Director Report Card: The Wachowskis (2003) Part 2

4. The Matrix Revolutions

No. No, it doesn’t.

“The Matrix Revolution” disappoints. The biggest reason why is because it doesn’t provide a satisfying conclusion to the story. If the Wachowski Brothers didn’t exactly undermine the central point of their series, they at least forgot what made the first film so entertaining and invigorating. Any victories the character gain feel strictly pyrrhic.

The first thing “Revolutions” does is prove "Reloaded's" cliffhanger meaningless. Neo is trapped in some wacky place outside of the Matrix… That doesn’t play into any other part of the movie. The Train Man, played by the appropriately grody Bruce "Gyro Captain" Spence, is introduced as a powerful villain. He has two scenes. Neo is rescued in less then thirty minutes and the movie continues on, never looking back. The only purpose these early scenes have is to introduce magical little girl, Sati, who doesn’t factor into much of the rest of the movie.

Well, they have another purpose. The shoot-out in the Hel Club is the last example of fun action in the whole series. Reverse gravity shoot-outs are always entertaining. It’s nice that the filmmakers let Trinity and Morpheus have one more moment of genuine ass-kickery, since they’re stuck in confined places for the rest of the movie. Carrie Anne-Moss sells the whole “I Love Neo!” thing as hard as she can, for better or worst. I don’t think we really needed a second helping of Merovingian though. Also, total missed opportunity to see Monica Bellucci in a tight leather outfit.

The conflict between Neo and Agent Smith, who has evolved into an omnicidal maniac, is the main point of the film. Just by the laws of dramatic events, this can’t happen until the end. We’ve got two hours-nine to fill and the siege of Zion to get too. We have to sit through all this other shit and a bunch of characters we don’t care about doing stuff.

The whole Bane subplot doesn’t amount to much. Smith entering the real world has terrifying implications that aren’t followed through on or even discussed much. The only purpose these scenes serve is to blind Neo. About that. We never get a satisfying explanation for why Neo’s One powers extend into the real world. The Oracle’s explanation basically boils down to “Yep, you can do that now.” The real reason Neo develops new, completely improbable powers is because the Wachowskis had to up the ante. When your character all ready has God-like powers by the end of movie one, how do you raise the stakes in the sequel? “Give him more powers” is the first answer and also the least advisable one. The filmmakers wrote themselves into a corner but their solution is uninspired and badly conceived.

As for the attack on Zion, it’s problematic. The special effects still hold up, even though this movie is nearly ten years old. (Christ, I feel old.) We take giant robots in movies for granted today, but the APUs had a real novelty at the time. The images of the Sentinels swarming into Zion, a giant black cloud of death, a dark subversions on impregnation imagery, is still breath-taking. And, hey, the Sentinels themselves are still awesome looking.

The Kid isn’t a bad character but, really, who gives a shit about this guy? The same with Zee and… What’s her face. The Other One. These aren’t the character we’re here to see. They are thinly developed in their own right. Captain Mifune is at least kind of fun but his constant war-cries are annoying. Who do you think you are, Reb Brown?

The War of Zion is visually exciting but quickly wares out its welcome. The Hammer’s run fares a little better. First off, it takes up less screen-time. Secondly, it at least features established characters. Thirdly, there are some pretty cool shots in these scenes, such as the ship flipping upside down through the tunnels or just barely missing crashing to the ground, the blue electricity spreading out over the floor.

The worst part about either story threads is that neither end up mattering. The Hammer completes its run but Zion is still screwed. Humanity is still doomed. The fate of the universe has always been in Neo’s hands. All they’ve really accomplished is preventing the machines from killing a few more people. The movie was just burning time until it can get to the important stuff. And, hey, here’s some more bullshit with the Zion Council of Elders. Captivating.

Machine City is impressive and, admittedly, Neo and Trinity’s run there is sort of exciting. The shot of her seeing the sun for the first time could have been amazing but instead settles for being kind of sweet. As for Trinity’s death… It pisses me off. He spent half of the last movie trying to stop her from dying. To kill Trinity at this point is just messing with the audience’s emotions. Once again, Anne-Moss sells her dying monologue for all its worth, even when getting her mouth around the Brothers’ awkward dialogue. Once more, it should have been amazing but has to settle for merely not-shitty.

