemicAnomaly's Avatar
0100001101001101
Originally Posted by Cedric_M_Grant
I think anyone who really sits down and analyzes these remarkable films must come up with "something" similar. I knew there had to be some people who were on the same page as I, that's why I posted it.
and i thank you for posting it. The best review of the trilogy as a whole..and it totally embodies how i feel about these movies. awesome.



Originally Posted by SystemicAnomaly
The best review of the trilogy as a whole..
Thanx, man. I have been reading some awful reviews and some even worse renditions of people's bogus takes on what the films' mean, and I felt the need to share my opinion.



A system of cells interlinked
It's a shame more people don't pick up on these ideas.

Next time I run across one a person who doesn't, I will send them here to read this review, as it is the best I have seen so far!

Good Work

Sedai

PS Hi all!



I've read ur first two paragraphs so far and I am eager to read the rest because what ur saying is what im thinking. Totally agree with the first two paragraphs, I just dont have enough time to read a whole book right now...anychance i can get this thread on tape?

but in a serious sense...Keep up the good work buddy!
Although u may have noticed the thread about this same movie a couple lines down...
__________________
"I hope movie directors and actors hate stupid people as much as I do." - Me



Django's Avatar
BANNED
No denying that the Matrix movies are an ingenious myth--definitely even a cult phenomenon. Very interesting review. Thanks.



very impressive.

i like what you had to say. you hit it on the head. my own thoughts are these however. it's a movie. it saddens me when people dig too deep that they get lost in their own interpretations that destroys the simple fact of what this is. it's a movie. it's entertainment. a cult? i hope not, because it is just a movie. just let it be. there were a few points that weren't fully explained(or i didn't get it), and i accepted it. why? because the movie was friggin awesome. all of them. i found the dance and sex scene unnecessary and a little barbaric for all of the people of zion who were highly advanced in technology, but i accepted it. you just had to. any movie that hits you so hard with a plot twist so early in a movie, as finding out that humanity lived in a dream world, has no where to go but straight through the roof of the box office.

i thank you for your intense efforts in writing your complete posting as you have done. i could not believe how long it was. very impressive. loved reading it. like you, i got tired of reading lackluster reviews totally bombing the movie. the same idiots that gave spider-man 1 1/2 stars after a weekend of blowing every record out of the water. i just don't understand, or at least i didn't. thanks for clarifying that for me. i appreciate it.

ps there is no spoon



there's a frog in my snake oil
Nice way of doing it Ced. I've got the interpretation bug, but this is a wiser way of doing it (tho i don't agree with all your interpretations - but as you say, that's the point. There are many potential explanations for this film. One thing i thought was a shame tho was that, for a film designed to bring in the mono-brow in all of us, it could have done with some more silver service when it came to core messages. As it is, i think people'll just see what they want to see. A 2nd coming story. Some kung fu jackanory [a british kiddie's story show that is ]. Whatever.)

Originally Posted by Cedric_M_Grant
The next scene is huge because in every religion if there’s an extreme of good, there must be an extreme of evil.
Yes, but i think a core thing you haven't mentioned is the bros' representation of good-and-bad being strongly-linked/parts of the same whole - something which is dangerously segregated in monotheistic religions (IMO) [i.e. the idea of pure good and pure bad being seperate, opposite entities. The idea that they can stand alone - universally, forever as it were. The Matrix presents us with internal struggles both within Smith and Neo, but also with their shared struggle that must end in their termination - At first i thought a symbiotic relationship forming between them might have provided grounds for some practical expositions of technology-humanity symbiosis now and in the future, but seeing as how they've both become so extreme, i'm happy with the use of their death to back up the central strand of everything-ends/changes]

This is when the Wachowski’s true vision begins to unfold. After tracking down the Trainman, they head to The Merogvingian’s club (This is where The Merovingian’s correlation with the Devil is revealed).

After pummeling some bouncers outside of the club, Morpheus, Trin, and Seraph, head into an elevator where Morpheus presses a red button, labeled “Hell”—which is the lower chamber of The Merovingian’s spot.
Ok, so would you say the Oracle stands as his parallell God figure then? Granted Merog is a "fallen" program if you like, and Neo could be seen as the Oracle's kid in some ways [or that of the equilibrium-posse that is the Oracle-Architect combination] but the analogies become a tad messy it seems to me. Tho Merog is of course fully possessed by our most fleshy human desires - the classic definition of devilish behaviour, but it's just funny to see the devil relegated to a bit part then, if they're trying to use the monotheistic framework to prompt re-assessment. I don't honestly think a ferocious believer is going to accept other "devil" figures i.e. Smith etc (and it's these unreasonable people the films are trying to reach then, surely. To affect them wouldn't they have to have a clear, consistant, one-big-bad-guy devil figure and then subvert that? Basically, overall, i question the Matrixes ability to change minds - and films in general i'm afraid, to touch those who think differently from the makers. And that was my biggest disappointment in Revolutions. I thought they might just succeed in that. Tho i was undoubtably asking too much)

(who is obviously over the knob job he got in ‘Reloaded’ or was she ever mad?, my guess is that kiss from Persephone in ‘Reloaded’ is what put Neo in the Train Station coma to begin with).
Erm, really? How so? And why the long time delay in reaction then?

