Matrix Revolutions: The Critics Need To Reload
Let's look at the CBS News List of Revolutions Mistakes
SPOILER WARNINGS
But these are quibbles. What makes "Revolutions" destructive instead of merely stupid is the way it repeatedly violates the series' internal logic. For instance:
Even though "Revolutions" takes place only in the span of a few hours immediately following "Reloaded," some of our characters have taken, quite suddenly, to using informal nicknames with one another, such as "Merv" and "Trin."
In "The Matrix" we were told that agents must obey the physical laws inherent in the matrix. Morpheus says, "Men have emptied entire clips at them and hit nothing but air, yet their strength and their speed are still based in a world that is built on rules. Because of that, they will never be as strong or as fast as you can be." Not anymore. In "Revolutions," Agent Smith can do everything Neo can.
In "Revolutions" we meet computer programs who feel love and appreciate karma, but later we're assured that machines always keep their word, since betrayal is a human trait.
Neo survives being driven into concrete so forcefully that he creates a 30-foot crater. (The wonderful site Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics will have a field day with "Revolutions.") Yet what finally fells him is a punch to the gut. There may still be some rules in the matrix governing Neo, but they appear and disappear arbitrarily.
When confronted with a single sentinel in "The Matrix," a frightened Trinity tells Neo that the electromagnetic pulse is mankind's only weapon against these devilish devices. In "Revolutions," simple machine guns prove quite effective and all ships seem to be equipped with them. Is this a small inconsistency? Yes, except that it makes the tension of the closing minutes in "The Matrix" a complete contrivance.
The same can be said for the process of jacking in and out of the matrix. In the first movie, much of the drama concerns finding safe lines to jump into and out of the matrix. This process has become such an afterthought in "Revolutions" that jacking in is done smoothly, quickly, and always off-screen.
The list of glaring inconsistencies goes on.
Worse still, is the way "Revolutions" abandons the larger thematic issues. The climactic moment in "Reloaded" comes when Neo meets the Architect and learns that Morpheus has his chronology wrong, that there have been several matrixes and Zions. The Architect then gives a long mathematical explanation of what Neo is:
Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the matrix. You are the eventuality of an anomaly, which despite my sincerest efforts I have been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision. While it remains a burden assiduously avoided, it is not unexpected, and thus not beyond a measure of control. Which has led you, inexorably, here. …
The function of the One is now to return to the source, allowing a temporary dissemination of the code you carry, reinserting the prime program. After which you will be required to select from the matrix 23 individuals, 16 female, 7 male, to rebuild Zion. Failure to comply with this process will result in a cataclysmic system crash killing everyone connected to the matrix, which coupled with the extermination of Zion will ultimately result in the extinction of the entire human race.
Pretty big news. In "Revolutions" barely a word is spoken about any of this. In the end, "Revolutions" settles down to a fairly explicit Christian allegory, but even here the Wachowski brothers are confused: Neo is a warrior and if you strip out the symbols, he resembles Muhammad as much as Christ.
This is just lazy, lazy journalism. There are some inconsistencies in Revolutions, but this guy sure hasn't found them.
- Nicknames? Merovingian and Trinity have already met each other, hate each other, and using a nickname is part of the psychological war with somebody like the Merv. People have been calling Trinity by her nickname "Trin" since the first movie. She doesn't meet anybody new in Revolutions, so why is it a surprise that people she already knows use her nickname?
-Agent Smith can do everything Neo can? Yeah, no shit. That's what the fucking Oracle tells us. He is Neo's opposite, as Neo's power grows, so does Smith's. Duh, duh, duh.
-Who says betrayal is only a human trait? Who says that the peace will definitely last forever? Who says the humans won't be the one to break the peace next time?
-Neo isn't "felled" by a punch to the gut. Neo dies when Smith sticks his hand in him and assimilates him. Did this guy even watch this fucking movie? If I pile-drive somebody into a crater and they stand back up, it might not take more than one punch to finish them off. Haven't you ever seen a boxing match when one final nasty punch in the 9th round is enough for the final KO?
-No, they aren't confronted with a "single" sentinel in the Matrix. They aren't close enough to Zion to risk open war with hundreds or thousands of sentinels. If they were close to operating depth and got into a gunfight, some of the sentinels would survive long enough to signal for backup. An EMP gets the fucking job done, the right fucking way. You just have to FUCKING THINK ABOUT IT, you inept journalist.
-Both Revolutions and Reloaded have warnings about the difficulty of finding a secure operating location. Do we have to fucking see them jack into the Matrix every fucking time? And we actually do see Neo jacked into the Matrix at the end. So that means we only miss Trinity and Morpheus jack into the Matrix once in Revolutions? I can fucking live with that.
-The Architect already explained everything in Reloaded. If you want to see him say it again, go watch Reloaded. How much more do you need explained? We're adults now, we don't need somebody to hold our fucking hand and walk us to the library for a fucking explanation.