Finally, we get to the only real reason the movie exists: Neo and Smith’s final showdown. The climatic battle is amazing and almost makes up for the rest of the film. The two opposing forces fly around, tossing each other through buildings, tearing through pavement like tissue paper. The fight brings anime to mind too, especially with all those giant shockwave created domes of rainwater, an especially neat effect. When it comes to epic nerd action, no other film has come this close to realizing it on-screen. (It makes me wish the Wachowskis really would direct the “Justice League” movie.)

Goddamn, Hugo Weaving is a good actor. He makes dialogue that would sound ridiculous coming out of any other actor’s mouth sound spine-chillingly malicious. Focusing a large portion of the film around him was a great idea. It’s a shame Keanu seems as confused as the audience. He’s out of his league at this point.

Despite the awesome lead-up, the ending is the weakest part. On first viewing, I didn’t understand what exactly happened. It’s not very clear that the machines use Neo as a conduit to send an anit-virus into Smith. The hero’s death doesn’t inspire any sadness. By this point, the audience is exhausted. With all the talk of fate and choice, it feels inevitable. Morpheus, the only surviving member of the original cast, never gets any sort of resolution. His deepest dream comes true but the film’s focus is elsewhere. The ending is so damn vague. The Matrix still exists. The Machines are still in power. There are millions of people still imprison. Zion is far from safe. What kind of victory is that?

The script tries to force an allegory about free will. How everyone has “a choice.” I’m sorry, was it too much to ask for an ending where the Machines are defeated definitely and humanity is given a chance to start anew? I guess I should admire the shot at ambiguity but, after three films, I was hoping for something a little more solid. It’s seriously not that well done. The final scene gives the audience a good idea of how these films went astray. None of the characters we actually care about are present. Instead, Miss Worthless Exposition and Col. Talks-a-lot trade barbs about something. Lame. There’s no other word for it.

The true appeal of “The Matrix” lied in its wish fulfillment, swift use of sci-fi paranoia, and general sense of style. The sequels went up in a completely different direction. Maybe the directors started to believe their own hype. Maybe they listened to the hardcore internet crazies too much. Perhaps there was no other choice. “The Matrix Revolutions” is a frustrating conclusion to the series. Between the two sequels, there was probably enough solid material for a pretty good film. The rambling, padding, and misguided narrative choices make the awesome moments harder to remember. [Grade: C]

Director Report Card: The Wachowskis (2003) Part 1

3. The Matrix Reloaded

“The Matrix Reloaded” disappointed a lot of people. How couldn’t it? The first film was hugely successful and had an immediate impact on action and sci-fi cinema. By the time "The Matrix Reloaded" came around in 2003, a lot of the tricks that made the first film so influential had all ready become old hat. With a rocket sled of hype leading up to the release of the second film, failure was, in many ways, the only option.

Not to say I’m dismissing “Reloaded” of its many flaws. There is a primary issue here that prevents the film from succeeding: Filler. It’s a problem familiar to two-part sequels. The Wachowski brothers only seem to have written enough material for a movie and a half. Obviously this wasn’t acceptable so a whole bunch of stuff had to be thought up to fill out two separate run times.What could have been one good film instead had to be awkwardly split in half and padded out to two.

The first act is the biggest culprit. Over half of the Zion section could go. The political bits, Neo conversation with the head councilmen, Link’s family life, and especially that stupid, stupid rave scene. Even after all that, there’s more: Neo and Seraph’s fight scene exists for absolutely no reason other then it's been a while since we've had an action beat. (The script even admits this.) The Oracle’s exposition is even more heavy handed then before and further drags down the pacing. The introduction of the Merovingian and his retarded orgasm dessert could have been trimmed or cut all together.

Finally, over an hour into the movie, the plot starts to move. The Keymaster brings some purpose to the story and the second half of the film mostly revolves around some pretty impressive action. That is until progress bumps into Colonel Sanders and gets bogged down in even more confusing, unhelpful exposition. The worst kind of exposition: The type that doesn't actually explain anything. This was the first clue that, when it comes to the philosophical subtext of these films, the Wachowskis are kind of full of shit. After that huge roadbump, Keanu plays Superman for a while and then the movie ends. And then keeps going for a few more minutes. Then the movie really ends on a cliff hanger that seems so obscure that the urgency barely registers at all.

