»The Matrix Revolutions: A Comprehensive Review/Analysis«

The Matrix Revolutions (**** out of ****)
By: Cedric M. Grant

I am so disappointed. Not in the Wachowski Bros.—who have delivered what is in my the mind the greatest film achievement of our time with this trilogy that at its worst is three-hundred times better than everything, and I mean everything, Hollywood has to offer. Not in the final two entities of The Matrix trilogy—which is the whoafully underrated and superior film to the first installment which is known as ‘Reloaded’ and the completely misunderstood by millions but utterly mind blowing, inspiring, and crowning finale which is ‘Revolutions’ both which are deeper, broader, better, and more technically advanced than the first Matrix. No, I’m definitely not disappointed in any of those things. What I’m disappointed in are the millions of people who walked out of the last two Matrix films and dismissed them as utter trash made to consume money out the yin-yang and that’s it. What I’m disappointed in is the tons of overpaid critics who are obviously cinematic idiots who should be exiled from the union who write up damn near depressing reviews about a film that was obviously way over their heads. What I’m disappointed in are the supposed Matrix buffs that obviously have no idea what The Matrix stands for and are telling the masses their corny renditions of the trilogy. What I’m disappointed in are the supposed Matrix buffs who are even asking the insipid question “is the Matrix made for the masses?”—further implying their lack of understanding of the films. And before you scoff, let me explain:

For starters, yes!, you simple-minded fucks, The Matrix phenomenon was created for the masses. It was created to dominate the box office, rake in loads of cash, and give the Wachowski Bros. Hollywood power beyond their wildest dreams. It was created for pop culture. It was created to infect the minds of elders, young adults, and kids for generations to come. It was created to start a movement (a cinematic one and a very deeper one). That’s the obvious—it’s absurd to even think that people who “claim” to understand this movement would even question that. What makes the films and the Wachowski Bros. so brilliant is their reason for doing so. Simply put, the Matrix trilogy was created for the masses but with the biggest curveball ever thrown in Hollywood. The bullet-time, the shades, the guns, the action, the kung fu, the Hong Kong wire work, the cool clothes, the pop culture references—all a hoax to get the masses in the door. To get the very minds who need to see this sort of film in the theatre, have them strapped to their seat and spoon fed the remarkable messages that the film has to offer—all without most of them knowing so.

That’s right, you’ve been had. In the well-known tradition of a film trilogy, I’ll take you back to the beginning—the first installment to the Matrix series and say: The Matrix does have you. It has you pinned to your seats, shelling out your money, standing in line for hours in the cold to get tickets so you can see it first—but unlike all other Hollywood piles of cow dung made solely for money (such as Star Wars Episode I through XX or however many, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Batman, Superman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Terminator 3, and the list goes on and on and on) these films have a purpose. What is that purpose? To change the world. And not even in the traditional film sense. Not in that ‘after you leave the theatre you feel the warm and fuzzies and you might feel as if you should drop that homeless man who repeatedly rests outside your apartment whom you normally kick in the ass and tell to do everyone a favor and go die some spare change’-sort of way. It’s one that grows on you. That makes you think. That conjures up all sorts of questions—then answers some obviously, some vaguely, and some are left unanswered for the viewer’s own interpretation. Interpretations, if I may add, that are limitless but limitless in it’s own realm of limitlessness. Limitless in a realm that is relevant, real, and important to each and every human being on the planet in some shape, way, form, or fashion. That realm is reality—the real world. If you are gathering what I am getting at, chances are you love this trilogy just as much as I do. Chances are you understand that these films are metaphors told in reverse about the reality in which we live in. Chances are you understand that the words: purpose, reason, freedom, love, cause, effect, balance, unbalance, power, hate, war, and meaning all have a significant role not only in realm of the Matrix, but in the realm in which we live in. Chances are you’ll read the rest (or should I say beginning) of this review and feel that someone has cracked the code of the Matrix, hacked into it’s meaning, and found a truth (one of many). But of course, this is all a matter of chance. (By the way this review of ‘Revolutions’ will be one of a cinematic level: story, character development, direction, effects, etc., that contains the answers found in reality: meanings, philosophies, truths, interpretations, and metaphors within each aspect of the film.)

