parrot007

For context, The Matrix is one of my top 5 all time films, but until recently I had never bothered to watch Reloaded or Revolutions because I heard they were dissapointing. One day I decided to watch both, and while neither is a masterpiece like the original, they're actually not dissapointing on their own terms.

Revolutions is the final chapter in a classic hero's journey. I already saw what would happen at the end, and there were basically no surprises throught the film. The sense of desperation has reached it's maximum, and the creators honestly did a good job in holding nothing back, pushing every character to the limits of their strength and will. There is a lot of shooting in this movie, more than necessary. There are some questionable scenes in the second half of the film, and I dont know if I buy some of the ideas in it, such as bargaining with machines that have no emotional dimension. I only watched it once, but I'm also pretty sure they left a couple of threads hanging too.

Finally, I think there was a missed oppurtunity with Revolutions, being just barely 2 hours long, for a more substantial ending sequence showing how humans plant the seeds for rebuilding earth. Things kind of just cut off toward the end and I think its wrong that the ending actually takes place inside the matrix. I would of liked to see something where people climb to the surface, or a literal break in the coulds, something like this.

All of that is pointless to break down though, and I think this finale to the trilogy is overall a success. To sum it up. The first movie is a 10/10, and Reloaded and Revolutions are both a 7/10. This should average out to an 8/10 for the whole trilogy, but I would actually say its worth a 9/10. The final two movies do not stand well on their own, but their flaws are minor, and as a trilogy, it is better than the sum of its parts.

Pretty much everyone's opinion on Reloaded is the same: Awesome action, not as great of a plot. I see a lot of reviews saying that the narritive is "confusing", but I actually felt like I understood the ideas it was laying out even though I only watched it once, and because it likes to be obtuse with how it presents them. My real issue with this movie is HOW it lays out these ideas. I found the dialog very didactic and boring. The first movie uses the mystery of uncovering the matrix and the truth about reality as its narritive center and produces several incredibly iconic moments and a 10/10 experience. But now that the curtain is down, Reloaded is just part one of a movie about saving the world from machine overlords.

Most scenes consist of one character (usually Neo), asking questions the writers know the audience wants answered, and another character answering those questions. Most side characters' only purpose is just to spout exposition and have little to no impact on the plot. I mean, for gods sake, we're basiclly told toward the end that everything inside the matrix is inevitable. It gets the job done and sets us up for the finale, but I honestly have no interest in ever rewatching this film.

I think the simple truth is that the idea of the first movie is way more interesting and the writers were significantly more inspired by mystery of discovering the Matrix than they were by the idea of battling the Matrix.

Ad Astra presents an ideal vision of human expansion across the solar system. In this world, we have Moon and Mars bases, space needles, and commercial space travel, and still the desire to find other intelligent life. This combines with a personal story portrayed by great actors and writing.

I enjoyed the movie's slow pace and narritive the first time I watched it, but I remember feeling disappointed by the finale and ending and left it with a score of 7/10. After a few years I came back to it and I actually appreciated the ending more than I did the first time. However I also was reminded of its actual flaws, which are its over the top action scenes that are just not belivable within its idealist future setting. I'm not gonna go into detail, but there are basically 3 disastrous sequences in the movie where the main character never should have survived, but just got incredibly lucky. These scenes were just poorly executed and this break in tone hurts the overall atmosphere of the film. If the tone was even throughout and I felt like I could be fully immersed, it would probably be worth a 9 and I could see myself coming back to it more often.

It deals with several themes like obsession, phycological suffering for the greater good, and most especially: loneliness. All of these are done well, and the twist near the end is something unique that makes it worth watching. I'd recommend the film in a safe and comfortable setting where you have time to truly reflect on the final point it makes.