Sadly, the problems don’t end with the padding. From a writing perspective, the ending of the first film presents a huge challenge to a sequel. Neo had essentially become invincible. Where the hell do you go from there? Sure, it provides plenty of opportunity for awesome ass-kicking, but from an audience perspective, it's makes any of that action tricky to care about. The movie tries to get around this in three ways. First, by making Neo uncertain about his destiny. Watching the guy who can fight, stop time, and kick massive amounts of ass sit around and angst about what this all means is, coincidentally, the exact opposite of what anyone wants to see. Keanu Reeves did all right as a wonder struck newcomer in the first movie but as a high-kicking reluctant messiah, his limited range becomes all too obvious.

The second strategy to give the film some sort of emotional center is by focusing on the romance between Neo and Trinity. That was one of the weaker elements of the first film and even the writers/directors seem to know that. So, they have this huge spectre of Trinity's prophesied death hanging over the entire film, literally from the very beginning. And, you know, we like Trinity well enough, as a bad ass action figure. But implying that she can die at any minute makes her seem weak. Keanu’s under-emoting further exacerbates the problem. Most frustratingly of all, the issue of her death is resolved in an incredibly unsatisfying manner. For all these factors and more, a major subplot of the film is nothing but limp.

The third strategy to make all of this cohesive is by adding several time limits to the story's action. Sentinels are tunneling towards Zion in several days. Oh shit! It's a shame we're never given a reason to care about Zion. Making it the last bastion of human civilization turns out isn't enough. Making it a big, sweaty rave party really doesn't work. Filling it full of characters we don't really care about certainly doesn't help. A number of time limits are imposed in other places, what with doors closing at specifics times. This works a lot better. Still, there's way too much screwing around in the story to keep things from feeling really urgent.

And, before I move on, can I mention that Lambert Wilson is really annoying? I think his ridiculous French accent and constant sex life references were meant to be funny. They're not. And did I mention that Neo's flying never looks wholly convincing?

Still, I can’t totally trashed “Reloaded.” There are moments that keep the movie interesting. First, those action sequences. The Neo vs. multiple Smiths confrontation is damn neat. It features the kind of creativity and willingness to go anime over the top that made the action scenes in the first film so impressive. It also gives us a heaping helping of Hugo Weaving, an leveling force of pure entertainment the movie really needed a lot more of.

The chateau fight is more simplistic but similarly exciting. It features less special effects. Instead, it feels like a good old fashion Hong Kong action movie brawl. The freeway chase that it leads into is the center piece of the film. It gets a little long but it's hard to resist leaping motorcycles and giant semi-trucks crashing into each other. And when Morpheus kills a mini-van with a katana and a machine gun, causing it to explode in a massive fireball? That shit is cool, son.

I don't totally hate some of the new characters either. Niobe, as played by Jada Pinkett-Smith, sort of comes off like a version of Trinity with a lot more attitude. Attitude makes a lot of difference and, if the character is never given much reason to emote, she at least makes an impression. Similarly, her partner, Ghost's unrequited crush on Trinity is an element that could have been explored more. The Keymaker isn't much more then a walking, talking plot point, but Randall Duk Kim at least provides enough weight to make him memorable. I wish Monica Bellucci was given more to do. If her purpose was to do nothing but look fantastic in that dress, mission accomplished on that one.

Yes, the fight and action moments almost make it worth while but, perhaps, a sequel to “The Matrix” was just a doomed proposal. Maybe the conclusion to the series will fair better? [Grade: C]

Director Report Card: The Wachowskis (1999)

2. The Matrix

Think back, readers, back to 1999. For those of you who were there, you surely remember the first time you saw “The Matrix.” This is the film that blew more then one suburban teenager's mind. Simply put, there wasn’t anything quite like it at the time. The movie has just about everything. It combines cerebral sci-fi, Hong Kong action, summer movie explosions, and college philosophy. It manages to be very smart as well as incredibly entertaining, a crowd pleaser and a brain teaser. Maybe the Wachowski Brothers stole all that stuff from other sources, but they certainly imbue the material with an effortless, invigorating, contagious energy.