SPOILER WARNINGS
But these are quibbles. What makes "Revolutions" destructive instead of merely stupid is the way it repeatedly violates the series' internal logic. For instance:
Even though "Revolutions" takes place only in the span of a few hours immediately following "Reloaded," some of our characters have taken, quite suddenly, to using informal nicknames with one another, such as "Merv" and "Trin."
In "The Matrix" we were told that agents must obey the physical laws inherent in the matrix. Morpheus says, "Men have emptied entire clips at them and hit nothing but air, yet their strength and their speed are still based in a world that is built on rules. Because of that, they will never be as strong or as fast as you can be." Not anymore. In "Revolutions," Agent Smith can do everything Neo can.
In "Revolutions" we meet computer programs who feel love and appreciate karma, but later we're assured that machines always keep their word, since betrayal is a human trait.
Neo survives being driven into concrete so forcefully that he creates a 30-foot crater. (The wonderful site Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics will have a field day with "Revolutions.") Yet what finally fells him is a punch to the gut. There may still be some rules in the matrix governing Neo, but they appear and disappear arbitrarily.
When confronted with a single sentinel in "The Matrix," a frightened Trinity tells Neo that the electromagnetic pulse is mankind's only weapon against these devilish devices. In "Revolutions," simple machine guns prove quite effective and all ships seem to be equipped with them. Is this a small inconsistency? Yes, except that it makes the tension of the closing minutes in "The Matrix" a complete contrivance.
The same can be said for the process of jacking in and out of the matrix. In the first movie, much of the drama concerns finding safe lines to jump into and out of the matrix. This process has become such an afterthought in "Revolutions" that jacking in is done smoothly, quickly, and always off-screen.
The list of glaring inconsistencies goes on.
Worse still, is the way "Revolutions" abandons the larger thematic issues. The climactic moment in "Reloaded" comes when Neo meets the Architect and learns that Morpheus has his chronology wrong, that there have been several matrixes and Zions. The Architect then gives a long mathematical explanation of what Neo is:
Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the matrix. You are the eventuality of an anomaly, which despite my sincerest efforts I have been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision. While it remains a burden assiduously avoided, it is not unexpected, and thus not beyond a measure of control. Which has led you, inexorably, here. …
The function of the One is now to return to the source, allowing a temporary dissemination of the code you carry, reinserting the prime program. After which you will be required to select from the matrix 23 individuals, 16 female, 7 male, to rebuild Zion. Failure to comply with this process will result in a cataclysmic system crash killing everyone connected to the matrix, which coupled with the extermination of Zion will ultimately result in the extinction of the entire human race.
Pretty big news. In "Revolutions" barely a word is spoken about any of this. In the end, "Revolutions" settles down to a fairly explicit Christian allegory, but even here the Wachowski brothers are confused: Neo is a warrior and if you strip out the symbols, he resembles Muhammad as much as Christ.
This is just lazy, lazy journalism. There are some inconsistencies in Revolutions, but this guy sure hasn't found them.
- Nicknames? Merovingian and Trinity have already met each other, hate each other, and using a nickname is part of the psychological war with somebody like the Merv. People have been calling Trinity by her nickname "Trin" since the first movie. She doesn't meet anybody new in Revolutions, so why is it a surprise that people she already knows use her nickname?
-Agent Smith can do everything Neo can? Yeah, no shit. That's what the fucking Oracle tells us. He is Neo's opposite, as Neo's power grows, so does Smith's. Duh, duh, duh.
-Who says betrayal is only a human trait? Who says that the peace will definitely last forever? Who says the humans won't be the one to break the peace next time?
-Neo isn't "felled" by a punch to the gut. Neo dies when Smith sticks his hand in him and assimilates him. Did this guy even watch this fucking movie? If I pile-drive somebody into a crater and they stand back up, it might not take more than one punch to finish them off. Haven't you ever seen a boxing match when one final nasty punch in the 9th round is enough for the final KO?
-No, they aren't confronted with a "single" sentinel in the Matrix. They aren't close enough to Zion to risk open war with hundreds or thousands of sentinels. If they were close to operating depth and got into a gunfight, some of the sentinels would survive long enough to signal for backup. An EMP gets the fucking job done, the right fucking way. You just have to FUCKING THINK ABOUT IT, you inept journalist.
-Both Revolutions and Reloaded have warnings about the difficulty of finding a secure operating location. Do we have to fucking see them jack into the Matrix every fucking time? And we actually do see Neo jacked into the Matrix at the end. So that means we only miss Trinity and Morpheus jack into the Matrix once in Revolutions? I can fucking live with that.
-The Architect already explained everything in Reloaded. If you want to see him say it again, go watch Reloaded. How much more do you need explained? We're adults now, we don't need somebody to hold our fucking hand and walk us to the library for a fucking explanation.
posted by Anonymous at 2:25:00 AM
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