To indulge, the machines enslaved humanity. They breed human beings in endless fields called “Machine City” that harvest their body heat as energy to keep them powered. These human bodies rest in an oval cubicle that houses them in a system that is a prison for their mind, called ‘The Matrix’. This, is a metaphor for the present day society. A society controlled by a system of government that keeps its inhabitants chained and shackled to a way of thinking—that of pay taxes and die and don’t try to change anything, just accept things, the wars, the bloodshed, the corruption, the insignificant differences in people (race or gender) that divide them, the class status, and the lies that give you the very liberties in which you cherish, just accept them and power the society forward. Just be born, go to school, go to college, get a job, get a family, and work but never, under any circumstances, question the system. This is a way of thinking that these films are pleading we should “rebel” against, “free our minds” from, and ultimately return back to what’s simply pure about being human (hence: the much-discussed dance and sex scene from ‘Reloaded’)—carefree, liberated, proud to be human, happy to be alive, and in touch with existence. It is also why those who do rebel, when plugged back into the Matrix, wear those cool clothes, cool shades, and have cool, kick-ass weapons at their very disposal. This, is also a commentary on society. It is a commentary on how everyone wants to belong. Everyone wants to be seen as cool. Everyone wants to fit in. That is why the residual self-image of everyone who hacks into the Matrix from Zion is that of a cool existence.

On the flipside of that metaphor, The Matrix is a system that has the rules of a computer. It has programs that run it, make it function, keep it stable, that balances it—these programs are it’s creator, The Architect, it’s co-creator, The Oracle, it’s hitmen that can hotwire into any mind plugged in The Matrix’s system (so they are potentially everyone) The Agents, it’s rogue programs that have power, want power, or need power for it’s very purpose, The Oracle, The Merovingian, and The Keymaker. And the list can go on. Aside from the programs, are the humans. The slaves who allow these programs to have power in the first place. As we were told, the first Matrix was built as a perfect utopia, a Pleasantville, which was a complete and utter disaster. The human mind would not accept this as real and most crops woke up from it, like it was a dream too good to be true. This, is metaphor for the history of human nature. Humans have proven to be vile, vicious, cynical, naïve, power stricken, and corrupt while still proving through shades of holiness that they had a reason to exist. They have done some of the most ungodly and forsaken tragedies in the history of existence (slavery, holocaust, war for power, etc.). Their used to war, death, despair, and discrepancy of power. But, have also done some great things of meaning as well.

So, a program, The Oracle, came up with a solution. Create a world like the one the human mind is used to. Lower the number of rebels and allow The Matrix to function. But as we learned in ‘Revolutions’, The Oracle had an ulterior motive the whole time. As you well know, the system she envisioned was eventually created and for the few minds that did rebel—an alternative place was created. That place was called, “Zion”. Fortunately for mankind, along with the minds that did rebel came a systemic anomaly that possessed powers inside the Matrix to change it as he saw fit. But this was not a problem for the machines, as it was not all beyond a system of control. Something to give to the rebel minds as a sign of hope. To keep that rebellion at a minimum. This, is a metaphor for religion. Religion was created at a time when man’s mental development had evolved and he knew too much about the world and started pondering a bigger existence and meaning. He/She feared the coming days ahead of him and things like death and what does it all mean began to come about. Thus, was born the bible. A book that has been used for centuries as a system of control to give people in a society a reason to live a life according to government rules. It became a source of power. Giving humans an illusionary choice of free will—note to the overtly religious: This is a not a diss to your beliefs, I am not a Pagan, I believe in a higher power but the thought that choosing a side (such as Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Baptist, etc. “Hello! You’re all praising the same thing, people!) will effect my creator’s decision on casting me to Hell and not the fact that I live my life the best way I know how is a crock of shit to me. Sorry L. The Matrix seems to be the Wachowski’s creating their own religion on screen. Just like early man did when he began to question his existence, the Wachowski’s question this society, and created the Matrix for that purpose.

