[mephisto]

Dont see this movie. The gun play is ok the plot and script suck. I wonder what the robo guns are. I left very let down thinking "was die Hölle". Its like the old move the showed before the matinee, if you know what i mean, (i dont want to give it away, although i should). They needed to throw in a No. 4 MKII and a Styer M-9 to make it worth it, i belive i was a Mak in there though.:evil: see finding nemo.

[Mark Tyson]

Am I the only one who didn't like the first movie and never saw the others?

[Correia]

You guys watch the Matrix for the plot? :) I'm there for the explosions and kung fu.

[Schuey2002]

One question:

Were there any Glock 18's used in this movie? :uhoh:

[Justin]

Just a note to those who've seen it from one who hasn't:

If you chime in on this thread, please don't post any spoilers that give away the story.

[Jack19]

Am I the only one who didn't like the first movie and never saw the others?

Nope.

[Nightcrawler]

I just saw it. It was mildly entertaining, and worth the $5.00 matinee price. Still, like Revolutions, it tried to get all preachy and philosophical, and strayed from the given basic equation: Guns and Kung-Fu are fun to watch.

[ShaiVong]

Yeah. Neither one were strong on the acting, but the Kung Fu and Gun Fu scenes were UNREAL (at the time). Smith vs Neo in the subway? The Lobby? The Gatling Gun!

It was a visual pleaser. They started focusing too much on the plot and characters, and the problem with that is... well there ARE no plot or characters! The rest of the movie was drab and dull enough so that the action scenes were awesome. *sigh*, I'll just have to see the last one to get it over with though :rolleyes:

[Destructo6]

Mark, you're not alone. The premises are idiotic, the acting is bad, and the plots stink. I only see them for free and I still feel cheated.

Keannu Reeves should stick to the Bill and Ted parts that fit him.

[Nightcrawler]

So like, Morpheus? I talked to the Oracle, man. She like said I'm not The One, and stuff....right...I know dude, total bummer...I was like totally pumped about being The One and stuff too...dude I know...

Keanu, you couldn't act your way out of a paper bag. Just deal with it.

[Kamicosmos]

The first one floored me. I felt like a kid watching it, I got so into it...learning along with the characters how they could bend reality.

And the guns....

And Trinity in her PVC.

I saw it in the theater at least 5 times.

Reloaded I saw once in the theater, and once on DVD.

I will go see this one too, but more to just see how they tie it all up.

And to see Trinity in her PVC... :D

[ShaiVong]

I don't understand it at all. Can't Keanu scrape up one IOTA of emotion!? Aaaaaaggghhh!

[ocabj]

Personally, I liked Revolutions. There were some aspects that I didn't like (not enough scenes with Monica Bellucci in that great cleavage exposing dress), particularly the very very end of the movie.

Overall, I felt it brought closure, a lot of action, a decent story line.

Comparing the 2nd and 3rd with the 1st is unjustifiable. The Matrix was, when it was released, a fresh idea with ground breaking special effects. People just expected way too much from the 2nd and 3rd and it was impossible to deliver the same kind of impact of the 1st.

I feel the same way about the Star Wars movies. I still think the original trilogy are three of the greatest sci-fi cinematic works of all time, and Episodes 1 and 2 have been nowhere near as close to achieving the same quality as the originals. Yet I still found enjoyment in the new Star Wars series.

As far as acting, I thought all three movies were equally subpar. It's not Oscar winning stuff, but they can all deliver lines properly.

Overall, I do think it's worth watching. If you think it's that bad a movie while you're watching it, walk out of it and get your refund.

And if anything, you can look forward to Alien vs Predator in August of 2004.

[And yes, I was one of the nuts that waited in line at 3am to watch the 6am showing (0600 for Matrix 0 Hour showing on west coast). The movie going experience is great, isn't it?]

[Duke of Lawnchair]

Am I the only one who didn't like the first movie and never saw the others?

I still haven't seen either of the Matrices.

I also still haven't seen the two Star Wars movies that came out a few years ago...

Jim

[Carlos]

Hmmm, disappointing.

Duke, see the last two Star Wars movies. They were fun!

[ChickenHawk]

Am I the only one who didn't like the first movie and never saw the others?
I LOVED the first movie. It had breakthrough special effects, great science fiction (of which there is precious little quality stuff around), and a super story.

The acting left a little to be desired, but it's a movie, get over it! :D

The second movie had absolutely nothing new, but was full of action. If you're into action then maybe you liked it. What I hated about the second movie was that it ended 'To Be Continued' :barf:

I was really mad about that.

I'll go see the 3rd movie because I'm a sci-fi addict, but I'm not expecting much.

Cheers,
ChickenHawk

[Beren]

It sounds like I'm in the minority here, but I loved Revolutions. Except for The Kid. Everytime I saw The Kid on the screen, I could hear echoes of South Park in my head: "TIMMY!" Hello, Kid, The Matrix called and it wants its idiot back.

Smith simply rules. I cannot think of any better movie villain ever, bar none. And how about Bane's actor! He and Hugo must've worked together, because the actor did a fantastic job of 'sounding' like Smith when he talked.

The sunlight scene.

The Final Showdown. Fantastic.

Go see it if you haven't, it's a fun ride. Just try not to shout "TIMMAH!" at The Kid when he's on screen.

[MagKnightX]

Just got back from seeing it. Loved it, but am more confused than ever. Fortunately, since I got back at 0100 local time, I get tomorrow off.

Anyhoo, I don't see how they're going to make a video game out of this one. Awesome. You will see it! Just for the mechs! Go see it! Now!

