The Matrix Revolutions Decoded (2016)
just…wow. A 2.5 hours 2-in-1 edit of the Matrix sequels to trump them all. The first Matrix is an untouchable balanced thought provoking piece of cyberpunk but its sequels had too much crammed in (some of it really cool, most of it cringe-worthy). This cuts all the forced/unnecessary exposition, love triangles, recasted-Oracles, raves, melodramas, cringey train station conversations, etc and gives us a proper action packed and thought provoking sequel much closer to the spirit of the original as the existing footage allows. Even the action, which gets a trim here and there, is recut (and sometimes resequenced) in ways that intensifies and revitalizes its stakes. Usually not into alterations of film endings designed to retcon an especially bleak ending but the way that it was done here is phenomenal (and the original bleak ending, mainly the death of Trinity, was so poorly acted/executed that it isn’t missed). Even the creatively reimagined way in which Neo ends up blinded is so much better here than in the theatrical cut. The audio/visual source quality seemed great to me and flush with any alterations made, but I don’t have a technicians eye/ear for judging these things in further detail.
9/10