CONTINUED ON REPLY

The Matrix Revolutions (**** out of ****)
By: Cedric M. Grant

CONTINUED....

To explain, Neo is to the Matrix what Jesus Christ is to the bible. And just like The Bible, the Matrix’s multiple storylines are all fictitious accounts of man’s faith in something greater (Noah’s Ark—The Oracle’s creation of a better Matrix, Moses parting of the Red Sea—Neo stopping the sentinels etc.)—it’s all relative. And that’s what makes the brainchild of the Wachowski’s so masterful, so original, so ahead of its time, and so important—they have created a cinematic religion. A religion with the purpose and intent of any other religion that man has ever created—to question. They question society. They question our current way of life. They question our existence. They question our biased system. They question our past. They want peace, humanity, love, and hope to reign supreme. It’s all circling throughout the beautiful narrative of the final entry to the Wachowski’s religious wake-up-call of a journal to society.

This, brings us to ‘Revolutions’—the film that illuminates the light in which the Wachowski’s were trying to shine from the beginning. It is the film that solidifies the entire trilogy’s reason and purpose for existing. It is a film that does exactly what the final part of a trilogy is supposed to do: which is to reveal something you believed to be true from the previous two flicks and turn that entire belief upside down (that of the meaning and reason this trilogy was even created). With Neo, our savior, in a coma and beside him lying “Agent Bane Smith” as I like to call him, in a similar coma, and all the questions of the Matrix hanging in the balance to be answered, the film begins just as ‘Reloaded’ left off—with tension and inquiries mounting. And that tension never lets up as ‘Revolutions proves to be a mind-rollicking, hair raising, action/sci-fi/adventure movie while at the same time being the brilliant commentary on our time and a creation of the Wachowski’s Matrix religion for which the entire premise was created.

From there, we find that Neo is trapped in a place between The Matrix and the real world. A train station that has a train which travels in and out of the Matrix for none other than The Devil himself—The Merovingian (we’ll get to that a little later). A man known as ‘The Trainman’ oversees it. A fact that is told to Neo by a young Indian girl named Sati that stands before him when he awakes. Her parents are there with her. Her father had to make a deal with ‘The Devil’ to get Sati freed. He speaks to Neo of love, peace, karma, and happiness and Neo finds that even programs can grasp the concept of human emotion—something that a particular program named Smith rejects fully. Then, we go back to our other heroes, Morpheus and Trinity, as they receive a call from Seraph to meet with the Oracle at once. When they arrive, they see the Oracle’s appearance has changed (something that was an idea of the Wachowski’s to be written into the script before the amazing Gloria Foster’s passing, she is now played by the wonderful Mary Alice), because she fears for her life. She has made a choice that she must now face the consequences of and she will do so out of faith in Neo. She tells Morpheus that Neo needs everyone’s help and to help him they (Morpheus, Trinity, and Seraph) must find the Trainman, get the location of The Merovingian, and demand for Neo’s releasing.