[Spark]

Better than Reloaded, but still sucked compared to the original. Left a lot of questions unanswered as well.

[swingset]

So let me get this straight....

The first movie was good, 2nd movie stunk, the third was better but worse than the first?????

Dang guys, this is breaking ground here. Must be a first.:rolleyes:

[Dionysusigma]

Reloaded/ Revolutions are just parts 1 and 2 of the same 5-hour movie. I just finished seeing Revolutions half an hour ago, and I must say...

It is a fitting end to the quadrilogy (including the Animatrix).

Each makes the previous one look like a cheaply-done independant film (I should know, I've made a couple) and this time was no different. The only trouble I see with Revolutions is that it gets to a point where everything is so big and is done with so much grandeur, that it is incredibly difficult to make it any larger of an epic. There is no way of a fourth one being made because of this, short of creating a Star-Trek-like Holodeck.

Gunplay within the Matrix itself is minimal, though nice choices were made as far as weaponry goes. Kung-fu is also scant throughout most of the movie, except for... well, you'll see.

I give this movie :D :D :D :D :D out of 5 grins. It's worth seeing at least once. (unlike any Adam Sandler movie ever made;) )

[DontShootMe]

But I recently watched Reloaded on DVD - wow, a much better movie the 2nd time around.

[Mastrogiacomo]

I liked the first one, mostly for the action. Second had good action but I rented the video -- as I will for the third but wait until it's a five night release. I frankly HATE the story as it continued for the second part and can only guess how bad it'll be. This is what happens when your movie takes on biblical overtones and neglects the plot in MHO.

[Border]

Saw the first. Entertaining, but I certainly didn't get what all the brouhaha was about! I've yet to see the sequels. I'll probably see them when they make the $5 for 3 movies section at my local video store.

[Beren]

Nooooo, you must see Revolutions once on the big screen! Go rent Reloaded and make yourself sit through it, then go see Revolutions at a matinee. It's worth the $5.

"Mr. Anderson, welcome back. We - missed - you."

[Lightsped]

So what kind of guns are shown in Matrix Revolutions? Any Glock 18s? Any good car chases?

[CatsDieNow]

Nooooo, you must see Revolutions once on the big screen!

I hope by "big screen" you meant IMAX. That is the best way to truly enjoy big mechs and explosions. (and I suppose PVC outfits too :rolleyes: )

IMAX locations and Showtimes (http://www.bigmoviezone.com/txshows/)

[hillbilly]

All we are, dude, is dust in the wind.............Dust...........Wind...........Dude......

Only, there is no spoon..............Duuuuuuuuuude

[RTFM]

-= mephisto =-
Dont see this movie. The gun play is ok the plot and script suck...

Carefull what you say on some boards, mephisto.
I made the same comment about reloaded.
I said it too sucked, and what was with the 42 minutes of rave dancing?
at SigF***M and what it got me was my IP banned and outcast as a troll from the moderator of that board :confused:

So much for having an opinion that differed from the masses.....Herd.

RTFM

[Skunkabilly]

Even the chop sockey and gun foo in the second one was pretty bad.

*sigh*

Time to watch Aliens again. Game over man game over!

[Lone_Gunman]

If you can't understand The Matrix, don't be alarmed, its very complicated, and not everyone gets it.

I would suggest you give Pro Wrestling a try... even most of the people who don't get The Matrix can still follow most of what happens on WWF.

[whoami]

Saw it...thought it was much an improvement over Reloaded (which I did like, btw), but as much as I liked it, the way they 'wrapped things up' really to my mind invalided much of the series itself.

All the risk, the blood, the sweat, and the sacrifice, and when all is said and done, it is only to in essence retain a slightly modified status quo. What was the point?

[Checkman]

While there were some weak spots the movies aren't that bad. Didn't anybody grow up reading comic books? That's all these movies are - comic books. Everythign dosen't have to be so serious does it?:confused: :confused:

[jthuang]

I'm going to see Revolutions tonite. Couldn't get tickets for yesterday. :mad:

Loved the first Matrix. Walked around for days saying "I'm going to enjoy watching you die, Mr. Anderson" to anyone who would listen. :evil:

Reloaded was definitely not as good; too many scenes were too long (playground battle, freeway chase) or extraneous (rave scene). Morpheus's speech in Zion was bland and uninspiring. Liked Seraph but the fight scene was a bit too Crouching Tiger. I bought Reloaded on DVD and I gotta say it was better on DVD ... but only because I could fast forward through the extraneous scenes! :D

I wonder if anyone is going to dress up for Revolutions this evening. On opening night for the Two Towers, there were people dressed up as Ents and everything else.

[owen]

it was definately better than reloaded.

I have a bunch of nitpicks, Mainly surrounding the mechs, and the weaponry guarding the machine city, but I'll wait until more people see it.

owen

[Ktulu]

To the people that have seen Revolutions...

If Revolutions was the only movie in the series you've seen, would you want to see the other ones?

[Destructo6]

If you can't understand The Matrix, don't be alarmed, its very complicated, and not everyone gets it.
Really? Care to explain the plot? How about the premises?

[cslinger]

Matrix Reloaded offered many innuendo and though provoking ideas as to what was going on. It set things up for a great third movie with great twists and a spectacular finale....................................what we got however was Terminator 4. No brains, no cool twists, nothing that furthered the series or gave any kind of cool explanations just a third movie written for the masses. I was sorely dissapointed.

Now for the good. The battle for Zion is well worth the price of admission. The power armor and the hot reloads were awesome. This scene was worth the money for sheer entertainment value. The gunfire was anime ludicrous and absolutely stunning. It also had a bit of a WWII movie feel to it with the city fighting and rocket attacks from the allys etc.

