Ye Olde Staging Point

Here's the deal: Ron and I, who are both nerdy sci-fi fanboys (sorry, Ron, but it's true) and who hold opposite opinions on The Matrix Revolutions, are going to post our own reviews of the flick and then respond to each other's comments/criticism, ideally with scathing insults and personal attacks. Or something along those lines. So here's my opening salvo (which contains no spoilers, although ensuing discussion might):

I am apparently the only person in the world who enjoyed The Matrix Revolutions. I won't try to counter every critique made of the movie, but I will attempt to explain why I think it was an excellent film.

Basically, I would sum it up like this: Revolutions provides a suitably epic and satisfying conclusion to the hero-myth tale begun in the first Matrix film (hereafter I'll call the films #1, #2, and #3). Importantly, it avoids the mistakes that made plagued #2 (Neo being invulnerable, Zion being a joke, the Architect and the Oracle using Really Big Words to distract us from the fact that they're not saying anything All That Deep, the final Act being a confusing mishmash of cut-scenes and not-sufficiently-explained sequences, among other things). #3 ditches much of the pretentious college-freshman-philosophy talk and gives us what we loved about #1: lots of fun action with a catchy sci-fi premise, coated with just enough high-concept elements to elevate it above standard-fare sci-fi.

In several important ways, #3 differs from its two predecessors. It's the final movie in a trilogy; it bears a slew of narrative responsibilities that the first two movies didn't have to worry about. I wonder if a lot of the criticism of this film stems from a failure to understand #3's role as a finale. Its job is to wrap up the story arcs introduced by the first two movies, to tie up the loose ends; for this reason, there is little that is "new" in #3. We know the characters by now. We know all about the story's central conflict. We have identified the themes and implications of Neo's messiah-hood ("the One") and Smith's virus-like threat ("the many"). We know, more or less, how this is going to end.

After #2, we know everything we need to appreciate the story of the Matrix trilogy. Now all that's left is to sit back and watch the as the story-threads wind their way to the conclusion.

For this reason, anyone looking for mind-bending revelations and stunning new additions to the story is looking in the wrong place. In many ways, #3 reminds me very much of Return of the Jedi (another film critiqued for being a shallow action film). Neither #3 nor Jedi introduce the sorts of mind-bending plot twists that their predecessors did (the true purpose of the One, the Vader-Luke relationship). In both movies, little time is spent further developing characters we already know well. The time for Big Revelations is over. Now it's time for action, and the movies are all about the heroes finally doing what they've been wanting to do throughout the whole trilogy: take down Evil once and for all.

I think I sound like I'm being defensive, but that's not my intent. Like Jedi, #3 succeeds smashingly well at giving us an incredibly exciting finale to a story whose ending we've long since guessed. We know what's going to happen: Neo is going to face the heart of Machine world in a spiritual showdown; Luke is similarly going to face Vader. Both know they will have a monumental Choice to make, and we the audience know in our hearts how these heroes of ours will choose. Morpheus and crew can't help Neo there, so they'll be facing off (rather hopelessly) against the machine armies just like the Rebel alliance's seemingly suicidal battle over the second Death Star, both forces fighting for their very survival and both unable to win without some kind of outside intervention. We've known this was coming for quite some time now. Let's sit back and enjoy it, because nobody can deny that as far as action scenes go, #3 delivers.

I don't know if any of this made sense. But my message to critics of #3 is: Lighten up! Enjoy the movie! We've been waiting for the final showdown for years now, so sit back and appreciate what even the most savage critics are acknowledging is a pretty dang exciting film.

To boil it down, then:

1. Revolutions is supposed to bring closure to the Matrix trilogy, in style.
2. It does.
3. Therefore, it rocks.

(And if you don't agree with me at all about any of this, well... at least there's no rave scene in this one, and that's something we can all appreciate. Nor does the film involve the Merovingian demonstrating elementary-school concepts of cause-and-effect by... well, you know.)

Two quick closing notes: This doesn't mean I think #3 was a perfect film, nor do I think it compares quality-wise to Return of the Jedi. Just in case the disclaimer was necessary.