As they negotiate, the Merovingian asks for the Oracle’s (or the “fortune teller’s, as he so eloquently puts it) eyes in exchange for their savior.
I did love the touch where the Oracle actually reads his palm etc (whether for psychology value, or coz it hints at the idea that we are more than our minds - the body not only gives signals of our mental thoughts - but indeed IS part of our mental thoughts - a giant filter for what we perceive before messages even reach the brain etc etc)

I also thought it was classy how she didn't tell him he wasn't the One in the first film. She let him tell her. Very responsive. Very human-understanding. Classy (can you remember what the sign above her door translated as btw. Didn't notice it in your pretty damn comprehensive post)

She tells him that she sees the “darkness spreading”, that “everything that has a beginning, has an end”, her reason for existing (to unbalance the equation of existence that The Architect so erratically tries to balance (because to have good there must be evil, to have light there must be darkness, and to have the sun there must be the moon),
For sure, the repetition of the equilbrium message there is nicely done - in everything from their speech/thought patterns to their actions to their limitations. Classy. And now that i've re-assessed the "everything that.." message as being one of Change-is-inevitable, and the one true consistancy in life, i'm a lot happier with it. You must recognise the "bad" and fight for the "good", in yourself, and your environment etc (tho i still feel some other "soundbites" might have helped give a more expositional-clarity to their message - something we could all carry away - but then argue about the process of application - which is what "quality-assessment" and pursuit is all about after all).

Smith represents that cynical, inhumane, evil, and power-stricken leader that wants nothing short of world domination (a.k.a Adolph Hitler) who is needed for the simple purpose of giving everyone on earth, despite race, religion, gender, nationality, class, or government affiliation, a reason to stand together in peace and fight together for survival (World War)—the entire film is this understandable if you pay attention.
Hmm, see here i'm not convinced with this definition. I think Smith contains those elements, but is broader too (technology's worst potentials, the poisoning viral yet "logical" nature hate can take on etc etc). The problem with this exposition happens when you link it to 9/11 for example. Hateful things may unite others, but it's this simplistic WW2 appraisal that has lead to an ironic increase in hatred/"evil"/disonance since 9/11. i.e. (to talk about reality for a bit - or what we know of it ) - what we HAVEN'T seen is a world-united against the negatives (unless you count people lining up against Bush ). I don't want to get into all the details - but suffice to say that 9/11 actually produced more globally-damaging american-insularity for a while, followed by a woefully simplistic attempt to fix the problem [and to my mind, a deliberately decepetive and way-off-mark attempt at that]. Which has caused more problems and fixed none (according to the CIA, Bremner, the Brit intelligence etc etc - i.e. to the extent that they say terrorism has been increased by this action - and a peaceful and/or democratic resolution in iraq looks very unlikely at present]. And the cause of this problem is in part the people we want to save. But another cause is the problems inside the Bush/Blair admins and their approach. Good and evil in all - try and simplify it to white-nights and bad-barons and you get nowhere fast. You just pull another veil into place.)

There's no easy target here. No bad guy we can shoot at without shotting ourselves in the foot. Neo created Smith, and he had to deal with him. If you wanna address a problem - look inside yourself first and foremost. In this case [nationally speaking] - that means examining links to Saudi Arabia - negative activities in the Middle-East on "our" part etc and addressing of the destructive dogma on the part of the residents living there [and on and on - that's the point, as you've said - our politicians do a lot of basically "evil" destructive stuff on a day-to-day basis that has set all this in motion - in conjunction with the insanities of religious extremism. We need to address both of these things. Not let the politicans talk BS while they chalk up petrodollar profits and political point-scoring at the cost of people's lives].

[NB - detailed discussion of how we might be able to influence these things for the better etc should probably go on the "prepared for war but not for peace" thread, or somewhere similar]

Remember the 35-minute-sequence in Zion people were in disarray over—the one I knew would pay off in the finale, when the Counselor and Neo had a conversation about humans and machines at the engineering level of Zion. The conversation that leads to the Counselor discussing how machines keep humans alive and humans keep machines powered but at the same time machines are coming to kill them and when Neo came to the conclusion that humans need machines and machines need humans—meaning that the two beings had to find some sort of way to coexist. Yeah?!? Well, that reason is Smith.