Special effects were great but could not sustain the movie for me. I feel like a lot of people saw Reloaded and were upset because they were forced to think and so Revolutions was re-written to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Hey maybe I just didn't get it but I felt like the Reloaded opened up so many options for the writers to make for a stunning finale and in the end I was let down.

Once again if you are looking for a good Terminator 4 action movie your money will be well spent but if you are looking for closure or twists in the Matrix plotline you may just want to see a matinee or wait for it on video.

To keep this somewhat gun related the power armor looked like they were throwing up 20mm shells from some kind of rotary gatling type weapon. Very cool to say the least. There was also a great scene remincient of the lobby scene on from the first one only on steroids which was very fun to watch.

Oh yeah and could the fact that the whole series was just a dream in some hackers head be more cliche'?
.
.
.
.
.
.
Just kidding, :D that isn't the case.
Chris

[Sean Smith]

I love how a select few Matrix fans use it as a pretext for claiming some sort of intellectual superiority, when the movies have all the depth of a car park mud puddle, with scripts obviously written by folks who flunked science class because they were too busy reading comic books.

Still, to give credit where it is due The Matrix was a great sci-fi action flick. It was well made, had jaw-dropping action, great effects, not to mention some good creepy bits (the interrogation, the "bug" :what: ) and a modicum of wit.

Reloaded seemed to set up the series for some possibly clever plot gyrations, but it didn't work that well as an actual movie. Alot of the action was tedious rather than stunning, and some scenes (e.g. the fight with a zillion Smiths) looked stunningly fake. The pseudo-philosophical mumbo-jumbo felt less like cool atmosphere/foreshadowing like it did in the first flick, and more like plain ol' bad, turgid writing. But some folks will always confuse vauge and pretentious with "deep."

The buzz on Revolutions is that they cop out of all the interesting possibilities hinted at in Reloaded, which sort of negates after the fact one of the better things about Reloaded in the first place. Oh, well, I'm sure I'll watch it anyway at the weekend matinee for cheap. I'm a sucker for stuff blowing up. :D

[Okiecruffler]

Didn't want to see the first one, Wife drags me to it, didn't like it.

Didn't want to see the second one, Wife drags me to it, didn't like it.

Don't want to see the third one, anyone want to guess where I'm going this weekend?

Funny, Wife doesn't like action movies, and yet she drags me to every Keano Reeves movie that comes out. I'm starting to see a pattern here.

[Poodleshooter]

The buzz on Revolutions is that they cop out of all the interesting possibilities hinted at in Reloaded, which sort of negates after the fact one of the better things about Reloaded in the first place.
That's my main point of contention with it. I actually prefered the kung fu in Reloaded, as there was too much parity between the Neo and Smith in Revolutions. The Seraph was much more entertaining in the kung-fu role. For gun guys, the battle for Zion IS worth the price of admission. Just don't expect as much pure kung-fu or "gun-fu" action as Reloaded.
I sure didn't get any sense of good closure on the storyline.
Speaking of big guns though, how about the Machine City's AAA? That was like watching surreal clips of WWII in the Pacific .

[Daedalus]

HEY I KNOW WE ARE FIGHTING AGAINST A LEGION OF STEEL ARMORED HELLSQUIDS BUTS LETS ONLY USE TRACER ROUNDS AGAINST THEM BECAUSE IT WILL LOOK COOL ON SCREEN.

[AJ Dual]

I really hated the ending though, where Keanu/Neo wakes up in the near-futuristic Best Buy, takes the electrodes off his head, and says "Whoah, great game, I'll buy it!"

And Hugo/Agent Smith is dressed as the sales clerk, and says in all his creepy pondersousness, "Good. I'll go ring that up for you, Mr. Anderson." Then everything fades into little computer code numbers, but this time they're blue

:neener:

[mephisto]

This is the worst movie I have ever seen. Well maybe not Kingpin bad, but bad is bad. I have to admit that there was a lot of anticipation going into it. But how can a movie be this bad. I’m not talking about the FX. I’m talking about the plot and the script. Where is the finality that we are supposed to get? It’s like watching the X-files, it gives you questions but the answers are so worthless that they leave you even more confused.

I want to like this movie, but damnit I can’t. While I was watching it I kept seeing things that had no reason for being there. You tend to think that there is some deep meaning to almost ever phrase and statement. After watching this installment I don’t think there was any meaning just FX and a slightly better than video game plot. I think that the “brothers” had a good thing going and really had no way of ending it so they made up some stupid cryptic, at best, ending that makes you want to wish that Neo never left the matrix in the first place.

Thankfully we have the Lord of the Rings trilogy, one trilogy that will not let me down. I don’t like the feeling of being used or duped but I can’t help thinking that I have been. On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being a kidney stone and 10 being on morphine while having a kidney stone, 3.73. Disappointment sucks

[cslinger]

Okiecruffler said,
Didn't want to see the first one, Wife drags me to it, didn't like it.

Didn't want to see the second one, Wife drags me to it, didn't like it.

Don't want to see the third one, anyone want to guess where I'm going this weekend?

Funny, Wife doesn't like action movies, and yet she drags me to every Keano Reeves movie that comes out. I'm starting to see a pattern here.
________________________________________________________

That, my friend, is called compromise.
:(

[Daedalus]

Funny, Wife doesn't like action movies, and yet she drags me to every Keano Reeves movie that comes out. I'm starting to see a pattern here.


Whoa.