Let’s deconstruct this appeal, slightly, shall we? There's a reason I referenced teenagers in particular being impressed with the movie. The premise of reality as we know not being real plays into any young person's sudden distrust of authority, in this case the ultimate authority of their own senses. That can be pretty horrifying, and the movie certainly entertains that interpretation. However, the matrix sequences are incredibly freeing. Here's a movie were you can literally become a kung-fu master, helicopter pilot, or super bad ass just by having the information downloaded into your brain. By 1999, the hacker, rave, and black trench coat fashions were actually all a few years pass their prime. It's these equal themes of paranoia and freedom through self-determination that made the movie truly popular. No wonder the film inspired such fanatical devotion.

As a genre thriller, the film is hugely successful. The story is gripping right from the exciting, mysterious opening scene. Here we get the first dose of the bullet time fighting style. That became a cliché so quickly but at the time it was a way of doing fight choreography that was unique. We get hit with it nearly seconds into the film and it really blindsides the audience, telling them this is something different. Even after being ripped off and parodied countless time, it’s still so fucking cool, especially during the climatic battles.

Beyond just the fight scenes, the movie's distinctive visual style was really impressive too. The greenish tones of the matrix are realistic but removed from reality. When compared to the harsh tones of the real world, it stands out even more. The creativity displayed by the Wachowski brothers during the fight scenes translates to the rest of their directorial style. Throughout the movie, during moments like the Construct or the Jump Training Program, the camera approaches from angles you wouldn’t immediately expect. Images like giant walls of guns swooping out of a pure white room or towers of humans in mechanical pods immediately resonated into sci-fi history as unforgettable images. Despite being over ten years old at this point, the special effects in the film hold up amazingly well. There's a grit and weight to all of the CGI effects here.

The ensemble cast is fairly strong throughout. Laurence Fishburne imbues the role of mentor with a real sense of gravitas. The movie never quite stoops to making him a wise old sage cliche simply by acknowledging his self-doubt. Carrie-Anne Moss conceals a similar self-doubt as Trinity beneath a mask of steely strength. Joe Pantoliano does play the sort of slimy bastard role he’s done before, but, hey, it’s what he’s good at. He makes it astonishingly easy to like his character at first and, upon the big plot reveal, even easier to despie him. I wish we had gotten to spent a little more time with Marcus Chong, Anthony Ray Parker, and especially Matt Doran since Tank, Dozer, and Mouse all seem like pretty interesting characters and each actor is up to the challenge. 

The best performance is Hugo Weaving. Snarling, staring, and villainously monologuing, he is a comic book bad guy, just barely under over-the-top. Yet Weaving is having such a ball in the role, you can’t help but relish the opportunity to be bad as much as he does. He imbues every line with villainous venom. Now, we come to Keanu. Reeves isn’t a great actor but he can do well in certain roles. Perhaps Neo was a bit out of his range, with all the deep thinking required for the part, but he at least gets the wide-eyed confusion and wonderment down pat. His surfer dude stiffness is never distracting, which you can't always say.

As awesome as so much of the movie is, there are flaws. The pacing could use some work. The first act is solid, despite not much happening beyond exposition, but its fascinating exposition and this is a movie where knowing the rules before really getting into the story doesn’t hurt any. Things begin to dribble a little during the second act, especially during the visit to the Oracle which could have used some editing. However, after Morpheus’ capture the story gets the drive it needs and the third act kicks off a fantastically paced series of excellent action sequences.

I get the impression there might have been some last minute rewriting or rearranging with the script. As I pointed out above, killing off half of your cast midway through the movie, before even really getting to know any of them, plays like a cheap, easy way to ratchet up suspense during the middle chapter of the film.  Generally, I think a lot of the traitor subplot could have used some rearranging. Also, I've never been much convince with the movie's use of epic archetypes and prophecies. Things like the Oracle and The One all seemed more like attempts to build up a mythology behind the story then anything natural to evolve out of the writing process. The final reveal of Neo as the One and the way it wraps up all the plot lines at the end there can't help but come off as somewhat cheap. Finally, the Neo/Trinity love story has always been pretty flat. There's just not much chemistry there. The romance seems destined instead of natural. Sadly, all of these problems would play even further out in the much maligned sequels. But, more on that later. 

Despite it's own problems and the problems it would create, I can't help but love "The Matrix." Call me a hopeless nostalgic, if you want too. I stand by my opinion. It's just that awesome. [Grade: A]