That is his purpose. To threaten both the world of the Machines (The Matrix) and the world of free humans (Zion) and give both worlds a reason for peace and to ultimately end the war between the two because they “have to coexist”.
I agree these are all good sentiments in the film. However, i'm a touch confused by your use of "purpose". Do you mean in the film-structure - or are you suggesting a higher controlling forcer (personally i believe in a type of darwinistic chance and consistant-change bringing about this equilibrium-necessity in life. Competition-n-cooperation. Destruction-n-creation. And in human-instigation cases, the balance of the Oracle and Architect within us all perhaps - both balancing on the frothing waves that are the world/universe in motion. Etc etc etc.)

“This is it”, he says. “This is the end….this is how I’ve seen it…you were there and you were lying there just like that and I was standing here….and then I’m supposed to say something, I say, I say, ‘Everything That Has a Beginning Has an End’.” Eureka! The same words the Oracle said to Neo. Neo notices those words and realizes the Oracle’s choice—to sacrifice her self and become Smith so that she could help him in his quest when the time was needed. This allows Neo to discover his purpose—to die. To sacrifice himself, destroy Agent Smith, end the threat to both The Matrix and Zion, and ultimately end the war between humans and machines in the name of peace. And that’s exactly what he does. The final shot of Neo’s body being carried away by the Source is eerily ironic to the crucifixion of Christ, further justifying the creation of the Wachowski’s religion.
The idea of sacrifice in life is vital certainly. But again, don't you feel the religious symbolism drove the story too much into a Christian corner? Bit uninclusive isn't it?

Another metaphoric scene is the final one. When the Architect approaches the Oracle and tells her that “this was a very dangerous game you played”, then she says, “Change always is”. This is the Wachowski’s speaking directly to the audience. Yes, this change, this religion, this way of thinking, this new system of law will be difficult and dangerous to pursue—but it is a necessity. So when The Architect asks, “How long do you think this peace is going to last?”, and The Oracle replies, “As long as it can.”, we should all know that this, is the Wachowski’s saying peace is the answer, but by the law of physics, the nature of humanity, and necessity to balance the equation of existence peace will fall and then and only then must it be pursued again—their will never be a perfect utopia, a Pleasantville because it’s not in our nature. There are also questions surrounding Sati, who Smith refers to as “the last exile”, and who obviously possesses power to control certain things in The Matrix. But those are questions that needn’t be discussed because I don’t see a sequel in the making—not by the Wachowski’s anyway, but maybe by Joel Silver. Is she the next Oracle? The next One? Something greater? I don’t know. It’s the only unsolved mystery in the puzzle. For the solved mysteries, which are the pieces to the entire film that is ‘Revolutions’, I must say it couldn’t of came to any better conclusion. The Brothers W didn’t look for easy answers to their brainchild. Didn’t look for a scapegoat or a cop out. They held their breath and dove nose first into a realm beyond the imagination and found the inspiration to create this epic trilogy. It is a colossal work of art, a masterpiece, an instant classic, an amalgamation that so effortlessly weaves, biblical, philosophical, and social facets into a melting pot of exhilarating, mind-blowing cinema. It is the greatest work of our time. It is the creation of a cinematic religion, a vision so beyond it’s years it’s scary, a visual juggernaut, a film lover’s feast. It is the reason—the very purpose for cinema to exist.
I thought the way it was left open for Neo to be alive was a bit unfortunate. I thought there were probably better ways to allude to the unknown - or further "veils" to be removed if you like. Otherwise i liked those elements of the ending.

Nice review mate. Hope my stuff didn't niggle you to much
__________________
Virtual Reality chatter on a movie site? Got endless amounts of it here. Reviews over here



A system of cells interlinked
Great posts peeps...

Another concept I like thinking about, off the religious vein, is the way we are inextricably connected to machines today. They touch briefly on this is reloaded when they go to engineering and I love this concept! 100 years ago, noir style writters of the time spun tales of a nightmare future dominated by technology, with hideous belching smokestacks everywhere, bad air, failing health and weird new viruses running rampant through the populace This sounds like our current reality to me.

One idea that rose up out of this was the separation of the community, the isolation of the individual. You know it's funny, all of our "progress" in communication and transportaion and we are moving slower and getting less connected to each other all the time. Moving faster now you say? The world is, to be sure, but take this number into consideration.

When our main mode of vehicular transport was horse drawn buggy/carriage, the average speed of a vehicle in New York city was 11.5 mph. Today it is 5 mph, on a good day. We have a variety of new ways to communicate (IM's, email etc, telephones, video conference) yet most people I know seem to feel more disconnected from their family and friends than they did 10 years ago. Personally, I feel like society has turned into a giant machine, chewing through human fuel to churn out products and services in a never-ending nightshift in some basement factory of the galaxy.

