Haunted Hollywood. Matrix Revolutions.

NRO ^ | November 10, 2003, 8:53 a.m. | Thomas Hibbs

[.cnI redruM]

Walker Percy was fond of describing the south as Christ forgetting and Christ haunted. The much-anticipated final entry in the Matrix trilogy, Matrix Revolutions, a disappointing film roundly and justifiably lambasted by critics, provides evidence that the story of Christ continues to haunt the most unlikely of communities — Hollywood. The problem: Well, the problem is the film, whose narrative is tedious indeed. Neo — identified repeatedly as a Christ figure who must take upon himself the burdens of humanity — comes closest to speaking for all of us long-suffering viewers, when he asks the Oracle, "Where is this going? Where does it end?"

The film is plodding and ponderous from the very beginning. The opening finds Neo "trapped" between two worlds. It also introduces an issue that has been at the heart of some of the best science-fiction films, such as Blade Runner and Dark City, the possibility that computer-engineered programs can experience complex human passions such as love. Unlike the first film, which was true to its motto that the "question" drives us, Revolutions shows little curiosity about this or any other issue. Neo himself appears initially as a slow-witted Eastern philosopher arrayed in action-figure garb.

There is endless blather about choice, its significance, and its consequences. Once again, there are traitors who make choices that prove costly for Neo and his cohorts. But the most-important plotline in Matrix Revolutions occurs in silence and deep within the soul of Neo; it involves not so much his wrestling with options as his growing realization of who he is and what he is called to do. As his core group awaits his direction, he disappears, only to reappear to tell them that he must take a ship to the Machine World, an apparently suicidal course of action that Neo concedes is "difficult to understand." Those gathered immediately divide into the skeptics, proclaiming this a "waste," and the true believers in Neo. The scriptural echoes — his withdrawal to be alone, his plan to go directly into the midst of his enemies on a ship named "The Logos," the presence of traitors, and the accentuation of faith in a person — multiply as the film moves toward its climax.

As was true of its predecessors, this film is something of a mishmash of symbols and myths. It mixes a superficial dash of Eastern or Jungian opposites, as in the Oracle's assertion to Neo that Mr. Smith "is you, your opposite, your negation," with a bit of the blind-seer theme from Sophocles's Oedipus — or was that lifted from the pedestrian Minority Report? But what is surprising about Revolutions is the clear ascendancy of Christian imagery: the suffering servant, the One who conquers evil by enduring it, light overcoming darkness, and especially the cross.

The first film in the trilogy, by far the best, made economical and dramatically effective use of philosophy and myth; it also had a captivating plot. The Wachowski brothers seem to think that the dramatic impetus of the first film is sufficient to keep our attention through nearly five additional hours of footage. It isn't. To make matters worse, Revolutions is the most-humorless film in the trilogy, in part because Mr. Smith has dropped his ironic, stand-up comic posture of Matrix Reloaded. Proclaiming, "This is my world," he now functions as a sort of devil figure to Neo's Savior. Smith comes out as a nihilist philosopher, a despiser of both human flesh and human aspirations. He describes the human body as "nothing…a piece of meat," so "fragile" that it is not "meant to survive." In his final encounter with Neo, he asserts that "the purpose of life is to end," that the ideals of truth, love, and peace that inspire Neo are "illusions" and "constructs," futile attempts at "justifying an existence without purpose." The sad fact about Revolutions is that it nearly fits Mr. Smith's description of human life: a series of illusions and constructs without purpose.

The recent popularity of Star Wars, Harry Potter, and especially Lord of the Rings tells us much about the appetite of American audiences for grand mythic tales, with myth understood not in its derogatory sense but in the sense deployed by Lewis and Tolkien. The peculiar contribution of The Matrix was to focus on the dilemma of humanity or post-humanity in the age of machine intelligence. It began with a bold and crisp articulation of this dilemma. It could have ended as a powerful and compelling affirmation of the enduring vitality of classic myths. It could have sharpened our sense of the options: a debased, mechanized humanity, void of the aspirations characteristic of what is best and most noble in our traditions vs. a humanity that has recovered a sense of purpose, a sense of the goods for which we ought to be willing to fight and die for.

It could, the imagery of the finale suggests, have been a marvelous contemporary recasting of the myth that has woven itself most intimately into the traditions of both east and west. No, not Joseph Campbell's Gnostic and narcissistic "monomyth," but the myth that begins with the audacious proclamation of the Word made flesh. That this story should continue to haunt Hollywood is more instructive than any lesson contained in The Matrix trilogy.

[.cnI redruM]

My girlfriend and I grudgingly went to see Matrix III after hearing all the negatives. It had it's problems compared to Matrix I, but compared to most of what's out there, it still ruled.

Neo would have made a much better Christ figure without the techno-Viking funeral, however I thought his smackdown v. Agent Smith was a fitting finale for the entire film. I have no doubt that the entire heroic concept has been altered and improved upon by the Christ story. It now takes a little more than hacking up Grendel or Tiamat to be a man.

Without the whole religious conceit, Neo would not have worked as a hero. Now if only the Muslim world would find and embrace a few role-models who could build tall buildings rather than just take them down.

[GulliverSwift]

I don't understand why some of the critics continue to bash the Matrix sequels. The best thing about the sequels is that they encourage people to think philosophically.

A lot of the critics don't like this. (Plus, they don't like the messianic talk.)

