logo Sign In

Gripes About The Matrix Trilogy

Author
Date
Author
Time
Post link
Hey there everyone!!!

I'm a bit of a latecomer to the Matrix movies. I just watched all 3 of them in the last few days and I have to say that I'm quite impressed with these. I have tried to watch the first one over the last few years, but never really got into it and always ended up falling asleep.

But when I watched all three, they clicked with me and I really enjoyed them. Now I've heard a lot of complaints and a ton of outrage about Reloaded and Revolutions. I've never really payed attention to it before, but I'm wondering if you could all vent your feelings about the movies, so I know what the big deal was.

Personally, I like the first 2. Reloaded is a little hard to follow with a bit of techno-babble, but it is still pretty good to me. Revolutions is a little strange and will definitely have to be watched again. The only thing I didn't like was the ending. There's a peace between the machines and humans?!?!?! I figured Neo was gonna destroy the Matrix and then all the humans would be freed, thus killing the machines since they had no power to keep going anymore. Instead, the opposite happened and it seems they have paved the way for more films to do.

I now open it up to you.....opinions, gripes, etc. about the Matrix Trilogy please.....
Author
Time
Post link
My main gripes:

- The first movie is very ambitious, you feel the ambition to tell a great story in the best possible way with the maximum of quality. If you watch the making of of "The Matrix" you will realise almost everything is 'hand made' no cgi characters or models (except one scene, where neo touches the mirror). All wirework and models. Alas, the other two movies were produced in one stroke and have tons of bad cgi in them. You don't get that same 'labor of love' feeling in the other two movies, imho. They come across as rush jobs with a lot of wasted potential starkly contrasting to the first film in that respect.

- The character of "Tank" (one of the few links to the first movie) was written out of the story and replaced by the jarjar-binks equivalent of that character. Just a lame rastaman stereotype put in there for comical relief "woohoo!".

- Zion. In the first film the only place you really get to see of the real world, is Morpheus' ship - the Nebucadneza. You get this eerie "Das Boot" feeling, with all the ragged cloth and the crap they have to eat. And then you have Tank talk about how cool a place to be Zion - the last city - is. But when we actually get to see Zion, it's nothing more but a huge gargantuan "Nebucadneza" - the people still wear rags, they don't even fix the holes in them. Only a few military folks are allowed to wear some old school star trek uniforms. I simply expected something new and wondrous instead of a tired steam-punked repetition of the 'Nebucadneza' design style.

- The elongated 'dance party' scene intercut with some mild adultery scenes. One of the few times I was truly bored in a film. The whole logic of "we are aboard a ship with a minimum crew and thus have all the privacy in the world - but we wait with sexuality until we arrive at a place were we can be sure that we won't get any privacy at all" didn't really make any sense to me. Heh, funny thing. I just noticed an interesting parallel: Anakin and Neo are both chosen ones and both dream of their loved ones dying.

- "Battletech" style defense vehicles, as with the whole Zion setting I didn't like those at all. Just showed the lack of ideas on behalf of the Wachovsky's, imho.

- Establishing the Merowingian as an important opponent/factor in the second movie and then abolishing that approach in the third film, by basically writing him (and any of his plot relevance) out of the story. Just another example that the Wachovsky's didn't seem to have any idea where to take the story and thus, what to do with that character in the third film.

- Replacing the deceased actress of "The Oracle" with a bad attempt of casting a 'look-alike' actress, instead of being bold and keeping true to the religous motives appearing in the film and using one of the kids (or potentials - as the oracle called them) as a replacement, thus following the logic of circularity of events.

- All in all failing to deliver original ways to show the power "the one" has within the matrix. It merely boiled down to: Ok, he can fly, kick ass with kung fu and see the code.

