By Tanya Batson-Savage, Staff Reporter
Neo (Keanu Reeves) is not about to give up in 'The Matrix Revolutions'. - Contributed
THE CROWD gathered outside The Palace Cineplex, Sovereign Centre, and the disgruntled many inside and outside the cinema on Wednesday morning were a clear indication that Palace Cineplex might not truly understand their product.
Before Nemo washed the world in gales of laughter, The Matrix Revolutions and The Matrix Reloaded were touted as two of the biggest films for the year. As such, one would expect a good crowd for their opening. The fact that the opening of The Matrix Revolutions was a 9:00 a.m. 'sneak peek' meant very little. There are sufficient people willing to take a break from staring at their computer screens to watch this flick. And of course there are also many students dying for an excuse to miss class.
So many turned up - and many were turned away. That aside, it was with a sense of satisfaction, tinged with a bit of disappointment and loss, that I watched the first of what will be many viewings of The Matrix Revolutions. I had never expected the adventure to be found down the rabbit hole I had been lured into by Lawrence Fishbourne (Morpheus) and Keanu Reeves (Neo). But now the saga is over.
The Matrix Revolutions was a very fitting end to The Matrix. As most of the philosophy guiding the movie had been established in The Matrix and The Matrix Reloaded, this time around the movie is able to focus on the truly important things... like the battles.
A very significant portion of this flick deals with just the two major battles. The first is the battle to save Zion, the last refuge of the free, and the second is the two-man slugfest between Neo and Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving).
The battle between Neo and Mr. Smith as they duke it out in the rain, no less, is the reason computer graphics were created. This scene will definitely prove whether constant replaying can ruin a DVD, as it was created to be watched over and again and yet again. By borrowing very heavily from the kung fu movie genre, The Matrix set the bar for fight scenes in action flicks.
They have raised it again.
The movie was also the next great jump for graphics in action flicks (following Terminator 2) and accepting less in the future will come hard after watching this fight scene.
The battle to save Zion is also wonderfully conceptualised. The sentinels, originally not very impressive with their clunky structure, are much better this time around.
But The Matrix is about more than amazing graphics and wonderful fight choreography. It is also about the characters. The Wachowski brothers have gone to great lengths to create characters that one can care about. For their part, the actors play them very well.
Nothing need be said about Reeves' performance because... well, he is Neo. Really, how can you not love a hero with excellent fashion sense? Enough said.
Weaving is clearly a great actor, because it is very hard to associate his sociopathy in The Matrix series with his performance as Elrond in The Lord of The Rings trilogy.
Apparently Agent Smith lost his mind (or whatever it is that programmes have) many moons ago and he never bothered to go in search of it. This character has received much more development than Neo in this flick and every moment of his on-screen time is wonderful. The dialogue involving him is witty and his fight scenes are great. You want to hear him speak, you want to see him fight - and you certainly want to see him defeated. His end is one of the most satisfying moments of the film. He was a great villain, and he deserved to be destroyed in an extravagant manner.
Jada Pinkett-Smith is also great in her role. She is a very strong woman, whose ability to embody an action role has not yet been properly explored. Additionally, she can deliver her lines well and also shows the softer moments excellently.
As with the other flicks, The Matrix Revolutions also throws in several small but interesting characters who help the time between fight scenes to flow easily.
Those who were disappointed in the clear 'middle' feeling of Matrix Reloaded should feel satisfied with this ending. In truth one may want more, but the movie ended the best way it could.
And yes, it had to end.