The next scene is huge because in every religion if there’s an extreme of good, there must be an extreme of evil. This is when the Wachowski’s true vision begins to unfold. After tracking down the Trainman, they head to The Merogvingian’s club (This is where The Merovingian’s correlation with the Devil is revealed). After pummeling some bouncers outside of the club, Morpheus, Trin, and Seraph, head into an elevator where Morpheus presses a red button, labeled “Hell”—which is the lower chamber of The Merovingian’s spot. After an eye-popping action sequence harkening back to exhilarating first film, they proceed inside the club. Where the Merovingian sits, dressed in an all black suit, a red shirt, and red tie (devilishly charming), with his beautiful wife (who is obviously over the knob job he got in ‘Reloaded’ or was she ever mad?, my guess is that kiss from Persephone in ‘Reloaded’ is what put Neo in the Train Station coma to begin with). As they negotiate, the Merovingian asks for the Oracle’s (or the “fortune teller’s, as he so eloquently puts it) eyes in exchange for their savior. But Trinity says F-that and opens up a can-o-whoop-ass and tells him that either Neo gets freed or they all die right then and there. So, naturally, Neo is freed. After being freed, Neo knows he must now see the Oracle, for he doesn’t know what his next move will be because of all the clouded doubt that surrounds him. She tells him that she sees the “darkness spreading”, that “everything that has a beginning, has an end”, her reason for existing (to unbalance the equation of existence that The Architect so erratically tries to balance (because to have good there must be evil, to have light there must be darkness, and to have the sun there must be the moon), and that by the end of the night, the fate of not only The Matrix world but the real world will be in the hands of either him or Smith. This, is all a metaphor for reality. As I’ll delve into more later, Smith represents that cynical, inhumane, evil, and power-stricken leader that wants nothing short of world domination (a.k.a Adolph Hitler) who is needed for the simple purpose of giving everyone on earth, despite race, religion, gender, nationality, class, or government affiliation, a reason to stand together in peace and fight together for survival (World War)—the entire film is this understandable if you pay attention.

To begin, I must take you back to the previous film (‘Reloaded’) because like a good sequel is supposed to, ‘Revolutions’ ultimately makes ‘Reloaded’ an even better picture albeit being a superior film in it’s own right. Remember the 35-minute-sequence in Zion people were in disarray over—the one I knew would pay off in the finale, when the Counselor and Neo had a conversation about humans and machines at the engineering level of Zion. The conversation that leads to the Counselor discussing how machines keep humans alive and humans keep machines powered but at the same time machines are coming to kill them and when Neo came to the conclusion that humans need machines and machines need humans—meaning that the two beings had to find some sort of way to coexist. Yeah? Well, that reason is Smith. That is his purpose. To threaten both the world of the Machines (The Matrix) and the world of free humans (Zion) and give both worlds a reason for peace and to ultimately end the war between the two because they “have to coexist”. This, is another plea by the Wachowski’s, because it is sad that we sit and wait for that terrorist (hello! Bin Laden, 9/11) to come along and give us a reason to stand together and coexist despite our differences (whether racial, social, or otherwise)—but we do.

Though, Smith does have some trouble dealing with his purpose. He doesn’t believe in fate, love, freedom, or peace. He wants to rule the world. There’s a brilliant sequence that involves Smith (Hugo Weaving is absolutely amazing in the entire film, to me the best supporting performance this year) with Seraph and Sati (“Oh, I’m not so bad, once you get to know me”, Smith says) and then Smith with the Oracle. When Smith reaches the Oracle, the film’s dialogue shines immensely. He asks her, “if she’s the all powerful Oracle, then why in the hell would she sit in the room and wait on him to get there knowing that when he reached her he would spread into her program as well”—now we know why (that damn Oracle, she’s a sneaky, sneaky, bastard). Then, he gets mad and slams a plate of cookies against the wall and yells, “maybe you knew I was gonna do that? Maybe you didn’t?”. It’s funny as hell (no pun intended). You gotta see it! The Oracle then has to come face-to-face with her decision when she let’s Smith spread through her like the viral infection he is and become some sort of “Super Smith”. But that was all a tactical choice that we’ll get to later.

