I have just started to post
Posts: 4
|
As always, the Internet is filled with an enormous amount of people slandering other’s opinions. I could safely assume that this post, too, is not safe from the insidious bashing of others who do not share in the same beliefs as I do. However, I am, despite my efforts to restrain myself, compelled to make a post informing those with an open mind to consider my opinions.
I have thus far read many opinions concerning the final Matrix movie, most of which are posts describing utter disappointment. I do not feel disappointed, cheated, or other wise robbed of the time, money, and effort that I had spent to go see this film. To those who have read posts and decided you may not want to go see this film, I beg you to reconsider. I only suggest this not because I am a Matrix fan boy who would accept any piece of film the Wachowski brothers would throw at me, but because everyone’s opinion needs to be formulated on their own experience. Please go see the film with an open mind, but do not accept all that you are presented with. This is where the viewers of the film have gone wrong, and are becoming displeased with the film. Allow me now to elaborate:
Consider this if you will: the original Matrix movie was made as a complete piece of work. It had an introduction, a body and a conclusion. Reloaded was simply a body, and Revolutions was simply a conclusion. Those who go into the film expecting the same kind of emotional distance to be set up between the viewer and the characters, the same kind of plot development to be present, as typically would be in a complete film, are to find that it is not there. Revolutions was only to be a conclusion to the trilogy, nothing more. Perhaps the execution was poor. When compared to Star Wars, George Lucas had planned the whole thing pretty much from the start. He intentionally showed us the middle of the story to get us interested, then decided to reveal his boring, yet somewhat satisfying introductory movies (which are still in progress mind you). Essentially, the point here is that the final movie was what I expected it to be: a conclusion, nothing else.
The other issue is with those who did go into the theatre with the expectation of a conclusion, but were not satisfied with what they saw. Perhaps it was not the best way to end the film, although I did like it quite a bit. I find that I am hearing the same stuff over and over. Things like “this is not answers, only more questions,” and “such and such was not answered, and this and that were not explained.” Honestly, how many people would watch a Hitchcock film and say something like that? To use a classic example that most people would understand: after watching The Birds, did you ever sit and say, “what the hell was the deal with all those damn birds? This movie sucks the big one.” If you are that kind of person, then I understand why Revolutions was not for you, but I would also see how you can be missing out on some of the greatest movies of all time if you’re looking only for films that have some sort of definitive closure where all the answers are revealed to you. To give a more obscure example, the movie Rashoumon (Kurosawa) has an infinite amount of unanswered questions contained within the film. Yet, this movie still managed to result in several scholarly writings about its latent meanings and metaphorical significance. Of course, I would never say that the Matrix films are at the level of greatness of Rashoumon, or even that the writing of the Wachowski brothers can be compared to that of Akutagawa (the author of Yabu no naka “in a grove” the basis for Rashoumon). What I am saying is that this film needs to be viewed with the same open mind. It does not supposed to give you all the answers. Additionally, it does supposed to give you more questions. The point: go and think about the movie. Go make theories on the movie. Go write about the movie in a positive or negative way. Whatever you do, consider that the fact that ambiguous movies that lack closure are what many great films are made out of.
I have many opinions about this trilogy. I believe that there is a strong religious overtone, and many parallels to well known religious figures. These opinions reflect the choices of character names, which scratch the surface of these popular religious myths, as well as the characters themselves being embodiments of particular religious ideas… living metaphors if you will. This discussion however, is for another time, as a this post is already growing beyond my presupposed length.
I will leave you with this: this post is simply my opinion on the film and the individual consciousness of the people who have viewed it. I do not, and will not, minimize the opinions of others. If you did not like the film, that is completely understandable considering the extreme difference in the feel of this film compared to the previous ones in the trilogy. If you did like it, that is just as equally admired. It truly is an amazing advancement in technology that we can all read and discuss many opposing opinions concerning something so multitudinous as film. This will be preserved for the entire life of the internet (or perhaps this site), and that itself is gratifying enough to make me want to write this lengthy expression of my experience. I only hope that after reading this, it will open up your mind to a greater spectrum of possibilities. I furthermore would like to beg forgiveness from those who feel my post was too lengthy or ‘preachy’ or otherwise unsavory. Based on the response I receive on this post, I will choose whether or not I feel like elaborating on my “the matrix is a very closely tied to religion” theory. I promise I will try to keep that post more specific and less time consuming to read.
|
