During one of the crunch moments in the third Matrix film, Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) turns to Neo (Keanu Reeves) and asks 'Why do you persist?' It's a question audiences might well find themselves asking when they leave the theatre. If you have seen all three films then you will have spent the best part of a working day with Neo and company. Has it all been worth it?
The answer is a very qualified yes. While the first film in the series was undoubtedly groundbreaking in terms of its special effects, with a compelling and original storyline to boot, the law of diminishing returns is clearly in place with Matrix Reloaded and now Revolutions. What has happened is the Wachowski Brothers have become victims of their own success and have believed too much of their own hype. Concise storytelling has given way to muddled confusion. The effects are still mind-boggling, but there are far too many kitchen sinks thrown into this final chapter to make it a satisfying movie-going experience.
Revolutions begins exactly where the second film finished. Neo is bereft of his powers, lost somewhere in the limbo between the Matrix and the Machine World. While Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) struggle to revive him, the rogue Agent Smith has slipped out of the Matrix's power and is intent on achieving his own domination. Simultaneously, Zion is under imminent attack from the Sentinel invasion and Machine army.
Once restored to his normal self, Neo decides only one course of action is possible: to confront the enemy head on. With help from the Oracle (Mary Alice replacing the late Gloria Foster), he and Neo head to the centre of Machine City in order to confront the power that threatens Zion's existence.
The structure of the third film is similar to the second: a slow build-up sees the first forty-five minutes taken up with dialogue, most of which is overly-wordy and often confusing. Fortunately there is nothing to reach the nadir of the series when the sweaty inhabitants of Zion had their dance-athon in Reloaded, but there are plenty of portentous (if not pretentious) new characters with names such as the Trainman either aiding or hindering Neo along the way.
However, this is virtually a critic-proof film: the $750 million taken worldwide by the second film earlier this year would seem to indicate that there is no satiating the public appetite for the leather-clad one. Shame that in years to come, these second and third parts will be seen as very minor films indeed.