The film then shifts to Zion and the defense back home. I won’t delve into this in deep meaning, but I will say it is the most realistic CGI battle scene ever put on film, an action fan’s dream, and a flawless hook by the Wachowski’s to keep the spoonfeeders glued to their seats. And it is a great sequence showing the love Zee has for Link and shows what Kid’s meaning in the film is—He represents the future, the (as they so blatantly put it with the name they gave him) kids! How they need to be willing to fight for what’s right and believe in something greater, because they are the future. They are the next generation. They are important. There are also some great performances in this sequence as well, one by Harry J. Lennix as Commander Lock and a surprisingly powerful performance by Nathaniel Lees as Captain Mifune. But it all pales in comparison to what comes next.

The last 30 minutes of ‘Revolutions’ is really where they film becomes the ultimate love letter to the Wachowski’s religion, philosophy, and commentary of the times. After being blinded by Bane, yes, Neo is now the ‘Blind Messiah’, he and Trinity head to the Machine City to the Source to find a solution to war before it’s too late. There’s a surreal, out of this world, and simply unbelievable feel to ‘Revolutions’ during this entire sequence. As you can tell by the film’s mood, Neo and Trinity’s shared love will come down to this. The fact that Neo is the first of the Ones’ to fall in love becomes crucial. And their love will ultimately be given a purpose, a reason for existing—and it does. That reason is to embed into Neo a reason to fight for peace, to feed him that food for thought so he can make the difficult decision that lies ahead for him. After escaping from Sentinels, Neo and Trinity, fly towards the sky into the darkly clouded abyss and then, we are treated to a beautiful shot. The ship flies out of the darkness and into the light. Trinity and Neo get to see the beautiful sun’s glare, not the one from the Matrix, the real sun. They get to see the beauty of white clouds glistening from the sun’s light, light with no darkness, and a boyishly blue sky. They get to see existence. If this doesn’t move you—seek help. Seconds later, they plunge back down into the darkness and are recked by the sentinels. The light doesn’t last long—especially for Trinity. As she lies helpless on the floor the ship, bleeding from wounds to her chest and stomach, she dies. This scene showcases some darn good acting by Keanu who is more than believable when he breaks down into tears from her death—or maybe it was just because his eyes were covered? Interesting.

Anyway, what we do know, it is her death and his love for her, which prompts Neo to do what he does next. With nothing but a mere shred of hope to guide him, Neo walks into the Source mainframe. The mainframe looks like something out of The Wizard of Oz, but it’s dark and sinister. He tells them that the program Smith has grown beyond their control and that he will eventually become powerful enough to destroy both Machine and Humans alike unless they let him fight—for a peace (truce) between human and machine—because as mentioned earlier, they “have to coexist”. This, is yet another metaphor by the Wachowski’s saying that someone’s leader, whether the terrorist’s, the government’s, or the people’s leader has to come forward and be willing to die in the name of peace and maybe, just maybe, others will follow. The machines accept Neo’s offer and sends him back into The Matrix to fight and ultimately discover his purpose as the one.

This, leads to the Super Burly Brawl, which not only showcases live action Dragon Ball Z stunts, ONE HELL OF A PUNCH, and a brilliant performance by Hugo Weaving—but the meaning of this trilogy as well. After Smith has Neo down and out, he begs, yells, pleads, and demands Neo to explain to him why he is fighting: “is it for love, peace, or freedom”, he asks standing in a crater that he and Neo’s bodies created after they descend from over 50,000 miles in the air. Neo stands up, gazes into Smith’s confused and hopeless eyes, and says, “He fights because he chooses too”. This infuriates Smith because he sees peace, love, karma, freedom, and choice as illusions created by man to justify his existence. His rage allows him to beat Neo into a corner—a corner that he has seen before. “This is it”, he says. “This is the end….this is how I’ve seen it…you were there and you were lying there just like that and I was standing here….and then I’m supposed to say something, I say, I say, ‘Everything That Has a Beginning Has an End’.” Eureka! The same words the Oracle said to Neo. Neo notices those words and realizes the Oracle’s choice—to sacrifice her self and become Smith so that she could help him in his quest when the time was needed. This allows Neo to discover his purpose—to die. To sacrifice himself, destroy Agent Smith, end the threat to both The Matrix and Zion, and ultimately end the war between humans and machines in the name of peace. And that’s exactly what he does. The final shot of Neo’s body being carried away by the Source is eerily ironic to the crucifixion of Christ, further justifying the creation of the Wachowski’s religion.

