The Matrix Revolutions

Template:Infobox Movie

The Matrix Revolutions is the third film in the Matrix trilogy. The film, a combination of philosophy and action like its predecessors, sought to conclude the questions raised in the previous film, The Matrix Reloaded.

The film was written and directed by the Wachowski brothers, who also directed the 1996 film Bound. It was released simultaneously worldwide on November 5th, 2003, and was the first film to debut in this manner. It was also the first film to be released simultaneously in regular and IMAX theaters. The Wachowski brothers were present in Tokyo at the opening of the movie, as were stars Keanu Reeves and Jada Pinkett Smith.

On November 5 2003 The Matrix Revolutions opened simultaneously in sixty countries. The premiere of the final entry in the Matrix series was notable for being the first time a Hollywood film opened in India at the same time as the rest of the world. [1] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3238017.stm)

The Matrix Revolutions was also one of the first films to simultaneously premiere on both standard and IMAX screens.

In Moscow, the film's premiere was accompanied by a demonstration organized by the youth wing of the Russian Communist Party who welcomed the film as an allegory for Communism. [2] (http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_836226.html)

Despite poor reviews and a weaker opening than its predecessor, The Matrix Revolutions broke box-office records for its opening weekend, grossing $48.5 million in its first five days of release in the US. However, its earnings dropped over 70% in its second week which is considered a sign of poor audience satisfaction.

The Matrix Revolutions ultimately grossed $139 million at the US box office altogether and $456 million worldwide. This is roughly half of the The Matrix Reloaded box-office total. The Matrix Revolutions did extremely well in DVD and VHS rentals and sales in April of 2004.

Contents

1 Plot

1.1 Aftermath: discussion

2 Soundtrack

3 External links

Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

The film's events immediately follow those of The Matrix Reloaded and presuppose familiarity with the story of the last two films.

Bane (now controlled by Agent Smith) and Neo are both comatose after Bane triggered an EMP that thwarted the humans' attempts to intercept the Sentinel army headed towards Zion. Morpheus, depressed after the destruction of the Nebuchadnezzar, starts a search for Neo, who he believes could be present in the Matrix while not being "jacked in". Neo is in fact trapped in limbo: a subway station named Mobil Avenue that is a transition zone between the Matrix and the Source. At the station, Neo meets a "family" of programs, who tell him that Mobil Avenue is controlled by the Trainman, a program who in turn is loyal to the Merovingian.

Seraph contacts Morpheus on behalf of the Oracle, now resident in a different "shell" (in reality, the actress who played the Oracle in the first two films died before the completion of the third). The Oracle informs Morpheus and Trinity of Neo's captivity and Seraph, Morpheus and Trinity agree to seek the Merovingian in an effort to secure Neo's release. The three discover him within a dance club, and, after a series of obstacles, Trinity forces a giant Mexican standoff, forcing the Merovingian to make the Trainman release Neo.

Neo is troubled by images he's been seeing since waking up in Mobil Avenue station. He decides to visit the Oracle before returning to the real world. She informs him that as the One, his powers extend beyond the world of the Matrix to a degree of control over the Source. She characterises Agent Smith, also growing in power, as his exact opposite, and elaborates on the relationship between herself and the Architect (Tellingly, each of them ejects an exasperated "Please!" when Neo asks them about the other). She warns that Smith's threat extends beyond the Matrix to the Source and the real world, and that the war is about to end "one way or the other".

After Neo's departure, an army of Smiths arrives to assimilate the Oracle, defeating Seraph and gaining Smith her powers of precognition.

In the real world, meanwhile, the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar and the Mjolnir's Hammer encounter Niobe's ship, the Logos, and its crew. They succesfully reactivate the deactivated ship and begin to interrogate the now awakened Bane, who apparently has no memory of the events of the earlier battle.

After contemplating his visions, Neo emerges to announce that he needs a ship to head to the Machine City, although he can't explain why at the moment. Roland, the Hammer's captain, refuses him, but Niobe lets him take the Logos, accompanied by Trinity.

The two remaining crews plan to return to Zion and avoid the Sentinel army by piloting the Mjolnir's Hammer through a nearly unnavigable service tunnel. Shortly after the Hammer departs, the crew discovered that Bane has murdered a member of its crew and has hidden himself aboard the Logos, but are unable to return to warn Trinity and Neo.

Before Neo and Trinity can depart, Bane ambushes Trinity and takes her hostage. Neo fights with Bane, who reveals himself as a manifestation of Agent Smith. During the struggle, Bane/Smith blinds Neo by cauterizing his eyes with high voltage electrical wires. Neo, however, still is able to see Bane - his connection with the source enables him to sense Smith inside Bane's body. Neo kills Bane/Smith and releases Trinity, who pilots them towards the Machine City (presumably 01).

