The Matrix Trilogy Revisited

Still no movies to review at the cinema (just heard Regal is pushing back the opening of their cinemas to July 31!), so I’ve been rewatching some of the oldies at home. First up, The Matrix trilogy. With a fourth film on the way, what better time to revisit this flawed but interesting trilogy?

The original 1999 movie remains a classic example of how to tell a story visually. The plot is nothing new-we’ve seen a million chosen ones like Neo, and even ‘the real world is an artificial reality’ was a common trope at the time (hell, I even wrote a script with that theme right before The Matrix came out). But the Wachowskis were able to take a simple sci-fi concept and elevate it through truly groundbreaking visuals and action. They also wisely kept the story narrowly focused on the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar (pretentious name, much?) avoiding the pitfalls of the sequels which perhaps opened up the world too much (more on that later).

Keanu Reeves is pretty much perfect as Neo because he’s a blank. Likable enough that you can root for him against the machines, but bland enough that audiences can project their own struggles against the authoritarian forces in their life (the government, technology, horrible bosses) onto him. Laurence Fishburne and Carrie Ann Moss are similarly effective as Morpheus and Trinity. They’re playing archetypes more than real people (the wise mentor and tough female love interest) but still manage to make us care about them. The rest of the crew are an afterthought, illustrated by how hastily the Wachowskis kill them all off when things go south. The exception, of course, is Cypher (Joey Pants!), who has the strongest viewpoint of any of the human characters. His desire to return to the Matrix at any cost is so relatable that it actually makes him the most human.

The other character with a strong point of view is Agent Smith. Hugo Weaving is a legend, of course, but his character also has the most interesting dialogue. The part where he talks about humans being unable to accept a “perfect” Matrix is some fascinating shit. The philosophical aspect of The Matrix has actually held up better than the visuals for the most part, and I wish there was more of it.

So what hasn’t held up as well? The CGI is a little dated in parts. The often-copied visual style remains captivating, though I could have done without the sickly green hue to the scenes that take place in the Matrix. It’s supposed to cue the audience that it’s an artificial reality, but it actually takes us out of the idea that we could be living in the Matrix. The fetishistic gun violence is also more problematic than it was when the movie first came out. I don’t think the movie was responsible for Columbine or any of the other school shootings since, but the filmmakers do take a strangely amoral stance in the last act.

The “gun, lots of guns” scene looks cool as hell, but it completely glosses over the fact that Neo and Trinity are probably killing real humans still plugged into the Matrix during the rescue scene. This could easily have been fixed with a throwaway line (maybe Neo asks if the guards were humans, and Trinity could have responded that they were programs like the agents) but I guess that would have got in the way of the slo-mo massacre. And Neo coming back to life after Trinity kisses him just feels like a tired trope because we haven’t really seen a romance developing between them up to that point.

Quibbles aside, the movie still works and the ending is actually a perfect conclusion to the story. We know Neo is the one and he’s going to free humanity. We don’t really need any sequels. Yet four years later we got two of them.

The Matrix Reloaded was pretty positively received when it first came out, and there is some great stuff in it. It also has a lot of flaws and heavily hinted at the disappointment that would follow with the third movie.

First the good stuff. The action, especially the freeway chase in the second act, builds on and improves on the first movie. Though the CGI is a little dodgy in parts (I’m looking at you, burly brawl) in general the four years in special effects advances since the first movie make for a more immersive visual experience. As with the first film, the story is most interesting when it’s examining the philosophical element of the Matrix. The Architect’s speech in the last act was mocked by a lot of viewers, but I loved it. It’s the sort of thing a sequel should do – make you reexamine the story and the motivations of the characters.

However, the breathless pace of the film masks many of the flaws that become apparent on future viewings. While it’s great to see a truly multicultural future society in Zion, none of the new human characters really register and most of the time spent there seems wasted. If you’ve watched The Animatrix, the animated tie-in movie that came out around the same time as Reloaded, you might care about characters such as the Kid, but most people won’t. Even the return of some characters from the first movie is problematic. Neo and Trinity still kick ass pleasingly, but Morpheus is given a few action scenes interspersed with long, pompous speeches. And while it’s great to see Hugo Weaving back as Agent Smith, his motivation is so unclear that it renders his character a distraction. At first he seems to be helping Neo, which would have been an interesting twist on the character, but he soon reverts to his villainous role, turning into some kind of virus infecting the Matrix for no particular reason.

Of the new characters, Monica Bellucci as Persephone and Lambert Wilson as The Merovingian make the biggest impact. It’s fascinating seeing two computer programs in a relationship full of tension, sexual and otherwise. That’s another aspect that I wish was explored more in the movies; just how human are these programs?

The cliffhanger ending is annoying, though not as annoying as it was 17 years ago. In fact, most of the flaws could have been forgiven with a conclusion that knocked it out of the park. But, like a certain recent space trilogy, that was not to be.

The Matrix Revolutions had a huge drop in both critical reception and box office from its predecessors, and it’s not hard to see why. The films spends much more time in the real world (boo!) and nearly every character gets an unsatisfying resolution. Gloria Foster (who sadly passed away during filming of the sequels) is also missed as the Oracle. But the biggest problem is the final battle in Zion, which goes on forever and includes a bunch of characters we don’t give much of a shit about.

The trip to Machine City at the end at least provides an interesting new location, but killing off Trinity after the previous movie was all about Neo saving her from his prophetic dream seems like a slap in the face. And while Neo sacrificing himself to end the war makes sense for his character, the execution leaves something to be desired. The fight in the rain between Neo and Smith (just one of him this time) is murky and dull for the most part. The film does have some good ideas, but most of what made this world fun in the first two movies is gone.

Despite all this, I’m interested to see what Lana Wachowski can do with a fourth film. Hopefully it will keep the mix of action and philosophy, but have a more tightly focused plot that wraps up some of the loose ends from the original trilogy.