Another metaphoric scene is the final one. When the Architect approaches the Oracle and tells her that “this was a very dangerous game you played”, then she says, “Change always is”. This is the Wachowski’s speaking directly to the audience. Yes, this change, this religion, this way of thinking, this new system of law will be difficult and dangerous to pursue—but it is a necessity. So when The Architect asks, “How long do you think this peace is going to last?”, and The Oracle replies, “As long as it can.”, we should all know that this, is the Wachowski’s saying peace is the answer, but by the law of physics, the nature of humanity, and necessity to balance the equation of existence peace will fall and then and only then must it be pursued again—their will never be a perfect utopia, a Pleasantville because it’s not in our nature. There are also questions surrounding Sati, who Smith refers to as “the last exile”, and who obviously possesses power to control certain things in The Matrix. But those are questions that needn’t be discussed because I don’t see a sequel in the making—not by the Wachowski’s anyway, but maybe by Joel Silver. Is she the next Oracle? The next One? Something greater? I don’t know. It’s the only unsolved mystery in the puzzle. For the solved mysteries, which are the pieces to the entire film that is ‘Revolutions’, I must say it couldn’t of came to any better conclusion. The Brothers W didn’t look for easy answers to their brainchild. Didn’t look for a scapegoat or a cop out. They held their breath and dove nose first into a realm beyond the imagination and found the inspiration to create this epic trilogy. It is a colossal work of art, a masterpiece, an instant classic, an amalgamation that so effortlessly weaves, biblical, philosophical, and social facets into a melting pot of exhilarating, mind-blowing cinema. It is the greatest work of our time. It is the creation of a cinematic religion, a vision so beyond it’s years it’s scary, a visual juggernaut, a film lover’s feast. It is the reason—the very purpose for cinema to exist.

Mr. Grant:

While I do not necessarily agree with EVERYTHING you've said,* I think your analysis of the film is informed, insightful, and ultimately, correct.

When I have more time, I'll try to post a more in-depth reply, but for now, let me just say THANK YOU. Thank you for stating what I still have difficulty putting precisely into words: That The Matrix is more than a movie, or a movie trilogy, or a wildly entertaining action extravaganza; it is MYTH. It is TRUTH. And, it is NECESSARY.


*On the subject of differing views, I seem to recall: "The path of the One is made by the many." Dissent, disagreement, debate: these are the engines of growth.

-annaerullo (Matthew T Aimone)

Well thought out, and well written. Informative.

Thanks for that.

I agree with what a lot of what you said.

I responded to this before, but my response is gone.

In short:

Much of your praise for the films is based on the idea that they function as great propaganda for the "religion" being pushed by the W. bros. While I essentially agree with that idea, it is debatable whether this is a praiseworthy trait for films. (Not that I think this makes the Matrix films *bad*, either....)

My primary disagreement with your review (which is otherwise fine, and informative) is that it gives the impression that the "religion" being pushed by the W. bros in the Matrix series is something new, something they came up with.

I don't believe that it is.

