Exception 0E: Access violation in program Matrix.exe

[logomancer]

Just got back from Matrix: Revolutions. I can't say I was surprised by what I saw, although some things differed from what I had expected. The action sequences were large and epic, with special effects oozing from every orifice. There was a distinct drop in the amount of mindfuckery in this movie relative to the first two. The people saying it was like a live-action anime were right. A bad live-action anime, but still...Anyway, more details below.

My main complaint about this movie was that the plot was not well-developed. Too many things -- like Neo's new powers in the real world, how Neo ended up where he did, what the Source was, etc., were either glossed over or not explained at all. The plot itself was rather rushed -- towards the end, it seemed like they just wanted to kill everyone and get it over with. Killing Trinity was one example -- it served no purpose other than shock value. Another was the Bane subplot -- for all the trouble they went to setting that up, you think they could've done more with him than one battle scene with Neo. And so on.

And the annoying, Wesley-esque kid needed to die, but nooooo...he gets to be the big hero. Gah.

But what really disappointed me was the ending. Neo gets assimilated, the MCP pumps whatever through Neo's body, all the Smiths blow up, the Matrix reboots, and everyone lives happily ever after? Oh, how the mighty have fallen. And it gives you warmed-over Christian symbolism at the end. All I can say is, that little Indian girl's going to be waiting a long while for Neo to Return.

I think the Matrix trilogy is a perfect example of how the monetary motivations of a studio can corrupt and destroy a good thing. They all start out the same, as an unproven movie that takes a lot of time and effort to make. The Matrix was like that -- it was afforded a small budget ($63 million), and had to work for its box office revenue. And it succeeded wildly, despite its limitations.

After acheiving blockbuster status, the Wachowskis are given $240 million to make two more movies. Why? Because Hollywood likes trilogies, that's why. Has since the Star Wars. Now they don't even have to work for their money. Success makes people lazy. So they slapped together the script, broke it into two parts to get Joel Silver off their ass, then got to work making it. Not much trouble from the special effects department, since most of the SFX shots are CGI now (and, of course, they use it every chance they get -- CGI is nice, but it can be easily abused). The end result is two crappy movies. And the big thing is that Warner Brothers knows people are going to see it, since it's The Matrix. And the same holds true for its spinoffs -- namely, The Animatrix and Enter the Matrix (which robertliguori says sucks). Thus, Warner Brothers gets a lot of money, and I get a large letdown, as I thought something better was going to come of this. But it's just really sucky.

My overall reaction to Matrix Revolutionswas one of disappointment. The Wachowskis could've done much better with this, but they didn't, and I shelled out 13 bucks for my trouble. You'll go ooh and ahh at the special effects and fight scenes, but if you are looking for closure to the story -- or any deep storyline at all -- you will not be satisfied. Had I known this was going to happen, I would've spent 5 bucks and rented it instead. Or Kazaa'd it.

And with that, I will sleep.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_bellisima/]

AHAHHAAH they should have called him Wesley. But I looked him up on the IMDB and his actual name in the script is "Kid."

...

obviously they overdrew their imagination budget with names like "Neo" and "Zee."

Anyway, I liked it, even if the ending was a cop-out. And stuff got blown up. Ann likes stuff getting blown up. :-D