Number III is a good film, far better than the "critically acclaimed" crap like Cider House Rules or any of the other liberal propaganda masquerading as films.

[.cnI redruM]

Comparing Cider House Fools to even Matrix II is a joke. Sort of like me getting into a rugby scrum against Agent Smith. Although, I did like Smith better as a demonic David Letterman in MI.

His only truely inspired wisecrack was "Only a human would invent a construct as insipid as love."

[Jim Cane]

Contary to what the critics have said, Matrix Rev, DIDN'T blow chunks. Rather it's more like eating too much pizza and then jumping around so that a little barf comes up your throat, but you manage to keep it in.

Still, you have that taste in your mouth.

So to summarize Mx3 didn't blow chunks. It just tastes that way.

[Chewbacca]

"I don't understand why some of the critics continue to bash the Matrix sequels. The best thing about the sequels is that they encourage people to think philosophically."


The problem with most Hollywood critics is they are liberal and incapable of thinking. Only feeling. Thus any attempt to understand the deeper philosophical concepts of the Matrix movies is lost on them.

[pabianice]

Everyone needs to watch Richard Dean Anderson's interview regarding the upcoming 8th season of Stargate SG-1: "Let's not forget; [science fiction] is entertainment." To load an action sci-fi film with so much serious baggage is stupid and proves the maxim: "Those that can, write. Those that can't write, teach. Those that can't teach, become critics."

Just eat the popcorn and enjoy the show!

[Lil'freeper]

LOL.

I saw it at matinee fare. Although it was a satisfactory ending to the story, it was pretty much a non-event. The lack of gratuitous kung fu, sex, and theophilopsycho-babble was an improvement over II. The battle for Zion was very enjoyable. But II and III combined don't come close to matching I- which is the one I'll watch when I want to see "the" Matrix.

[TheBigB]

Leave it to MacGyver to cut through the BS. Aside from the pretty special effects, the Matrix films are overrated crap.

[pabianice]

What a hideous film was "Cider House Rules." The morals: burning the little bodies of babies aborted from teen mothers is noble; fraudulently practicing medicine is noble; conservatives are stupid and evil people who are easily fooled by clever, all-wise Liberals. "Cider House" is a horror of a movie.

[GulliverSwift]

The problem with most Hollywood critics is they are liberal and incapable of thinking. Only feeling. Thus any attempt to understand the deeper philosophical concepts of the Matrix movies is lost on them.

I guess the reason for this is that they think that they confuse liberal politics with philosophy, when in reality, the two are almost antithetical.

[GulliverSwift]

And yet, all of the "critics" said it was wonderful. That ought to be enough to give one pause about their judgment.

[.cnI redruM]

I like that pizza analogy. It reminds me that I should probably practice moderation and have a salad for lunch instead.

[.cnI redruM]

On a scale of 1-10, I'd rate the Matrix Trilogy as follows:

MI - 10.5
MII - 4.5
MII - 7.0

Overall, that's a 7.333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333 (Bad math humor, is there any other kind?)

[.cnI redruM]

Texas Chainsaw Massacre at least spared us the spectacle of 'Leatherface' as a nice guy.

[BibChr]

I disagree with the critic, mostly, and with most negative critics of this movie. M:Rev was fun; it was interesting; it moved along; it had some drama, humor, and pathos; it had extraordinary eye-candy. I go to movies primarily to have fun. M:Rev did that for me.

I say this as a pedal-to-the-metal Christian who is perfectly willing to avoid or decimate a film on moral/philosophical/religious/political grounds. I just didn't take Matrix that seriously.

Dan

[.cnI redruM]

I felt the same way. I was bored a couple of times, but didn't think MIII lived up to some of it's negative criticism.

[Jim Cane]

It reminds me that I should probably practice moderation and have a salad for lunch instead.

Just don't practice your moves on a lettuce full stomach.

[.cnI redruM]

Yeah, I know. Everyone around me would say "Lettuce alone."

[Grit]

Thus any attempt to understand the deeper philosophical concepts of the Matrix movies is lost on them.

Chewie, did you have a straight face when you said this?

The Matrix was a great movie with something to say. Reloaded was Matrix-Lite. Nothing at all "deep" in that movie. I haven't yet seen Rev. I'll wait for DVD.

[No.6]

Some people (reviewers and others) bash M:Rev because they say it has no plot.
Others bash it because they felt it was all plot, too talky.

Some felt the Christian themes were hokey and trite.
Others felt they weren't explicit enough and were offended that Buddhist, Hindu, and other philosophies got their moments.

Some I've talked to said that everything was explained to clearly: Make me Think they said.
Others said that there were loose ends everywhere, far too incoherent.

Some felt the action was banal; others felt it was overdone. The ones who liked it were anime fans, which makes sense considering that was in fact the whole idea behind Matrix fights.

Mostly I believe that those who are disappointed are disappointed because the first Matrix is one giant question mark. Possibilities galore. M:R (both halves) is an answer.

Why I really like M:Rev is that very carefully the film bisects everyone's expectations, just as every duality in the series eventually comes to view its enemy and finds itself facing a mirror.

In so doing M:Rev is almost guaranteed to offend nearly everyone. 36 years ago another creator, this time of a TV series, painted himself into a philosophical corner; the resulting two-part ending infuriated listeners and reviewers alike and the individual in question had to go into hiding for weeks.

I'm not saying the Matrix series is quite up to THAT standard but this is definitely a film which will be better viewed the tenth time than the first.