[Justin]

Andrew, dude, you're thinking of 'eXistence' not 'The Matrix.' ;)



I said it too sucked, and what was with the 42 minutes of rave dancing?
at SigF***M and what it got me was my IP banned and outcast as a troll from the moderator of that board

So much for having an opinion that differed from the masses.....Herd.
RTFM- Don't worry. I absolutely love the Matrix series, feel free to disagree all you like. I certainly won't ban you for it. People don't get banned for disagreement. They get banned for violating the rules of conduct.

Ok, moderator hat off for a sec...

I caught 'Revolutions' last night and absolutely loved it. Some fantastic fight scenes, a live-action movie with battle mechs (how long have anime fans been waiting for that?) This is a movie that blows up GOOD.

As for all the religious/mythology symbolism, feel free to take it or leave it. Personally I *like* sitting around talking about the philosophy behind movies and tv shows, but then I'm kind of weird like that.

The impression I get from the movies is that each of the major characters has their own set of philosophical beliefs that get presented to Neo during the course of his adventures. Neo, and the viewer are free to believe them or reject them.

Personally, I think that 'Reloaded' was a victim of its own hype, which is why it got so universally panned. Five or ten years down the road people may look at it differently. (Incidentally, does anyone remember if 'Empire Strikes Back' was well recieved when it was initially released in the early '80's?)

As for gun stuff, the bar scene was truly cool. Hey, you can even see a Mateba for like 1.5 seconds at the beginning of it.

Also, does anyone know what kind of pistols Seraph was carrying? They looked like Browning BDM's, but I'm not sure.

[AJ Dual]

eXistance? LOL! I think I saw about 30 minutes of that on cable. Is that the one where 'inside' the game they kept plugging these sheep-gut looking pods into the backs of their necks?

Then once out of the game, the game-testers shot everyone?

I think everyone should watch that movie first and then no one will hate The Matrix

[ballistic gelatin]

I thought this was the best part.....:D

http://myweb.hinet.net/home1/homingyu/images/news/matrix2_rl_img_poster_monica_full_thumb.jpg

[gun-fucious]

What would be better: Neo wakes up at S Mart and Ash yells
"Deadite! This is my BOOOMSTICK! and shoots him 3 times
with a SxS shotgun while we hear a slide racking.

'The Matrix: Revolutions'

1 Star

http://www.nbc4.com/archonthearts/2617233/detail.html

Most of the creativity of the original Matrix is missing from this third installment. The original movie mixed martial arts with science fiction. The new version goes light on both, choosing instead to load up on special effects laden battle scenes.


The machines finally invade the matrix and we get a long battle that looks like the leftovers from Lucas's latest "Star Wars" projects.

They lost me in explaining the meaning of the matrix and what role Keanu Reeves plays in it, if they did explain it.


I walked out of the theater with seven words on my mind, "What the heck are they talking about?"

I think this one is too much marketing and not enough movie and certainly not creative and new in the manner of the original.

[jason10mm]

Just to keep this on topic.

What was Seraph using in the club? Looked like twin BHPs to me, VERY cool! I'm tried of the super chopped SP89 thing though, everyone has a pair of those nowadays.

What did the suits fire? 20 mike mike? They were pretty well designed, very similar to Shirows armor in the Appleseed series. But DAMN, put some armor on the front of those things!!

There IS going to be another Matrix game. It is a MMORPG like Everquest, set in the post-revolutions Matrix. My guess is that the Merovignian and crew are going to be the "bad guys".

[RustyHammer]

I gather that the Matrix is a movie?

Note to self: Need to get out more!

:D :p ;)

[Hot brass]

Matrix, I loved it, Reloaded was pretty good, will see Revolutions this week:D :D :D :D :D :D

[dustind]

The plotto all three makes a lot more sense if you know a lot about networking, databases, and computers. Even then it is nothing to write home about. Every thing and person seemed to relate to computers and computer functions very well though.

I loved the gun play too.

[Justin]

I think this one is too much marketing and not enough movie and certainly not creative and new in the manner of the original. Well duh. It's a sequel fercryinoutloud. How would you have felt if you went to go see a movie called 'Matrix 3' and what you got was Seabiscuit?

Some people's kids...:rolleyes:

[Schuey2002]

How would you have felt if you went to go see a movie called 'Matrix 3' and what you got was Seabiscuit?

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif LOL http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Archer]

Enjoyed the first. Have not seen the sequels.

I feel like a lot of people saw Reloaded and were upset because they were forced to think and so Revolutions was re-written to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

I was in Sydney where and while they filmed the sequels. They filmed both simultaneously (as one big production). So a rewrite seems unlikely.

[RTFM]

Thanks Justin, that's why I keep coming back here day after day after day after day after day you get the point.

I dig THR.

I suppose I'll buy the last one when it comes out on DVD, I just cant see going to the movie to see it.

Now T3 is out Tuesday OH YA! Time to adjust the channels on the Yamaha.

RTFM

[MAKOwner]

I'm a big Matrix fan and was a little let down by this one, it was still pretty cool just not the greatest moment in cinema ever or anything like that. I was hoping for a little more action in the Matrix too, this one was pretty lite on that actually. The coolest scenes in the movie trilogy are from Reloaded IMO, the fight in the french guys chateau and the chase scene/freeway fight were the best stuff IMO. I didn't like some parts of Reloaded or the way it left you hanging but viewed back to back with Revolutions the two add up to be pretty badass IMO. That's what you need to do, these were filmed as one movie and need to viewed as such I think, adds up to a kickass show...