Grim outlook? You bet, but it's the way of the world today and we have to live here. This leads to the concepts set forth by the arcitect about full system breakdown, or overload. When is this going to happen to our society? All systems MUST break down, we have seen it countless times throughout history.

I guess all we can do is keep helping others around us, be kind to each other and do our best to consume less and contribute more. I believe that is what these filmes were trying to say as well, and it is why they put the primal, tribal Zion scenes in the films.

Cheers

Sedai



technology, what a wonderful thing... and yet, with all the fancy conveniences society has been blessed with, it has made society lazy.

but as the counselor was getting at, it's the way of things. a circle of life. one is connected to the other. i may tend to be lazy and want things done faster and more convenient...



what the hell was i saying again?

oh well, there is no spoon



there's a frog in my snake oil
YEah Sedai, i'm with you on the moving-faster-to-get-slower thing. I'm a big believer in the idea that we need to counter-balance the negatives of every new technology that emerges. Currently i feel there are actually some huge negaties building up (just consider the speed at which these things happen now - and the after-math of what has gone before. Agriculture orginally decreased life-span/health when introduced, but could support more people. There's an element of this quantity-over-quality aspect to much improvement. As with the industrial revolutions, such orchestrated advances bring negatives that we must adapt to - and this takes time. We've dealt with many of the health issues of living in large communities etc etc (tho much of this could all got to pot, if antibiotics lose their efficacy due to irresponsible use for example)- but newer problems are less tangible. Look at DDT as modern example of a technology where the downside has been ignored. It's still used to this day for mosquito control etc - despite potential devestation to ecosytems and concurrent economic/life-quality loss [and the fact that it's finally been banned most everywhere now]. And that's one from the fifties. The industrialised world actually has far lower sperm counts, and higher cancer and allergy rates than the industrialising/non-industrialised world. And this is now considered to be way beyond reporting changes and life-expectancy. It's linked to the pesticides on our foods, the numerous chemicals floating around our daily lives and ecosytems, even apparent hormonal change due to excessive oestrogen levels (yes there's a lot of debate, but teenage girls are maturing much earlier, and this is strongly connected to increased risk of brest cancer in middle-age. Whatever the cause, the cancer increase is there.).

Basically, it's time we adopted a more precautionary approach in a lot of areas. Advances are only advances when they don't kill us, or take the quality-of-life peg down rather than up in an unmanageable/unaddressed way.

Originally Posted by PenclArtst
technology, what a wonderful thing... and yet, with all the fancy conveniences society has been blessed with, it has made society lazy.

but as the counselor was getting at, it's the way of things. a circle of life. one is connected to the other. i may tend to be lazy and want things done faster and more convenient...



what the hell was i saying again?

oh well, there is no spoon
One simple "equation" i take away from the M series is this idea of keeping tabs on good-n-bad in technology and people (we're inextricably linked as the Counsellor points out - and the nature of this equilibrium will grow and change over time - so here we have any easy concept consistancy and change - a model for judging the "quality" of all our actions and creations). There's potential for self-reinforcing growth if the positive sides are working in tangent, and vice versa (as powerfully portrayed by Smith, it seems).

As for the spoon. I find that even the most delightful sides of Buddist thought have one major problem (just as analytical/reductionist thought lacks a holistic appreciation of the world which goes beyond the completely-analysable) - Practical, day-to-day focus. This what i would have like to see unified a touch more - the benefits of holistic and reductionist thought operating in conjuction. It's a huge call, and no surprise the bros disappointed me. I was basically asking both thought-practices to be stretched beyond their boundaries - for Buddist/holistic/instinctive appreciation to be more defined through specific "dictates" on best action, and for scientific/mechanistic/reductionist thought to be broadened to include the undefinable or untestable or spiritual/mystical.

We can "know" there is no spoon, but can we connect ourselves to the moon and back and still dance round the day-to-day flack? The car that gives you a whack doesn't care that we're all actually One - but we can cut the driver more slack if he was avoiding somebody's son.

If that made any sense



you talk like the architect



there's a frog in my snake oil
Originally Posted by PenclArtst
you talk like the architect
But i make biscuits like the oracle [actually, i just smoke like the Oracle ]



A system of cells interlinked
Originally Posted by PenclArtst
you talk like the architect
Gol may talk like the architect, but he has a ton of great ideas

Actually, the architect is saying some pretty basic things, the scene was just written to confuse. Erratic flow to the conversation (monolouge really) and some unusual words thrown in for flavor, but after multiple viewings the scene becomes quite clear. I think this scene is why a lot of folks complained after they saw the film for the first time and insisted it didn't make any sense. Now many of these same people (the ones I interact with anyway) have changed their opinion of the second film and love it just as much as we do now

Cheers



sounds good to me



Wow dude. That is one hell of a review. I am sure glad that someone loved the matrix movies enough to right a article like that. I am with you on everything. You tell em whats up.