6. The Matrix Reloaded / Matrix Revolutions
The Matrix was something new to cinemagoers. I remember watching it on the big screen back in 1999. From that opening, gravity-defying battle between Trinity and the agents, to the coolness of Morpheus red and blue pill scene, the horrifying sight of Neos mouth fused together, the Terminator-like horror when Neo wakes up in the real world and the fantastic bullet time battle sequence between Neo and Agent Smith in the films finale,
The Matrix had some golden movie moments. It was a great tale about a heros journey with some cool sci-fi elements and jaw-dropping fight sequences thrown in. It was fun. Everyone looked cool. So of course, everyone, myself included was excited for the second two parts of what we were told was now referred to as a trilogy Admittedly,
The Matrix Reloaded is the better of the two. The highway battle is simply stunning. But it is also kind of stupid. The battle with the hundred Agent Smiths is plain silly. The orgy-dance sequence in Zion is weird. And the Architect sub plot puts a dampener of the whole battle for humanity storyline. Still, there was hope that
The Matrix Revolutions could get back to the heights of the first film. But no. Everything can so serious and so convoluted that the cool element is gone completely. Suddenly the source is part of the real world too, allowing Neo to use his super abilities here to. There was no heart to the machines attack on Zion. Neo spends half the film blind. And then he and Trinity die. By the end, I was glad to be done with the Matrix trilogy. I catch bits of the opening of
The Matrix when its on TV but I still havent got round to replacing my old VHS copy of that first film. Because as great as it was, it is now part of a trilogy that became a complete and utter mess!