For the ending I wanted more answered though. I mean *** was Smith? I wanted to see Neo really show his stuff in the Matrix and kick extreme amounts of ???, but the stuff in Reloaded was all you get to see of that. Too bad because as cool as it was I wanted to see more... I would like to see another movie, Neo/Morpheus vs some rogue forces/programs in the Matrix or something...

[Don Galt]

This was an excellent movie.

But the thing is, they don't explain things to people, and so, for instance, for many people its not obvious how or why the ending happens the way it does-- the way victory happens.

I think most people who aren't into Deep Movies just blow off their confusion and assume the movie was poorly put together-- tehy don't put the clues together to understand whats going on and so it doesn't make sense.

And so they say they are amaturish.

And then there are the people who take the situation too seriously, or ignore elements of the movie-- for instance in a darkened room, they may not have been using tracer rounds. Remembe,r this is something like 600 years into the future, and they are deep in the crust of the earth-- who knows what they are using as the propellant for the bullets in those guns. And why should they be guns that we have now? That seems kinda silly.

I think Reloaded had better action choreography, and that in Revolutions some of hte actions sequences were not as tight. But most of the stuff people object to is stuff that if it were taken out would make the movies worse-- you take out shots of zion and you have no idea what their culture is like, for instance.

IF you don't like the matrix, why go see the third movie? And if you do, and you got the original, you see why the way the next two movies went makes a lot of sense.

And the resolution here is subtle and well thought out. A typical movie ending would have been absurd in this series-- would have been totally unbelievable.

The second was the best of the bunch, and the first gets the boost of being so innovative. So this is the "worst" of the three-- but still its a 9.5/10 and better than every other movie released this year (excluding reloaded) with the possible exception of Finding Nemo, if you think such a comparison is valid.

[LiquidTension]

I thoroughly enjoyed all three of the films. I'm definitely going to see Revolutions again while it's in theaters (probably in the next few days). The acting is bad, but who cares? I wasn't expecting a Kevin Spacey performance from any of the stars in the Matrix movies. Revolutions delivered exactly what it should have - fantastic special effects, superhero fight scenes, kung fu, and guns...lots of guns. How can you not love all those machines blowing up in the real world? Or when the mechs all start firing at one spot on the wall?

Awesome movie. To each his own....

[Sean Smith]

For those who read movie reviews, The Matrix Revolutions is really taking it in the shorts...

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/TheMatrixRevolutions-1127201/

36% positive reviews for Revolutions vs. 73% for Reloaded and 86% for Matrix. Unfortunately it LOOKS like the standard trilogy trajectory.

[Spark]

Don, I'm going to have to disagree with you. I didn't like the movie and I'm fully aware of the "deep" implications. I feel that it was poorly done because it, quite frankly, didn't address any of the important ones.

It's been my theory since Reloaded that the only reason that Neo can exist is if the humans aren't really free at all - that Zion is just another Matrix-style simulation layered atop the first to keep those who reject the "nice" Matrix trapped within. Ergo, Neo is not really a human, but a program spawned to bring change to the simulation (they even allude to this in MIII when they discuss Smith).

This is the only explanation that would neatly tie up a majority of the loose ends - Neo's powers outside the "nice" Matrix (Sentinel killing in Reloaded), visions, second-sight, etc. How do they handle it? They don't. They just expect a sudden suspension of disbelief that Neo has magic powers or something. Poorly executed, especially after the nice setups. The movie was more fluff than "deep thinking"

[jthuang]

Saw Revolutions last night. Overall, not as good as the first one but not as bad as some of the newspaper reviews.

Revolutions did not have some of the totally unnecessary scenes of Reloaded (e.g. Zion rave scene) and fewer scenes that were just way too long (e.g. Agent Smith fight in the playground). The Trinity death scene was too long for my tastes, but that's about it.

I didn't like the ending. It was almost like they were setting us up for Matrix IV without Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Ann Moss.

I think the best punchline for a review on Revolutions was the following: "How about I give you the finger ... and you give me my $10 back!" :D

What did the suits fire? 20 mike mike?

On the scenes where you could see all the spent shells from APCs ... did anyone else think "why the hell are they using Blazer rounds???

[AJ Dual]

Spark, I was worried about that too, but if you think back, Neo never destroyed anything that wasn't part of the machine world. Even when Agent Smith was in the Zion guy's body, he could "see" agent smith's form, but not actually do anyting to him with his "powers", he had to kill him normally with a big wrench.

Neo was reaching through the Matrix and destroying all the machines through thier own systems and signals causing them to malfunction. He still did not have any power in the real world.

The only suspension of disbelief is that Neo has some kind of "telepathy" into the machine world and the Matrix. It could be that Neo had two minds, one that was a machine code imprint or copy of his thoughts that stayed in the matrix, and one in his normal "meat" body, and that they work together, much like the two halves (which are surprisingly independant and unconnected, BTW, but still make a "whole" individual) of our brains do.

I'll back off before getting too geeky.

Essentially the Matrix is a victim of two things, one it can never live up to the "wow factor" when the first Matrix was introduced, and there's nothing that can really be done about that. The second is as Don Galt said, the Matrix series is a "big idea" type of movie, and from that standpoint, the first Matrix was actually the weakest and most superficial of the three, even though it was the most popular.

I think that criticisims of the acting or the pacing of the film, plus technical details is perhaps valid, but I don't agree that the overall plot or ending was bad, or that it could have ended any other way than it did.