In Zion, the defenders deploy infantry armed with rocket launchers and Armored Personnel Units in order to protect the dock from assault. The dock is invaded by a massive horde of Sentinels, as well as two giant drilling machines. At the same time, the Hammer accidentally tips itself off to a large Sentinel army in the tunnel system, and is swarmed on the way back to Zion. At the last minute, the Hammer arrives at Zion and breaks through the gates, setting off an EMP and disabling all electronic equipment in the area. While this finishes off the Sentinels, it also disables the remainder of Zion's defenses. The humans are forced to fall back to even more immediate defenses and wait for the next swarm that will almost certainly kill them all.

Nearing the Machine City, Neo and Trinity are attacked by the city's defense system, hurling massive numbers of mobile bombs and Sentinels at the Logos. Neo uses his powers to destroy the incoming bombs, but the Sentinels are too numerous and to evade them Trinity flies the ship above the permanent electrical storm/cloud cover, disabling the Sentinels but also the Logos engines. After a brief glimpse of sunlight, the ship plunges directly into one of the Machine City's spires. The impact of the collision kills Trinity, who is able to give Neo a three-minute-fifty-second pep talk before she dies.

Neo emerges into the Machine City to strike a bargain with the machines, personified by the Deus Ex Machina. Neo warns the machines that Smith (who has by now assimilated everyone in The Matrix) is beyond the machines' control, and will soon assault the Source. He offers to stop Smith in exchange for peace between machines and humans. The second wave of Sentinels attacking Zion instantly responds by standing down and holding their positions. The Machines provide a connection for Neo to jack into the Matrix and confront Smith.

The city's population of Smiths stands by and watches while Neo and one Smith square off: he explains that, posessing the Oracle's foresight, he already knows the outcome of the battle and is certain of Neo's defeat. After an extended airbone fight scene, a defeated Neo allows Smith to assimilate him, not before repeating Smith's favourite refrain to him: "it was inevitable". At that point, the machines power Neo's body with a surge of energy: this destroys the Smith copied onto Neo, as well as every subsequent Smith, returning the Matrix to normal. The machine army immediately relents from the destruction of Zion.

The Architect meets with the Oracle in a park (the first time the two have appeared on screen together) agrees with the Oracle to free those humans who do not wish to accept the Matrix's artificial reality. A new dawn appears in the Matrix and it appears that the conflict between humans and machines is ended.

Aftermath: discussion

The ending of The Matrix Revolutions is discussed heavily within its fanbase. The film ends with what some have interpreted as a Matrix "reset". There is peace between Human and Machine, that is made clear; and some of the characters are even alive (though Neo's precise status is not explained: the machines carry off his lifeless body and the Oracle notes that they will see him again).

How or why Smith is destroyed is never fully explained. One suggestion is that Neo is considered positive and Smith negative; combining them results in a destruction of both. This has precedent: The Oracle describes them as adversaries, matched and somehow linked together; Smith is Neo's opposite, created by The Architect in an attempt to "balance the equation". In destroying his opposite, Smith has destroyed the reason for his existence. Others believe a more literal explanation: since Neo is "logged in" through the Deus Ex Machina, when Smith assimilates Neo he inadvertently connects himself to the leader of the Machine World, and it then uses Neo as a conduit to delete Smith. Either way, Smith discovers himself in a Catch-22: by finally beating Neo, Smith himself is destroyed.

The film has many references to Hindu philosophy, in particular, the concept of karma. The issues of free will and determinism are raised. Reflecting this, the lyrics of the closing music are based on Sanskrit slokas.

Fans suggest the uncertainty may be part way resolved by the MMORPG The Matrix Online forming a direct sequel to the movie trilogy.

Soundtrack

In contrast to the movie's predecessors, very few "source" tracks are used in the movie. Aside from Don Davis' score, again collaborating with Juno Reactor, only one external track (by Pale 3) is used.

Although Davis rarely focusses on strong melodies, familiar leitmotifs from earlier in the series reappear. For example, Neo and Trinity's love theme- which briefly surfaces in the two preceding movies- is finally fully expanded into Trinity Definitely; the theme from the Zion docks in Reloaded returns as Men in Metal, and the energetic drumming from the Reloaded tea house fight opens Tetsujin.

The climactic battle theme, named Neodämmerung (in reference to Wagner's Götterdämmerung), features a choir singing extracts from the Upanishads. These were brought to Davis by the Watchowski Brothers when he informed them that it would be wasteful for such a large choir to be singing simple "ooh"s and "aaah"s. These extracts return in the denuement of the movie, and in Navras, the track which plays over the closing credits (which may be considered a loose remix of Neodämmerung).