To me, the Matrix trilogy is a very good example how it is sometimes better to stop when you have to admit to yourself, you've run out of ideas that are as original as the initial ones. Lots of potential wasted, it's sad to me, since I'm basicly a fan of the first film and would have loved to see the story continue to be told in the same passionate way as the first one. I love the "Smith against Neo" coreplot throughout the trilogy, but everything else around it just doesn't strike a cord with me at all.
Author
Time
Post link
Quote
Originally posted by: Master Sifo-Dyas

- The elongated 'dance party' scene intercut with some mild adultery scenes. One of the few times I was truly bored in a film. The whole logic of "we are aboard a ship with a minimum crew and thus have all the privacy in the world - but we wait with sexuality until we arrive at a place were we can be sure that we won't get any privacy at all" didn't really make any sense to me. Heh, funny thing. I just noticed an interesting parallel: Anakin and Neo are both chosen ones and both dream of their loved ones dying.


Did you see the 2003 MTV movie awards?
They did a spoof of the Matrix Reloaded. These two dudes were lost in the matrix and were at the big underground party.
One asked "Where are we?"
Andy Dick, who was rocking out and dancing with glow sticks between his fingers, said:
"We're in an underground city where the last remaining humans live, and the machines are coming to kill us. Doesn't that just make you want to party? YEAH!!!" and he continues dancing.
Don't forget: with Lacuna, you can forget.
Author
Time
Post link
When you think about it, if Neo destroyed the Matrix and freed all the humans instantly... then everyone would die, since no crops can grow on the earth and all. There has to be a way to support the people, I suppose via hydroponics and all, but there has also to be a way to fix the sky before humans can move back to the surface and all.

4

Author
Time
Post link
Quote
Originally posted by: Duke's alter ego
Quote
Originally posted by: Master Sifo-Dyas

- The elongated 'dance party' scene intercut with some mild adultery scenes. One of the few times I was truly bored in a film. The whole logic of "we are aboard a ship with a minimum crew and thus have all the privacy in the world - but we wait with sexuality until we arrive at a place were we can be sure that we won't get any privacy at all" didn't really make any sense to me. Heh, funny thing. I just noticed an interesting parallel: Anakin and Neo are both chosen ones and both dream of their loved ones dying.


Did you see the 2003 MTV movie awards?
They did a spoof of the Matrix Reloaded. These two dudes were lost in the matrix and were at the big underground party.
One asked "Where are we?"
Andy Dick, who was rocking out and dancing with glow sticks between his fingers, said:
"We're in an underground city where the last remaining humans live, and the machines are coming to kill us. Doesn't that just make you want to party? YEAH!!!" and he continues dancing.



Hey....if I knew the human race was gonna be wiped out and I had some free time before the big battle.....I'd party all ballistic myself!!!
Author
Time
Post link
The final movie had neo's sacrificing himself for mankind, similar to christ. The directors wove christian themes into the movies. We already had the sacrificial death in revolutions. I was sitting there watching the movie and thought the next thing you know there we be a sequel where we see him resurrected.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

Author
Time
Post link
I am a huge matrix trilogy fan. i love all the movies, but i'd say my favorite is probably the second one. the third one you gotta watch at least twice to understand it. its full of a lot of philsophical meanings and symbols if you look for them. third movie was a little confusing, you had to 'search' for the deeper meaning. but i think all three were done well. i own them all and def watch them on a regular basis. i think the thing i enjoyed the most was the relationships that developed in the movie. i was a huge fan of neo and trin they were such a good couple in the trilogy. i guess part of the reason i love the second movie so much is their cave scene together.

~* you know you love me... xoxo *~

Author
Time
Post link
Quote
i guess part of the reason i love the second movie so much is their cave scene together.


you never stop amazing me.
Author
Time
Post link
The Matrix is one of those movies that, if stand alone, would have become a cult sci-fi classic in years to come.

However, since they DID make more, it will now be remembered as yet another franchise that started out with unlimited potential that was squandered by inferior sequels.

(Btw, Master Sifo-Dyas, those are some good points that articulate many of my gripes about Reloaded and Revolutions.)
Author
Time
Post link
Well the first one was awesome but the rest sucked.
"A Jedi can feel the force flow through him".