(SPOILERS, DON'T READ)

I will say that in a "Matrix only" scale of 1-10 Revolutions was only a 5 or so, but against all moviedom, it was still an 8 on my list. And I had no fault with the ending either, and felt the Wachowski's were staying true to their own story line. Reloaded touched on it, but when Agent Smith called the Oracle "Mom" it solidified that she was actually one or part of the master AI's that ran the machine world, and that she was trying to save both the machines and the humans, since they could not exist without each other.

It's clear that a big action movie style "win" either real world, or in the Matrix wouldn't work, what was Zion going to do? Rescue, feed, and clothe 6 billion people simutaneously flushed from the power plants? Even if they could, and the machines died, then what? They'd inherit a blasted Earth that probably only the machines they just destroyed would be powerful enough to restore.

Yeah, that the ending of "machines need the people and the people need the machines" is kind of cheesey compared to some of the great works of Sci-Fi in print, but for a movie treatment, it's rather deep. Especialy the idea that the machines were just as trapped as humanity was.
(END SPOILERS)

[shermacman]

Don't worry about giving away the story...there is no story, there is no plot. The first Matrix was a whole lotta fun, the second was so boring and stupid that I didn't even finish it. I won't watch the third until I can get a free pirated copy. Keanu Reaves is just awful. The pseudo-philosophy makes me grind my teeth.
Then there are guns, explosions, car chases and Trinity in PVC...
Maybe they weren't that bad!

[Destructo6]

The whole premise, that humans were being used to create energy was idiotic. Since the machines would still have to grow food to keep the humans alive, why wouldn't they ferment it instead to run alcohol-powered generators? How much energy do humans produce anyway? not much. Why would they need to keep the minds of vegetated humans occupied with the matrix anyway? What purpose does it serve? Why wouldn't they just cultivate anacephalic human bodies?

It would have made a lot more sense had the machines been using the 80% of human brains that aren't nomally used in daily life to power a gigantic semi-organic computer. The matrix could then be explained as a way to keep the other 20% occupied, which would ensure the brain stayed healthy and could be monitored for malfunctions.

If they were making a matrix of Keanu Reeves, by quartering, I might watch that: he's a one-man movie killer.

[Sean Smith]

Well, I saw Revolutions. Gotta say that I liked it more than I expected.

**VERY MINOR SPOILERS**








- The pacing, while slow in a few bits, seemed alot better than Reloaded. The movie felt like it was going someplace, something that Reloaded didn't. No dumb-??? mud dance, either.

- The action scenes had more genuine thrills. It wasn't Neo just showing off how much better than he was while barely picking up a scratch like alot of Reloaded. More grit and blood and genuine suspense. Even the 2nd Agent Smith fight, which was basically Superman vs. Superman, had more of a sense of "the good guy might lose!"

- The superficial philosophizing (they used the word "karma"? DEEEEEP, DOOOD! :rolleyes: ) is alot less tedious and seems alot more relevant to what is happening. And Agent Smith's reactions to the Oracle ARE fabulous.

- One annoying thing is that Reloaded seemed to raise some neat questions and possible future plot twists involving what is reality vs. what is the matrix, and so forth... but none of them panned out in Revolutions. It felt like they wrote Reloaded, then changed their mind and simplified reality for Revolutions.

- Anyone who has read Dune Messiah will groan when a certain scene in the movie takes place and think, "Rip-off!"

- The acting is truly dismal, especially the comically drawn-out death scenes. Just DIE already! Damn. And everything said by anybody in the lead-up to and during the fighting for Zion was a painful cliche.

- The eager-beaver dumb teenybopper kid featured in the battle for Zion should have been killed off quickly, He was annoying.

Overall? Good sci-fi action. More watchable than Reloaded, but seemed to dumb things down a bit. Fanboys who worshiped the Cliffs Notes philosophical content of the previous movies will be disappointed inside, but still pretend that the Matrix series is pure genius in order to prop up their egos with something. :neener:

[longeyes]

Personally, I'm waiting for the fourth film, the 'Natrix. That's the one about Larry W. and the Dominatrix. With a subplot about his brother's forthcoming sex change operation.

The trilogy illustrates what happens when C students read a few books they don't really understand and get hold of lots of cinematic technology. Big on sound and fury, signifying nothing. The androgynous heroes were nice--who was more anorexic, Trinity or Neo? Lawrence Fishburne has presence and a mellifluous voice; loved him in Othello against Kenneth Branaugh. Nice leather duster too. The whole trilogy is subversive leftie propaganda, which for some reason many in this forum don't seem to notice. Must be the fun gun stuff, huh? The whole thing--from the black leather and skinny shades to the cartridges dropping in hyper-slo-mo--is fetishistic fantasy.

That said, Neo's initial vision of the Matrix, courtesy of the red pill, was brilliant image-making.

[AJ Dual]

I agree with Sean and Destructo.

I've argued since the first Matrix that it should have been written in the plot that the people's brains were being used for computing power. Saying AI works only on some kind of special chip that humans had the secret to make but was lost in the first war would be a much better explanation than body heat combined with fusion. It would also nicely explain how agents could occupy the "body" of any passer-by on the street. They were moving thier program to that "processor"...

It would have still left us with the humans need machines, and machines need humans yin-yang chicken 'n egg problem too. It would have explained all that "The Matrix is that something you can feel in the back of your mind" mumbo jumbo that Morpheous was allways going on about when he was recruting Neo...

Heck, Mr. Anderson's/Neo's job in the first Matrix before he was rescued at Metacortex could even be a front for the AI's steering humans to make the fuzzy-logic quantum chips that would allow the AI's to exist without the human minds imprisoned within Matrix. All of humanithy would have been destined for the "big flush" once that chip was designed. Neo could have been the scientist who was on the verge of the breakthrough, then gotten rescued.

People freed from the Matrix would have all that "power" to flip, shoot, fly, bullet-time because they had 100% of their brains to react with.

But what's done is done.

If I could only have one thing to change, it's the kid, I agree. He's the Jar-Jar of the movie, and nothing like the mysterious little Zen-boy that the Oracle was watching over in the first Matrix. (Was that who he was supposed to be? I'll have to watch Reloaded to see who gave Neo the crude spoon as a gift...)

[Sean Smith]

What Andrew said. The other thing I'd add is that the best explanation for what was hinted at in Reloaded in various parts was that the "real world" was another layer of the Matrix, created to give the more rebellious humans and/or AIs something to do. Hence Neo's ability to influcence the "real world," which in turn would set the stage for Neo completely breaking through (or not) to the "real, real world," and leaving open the fun brain teaser of if he ever really did reach "reality" at all, and how would he know?

My ratings would go something like this:

The Matrix: 4.5/5

Innovative, fairly imaginative (it ripped off some stuff, but did it well), the mumbo-jumbo contributed to the feel of the movie, and the action was wild. Good balance of wit and a wee bit of horror, too... two things sadly lacking in the next two movies.

Reloaded: 2.5/5

Seemed to set the stage for some extreme coolness, but had long unwatchable stretches, too much exposition, and never seemed to go anywhere. Action scenes often seemed sterilized and lacking grit/suspense compared to The Matrix.

Revolutions: 3/5

Better pacing, a few groaners in terms of dialogue and acting (especially DIE ALREADY DAMMIT! type scenes), but seemed to simplify all the stuff that was set up to be complex in Reloaded. Worked better as a movie than Reloaded, but didn't realize the full potential of the set-up from Reloaded. Action had a bit more blood and grit, and was an improvement over what was seen in Reloaded.

Wee bitty *SPOILERS*















Instead we get, "real was real, Matrix was fake, and Neo just had magic powers for no reason."

I did like how Agent Smith was handled & became central to the end of the movie, and even though how he was beat may seem like a cop-out, it makes sense if you think about stuff he said about humanity in the 1st movie.

[jason10mm]

"The Kid" (I for get his real name) was a matrix-bound human who self-actualized and broke out of the matrix without any help. Neo shows up at the end just to collect his human body. This is shown in the Animatrix. For those who have not seen it, the Animatrix also has a bit showing the war between the humans and machines. It all starts when a machine kills its master (and family, including pets) after being threatened with deactivation. The 'bot is put on trial. This prompts a general backlash against 'bots and retaliation by the machines. The machines eventually found their own city and trade with the rest of the world. Eventually things degenerate again and another war starts. In an act of desperation the humans "scorch the sky", but are still not able to win. Their leadership is destroyed by a suicide robot, and the remaining humans agree to be entombed rather than destroyed.

Personally my complaint with Revolutions is much like others here, after all the mind-bending twists hinted at in "Reloaded", Revolutions just feels to pedestrian and simple. What where the previous 6 matrixes? Why did there have to be a Zion and what's the point of starting with just 23 refugees? How could a "Neo" form each time, or who was creating him? Was Anderson just a shell for a Neo program? If the machines let the humans have a new Zion each cycle, why would they allow the humans to develop EMPs and such? Why not just lace the area with nukes so they could snuff Zion out at will? Is the Architech the "Big Boss", or just a middleman struggling to keep the Matrix intact so he can keep his job? Are programs really self-aware, or just coded very well? Obviously the Agent Smith, Oracle, and Merovignian programs have become self-aware (and all got exiled because of it), but Persephone, Seraph, and others seem to single-minded about stuff and limited in their responses to situations to be truely free from their programming. Is Agent Smith even a program? In the first movie he implies that he lived outside the Matrix at one point, and could go back. Does he have a machine body somewhere? Did that machine Smith get destroyed, leaving a Neo/Smith hybrid virus behind that caused all the trouble? Was the Architech behind Smith the whole time, but lost control at some point (the Oracle implies that Smith was around to "balance" Neo)? If Neo served to gather information about humanity so the Architech could better design the Matrix, why did the Agents try to kill him so ruthlessly? Or is anyone able to transend the matrix a potential "Neo", gaining some sort of special ability once they have proven themselves? Why would the Keymaker, a necessary part of the Architechs plan to have Neo visit the Source, be considered an exile and be chased by Agents? Why would just a critical player be allowed to be kept by the Merovignian, a hedonistic rogue program? What is the train station in reality? How did the machine family get there if Neo couldn't get out? How could machines create a "child" that had no purpose? Are they just bad programmers? Why does a matrix persona look like the real human? If everyones physical body is stored in giant tubes, how do humans reproduce? If a matrix couple has a kid, is it genetically related to them (ie, sperm and eggs are harvested from the appropriate humans and then incubated in the fields)? If not, wouldn't a white couple be surprised to have a baby from a different ethnicity (if children are assigned randomly, it would happen a lot)? Why were most native Zionists black?

These are the questions that keep me up at night... ;)

Revolutions should have answered SOME of them!

[Sean Smith]

Revolutions should have answered SOME of them!

More to the point, it should have at least been acknowledged in Revolutions that these mysteries existed. It was like the points were raised in Reloaded, then by and large COMPLETELY IGNORED in Revolutions.

Imagine what a brain-melter it would have been if the Oracle said at the end, "Poor Neo never did see past the Matrix... better luck next time." :eek:

[Gewehr98]

Because, even as Justin nicely asked earlier in this thread:

Just a note to those who've seen it from one who hasn't:

If you chime in on this thread, please don't post any spoilers that give away the story.

It appears that the ending and other significant portions of the film are laid out here for all to read. :(


Which means, is it worth buying the DVD later? :scrutiny:

[Sean Smith]

Actually, unless you ignored the "SPOILER" tags for specific bits, most of the other stuff is just idle speculation, not what was actually in the movie.

[DualBerettas]

A FEW SPOILERS


i kinda felt that the there was a distinction between the real world and the matrix and throughout the trilogy mushed them together.

As far as the 'humans are batteries' analogy, i think it was that comparing the Matrix to our own current world, the machines, or gov. use us as energy (like a battery) as they suck out life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, with their laws, regulations, gun control, taxes, etc.

Too many questions in the matrix that just don't add up or don't make sense.

All that and then this let down...these movies had soooooo much potential!!!

grrr.. why could no do all the awesome things that he did and not stop Bane from blinding him or why doesn't he save Trinity?

he bleeds when Smith punches him, but lives when smith grabs him and flies with him to the ground...

SOOO many questions, one can only hope that the DVD commentaries or Matrix Revisited 2 to come out!!!!
:(

watch, I bet the M3 DVD has an 'alternate ending'...

I don't know about you, but if I got my first BIG break, with a HUGE budget, TONS of adoring fans MIMICKING the characters in the movie, and a TRILOGY which makes the fans grow closer to the characters...I would not kill off the main two characters and leave so many unanswered questions. Wonder how many will see the next Wachowski movie???:cuss:

Neo was like, invincible in the Matrix 1 and was even more bad ??? in number 2. In M3 he isn't even in the movie as much and he has a more laid back, non fighting, weak, etc. part... ***??????????????:fire:

someone help me!!!!:(

[ChickenHawk]

I just saw it. I'm enjoyed it much more than the 2nd movie. Nuff said.

ChickenHawk

[Malone LaVeigh]

Excuse me if someone already said this, but I can't believe anyone has any praise for the kung fu scenes. They could have done better with a couple of cigar store indians.

[Justin]

Ok, yer gonna call me a geek for this, but...

I watched about 2/3 of 'Reloaded' before I had to take off and catch 'Revolutions' for the second time.

Upon viewing both movies again I can say this much:

It really all does come together.

Not gonna give away any spoilers, but if you watch 'em both together they make a lot more sense. Even then, though, the answers aren't handed to you on a silver platter. Use yer noggin.

Some knowledge of the major world religions and a basic understanding of computer program theory with a dash of suspension of disbelief and it all works.

As for the idea that these films are lefty propaganda, I've gotta call shenanigans on it. While it isn't a flagwaving puff piece for the libertarian point of view it comes close.

I've argued since the first Matrix that it should have been written in the plot that the people's brains were being used for computing power. Saying AI works only on some kind of special chip that humans had the secret to make but was lost in the first war would be a much better explanation than body heat combined with fusion.I have to disagree with this idea. What are the machines? They're a bunch of slave-driving totalitarians. When was the last time you saw a society based on slavery admit that the slaves were smart enough to think for themselves, let alone out-think their self-appointed masters? Like all statists, the machines have an inherent hatred and self-inflated sense of superiority over those that they rule. The machines using humans to do the thinking for them would be like Stalin knocking on the door of a hut in rural Russia to ask for advice. Ain't gonna happen.

BTW, did anyone figure out yet what pistolas Seraph was carrying? I'm still thinking they were Browning BDM's.

[Sean Smith]

The "human battery" deal makes no sense, though. It basically just proved that the writers flunked science class. You can't get more energy out of a human than you put into them to keep them alive; in fact, you'd get dramatically less energy, since the human metabolism is comically inefficient. Most of the heat is pure waste (entropy) and completely useless. The actual electricity produced by the human body is comically feeble. Funny how a supposedly so intellectual movie is based on a premise that is so moronic.

And I think your analogy with Stalin misses the point; the machines wouldn't be taking their advice, they would be stealing the computational power of the human brains while they dream in the Matrix and directing it towards their own purposes. Think of the brains as interchangeable organic super-transistors... individually, they have no "value" and are dumped at will. Collectively, if you could exploit the theoratical computational power of 10 billion human brains, you'd really be on to something. Make the brains the modular organic hardware that runs the machine's software and your computational power would make electronic computers look like an abacus. Total mind slavery, no individual human value, just collective use to the machines. That would also explain why the machines didn't just lobotomize the humans to make them pliant while they stole their body's energy.

(I wouldn't see the machines having individual human minds inventing stuff for them inside the Matrix either; rather, they'd be using the amalgamated totality of human reason against humanity and for the machines' own purposes).

Oh well, enough nutty conjecture for me. :D

[Don Galt]

People are saying that Matrix 3 doesn't answer all the loose ends.

But they're wrong... it does. They are all tied up. Sparky- you misunderstood, Neo's effect on the machines is because he is partly a machine. He was a machine created human to serve the role of "the one" in the matrix.

I did not get all the questions answered the first time. They way they make movies is they put answers in the movies before you get to the questions. ITs not all in order and tidy like in a typical movie where every question is conveniently and quickly wrapped up.

You have to watch the movie a couple times before you get it all-- unless you're really observant.

When you've watched the movie enough , you notice how they give you the answers in multiple ways, and that repetition can get tiring after the 5th or 6th viewing.

Watch it three times and see if things are not wrapped up. Plus it takes some thinking.

But I'm aware of no loose ends.

They are not setting it up for a fourth movie-- people misunderstood what was said at the end of the movie.

[pax]

This isn't gun related anymore.

pax