Well, I have to say I like the review part of your post. I really feel the same way about the movie. However, I disagree with a good part of your post. Some of my biggest issues are:

To indulge, the machines enslaved humanity. They breed human beings in endless fields called “Machine City” that harvest their body heat as energy to keep them powered. These human bodies rest in an oval cubicle that houses them in a system that is a prison for their mind, called ‘The Matrix’. This, is a metaphor for the present day society. A society controlled by a system of government that keeps its inhabitants chained and shackled to a way of thinking—that of pay taxes and die and don’t try to change anything, just accept things, the wars, the bloodshed, the corruption, the insignificant differences in people (race or gender) that divide them, the class status, and the lies that give you the very liberties in which you cherish, just accept them and power the society forward. Just be born, go to school, go to college, get a job, get a family, and work but never, under any circumstances, question the system. This is a way of thinking that these films are pleading we should “rebel” against, “free our minds” from, and ultimately return back to what’s simply pure about being human (hence: the much-discussed dance and sex scene from ‘Reloaded’)—carefree, liberated, proud to be human, happy to be alive, and in touch with existence. It is also why those who do rebel, when plugged back into the Matrix, wear those cool clothes, cool shades, and have cool, kick-ass weapons at their very disposal. This, is also a commentary on society. It is a commentary on how everyone wants to belong. Everyone wants to be seen as cool. Everyone wants to fit in. That is why the residual self-image of everyone who hacks into the Matrix from Zion is that of a cool existence. - First off, the machines, I believe, don't control society in the Matrix. They simply let the people live as they would naturally. And I don't think The Matrix Trilogy is about the system of society, the rules we have to go by, the "system of goverment". I believe The Matrix Trilogy is about something expotionally bigger than that. I think it's about questioning reality, what is REAL, like the religions that believe the world is just an illusion. I don't think the rebels look cool because they are trying to fit in, nor do I believe that is the message The Matrix Trilogy is trying to send. In the script (I don't know which draft) for the first film, we learn that the rebels use sunglasses because the Real World doesn't have a sun that they look at. They use kick-ass weapons because they need to fight. And they dress cool....cuz it's cool.

On the flipside of that metaphor, The Matrix is a system that has the rules of a computer. It has programs that run it, make it function, keep it stable, that balances it—these programs are it’s creator, The Architect, it’s co-creator, The Oracle, it’s hitmen that can hotwire into any mind plugged in The Matrix’s system (so they are potentially everyone) The Agents, it’s rogue programs that have power, want power, or need power for it’s very purpose, The Oracle, The Merovingian, and The Keymaker. And the list can go on. Aside from the programs, are the humans. The slaves who allow these programs to have power in the first place. As we were told, the first Matrix was built as a perfect utopia, a Pleasantville, which was a complete and utter disaster. The human mind would not accept this as real and most crops woke up from it, like it was a dream too good to be true. This, is metaphor for the history of human nature. Humans have proven to be vile, vicious, cynical, naïve, power stricken, and corrupt while still proving through shades of holiness that they had a reason to exist. They have done some of the most ungodly and forsaken tragedies in the history of existence (slavery, holocaust, war for power, etc.). Their used to war, death, despair, and discrepancy of power. But, have also done some great things of meaning as well.

So, a program, The Oracle, came up with a solution. Create a world like the one the human mind is used to. Lower the number of rebels and allow The Matrix to function. But as we learned in ‘Revolutions’, The Oracle had an ulterior motive the whole time. As you well know, the system she envisioned was eventually created and for the few minds that did rebel—an alternative place was created. That place was called, “Zion”. Fortunately for mankind, along with the minds that did rebel came a systemic anomaly that possessed powers inside the Matrix to change it as he saw fit. But this was not a problem for the machines, as it was not all beyond a system of control. Something to give to the rebel minds as a sign of hope. To keep that rebellion at a minimum. This, is a metaphor for religion. Religion was created at a time when man’s mental development had evolved and he knew too much about the world and started pondering a bigger existence and meaning. He/She feared the coming days ahead of him and things like death and what does it all mean began to come about. Thus, was born the bible. A book that has been used for centuries as a system of control to give people in a society a reason to live a life according to government rules. It became a source of power. Giving humans an illusionary choice of free will—note to the overtly religious: This is a not a diss to your beliefs, I am not a Pagan, I believe in a higher power but the thought that choosing a side (such as Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Baptist, etc. “Hello! You’re all praising the same thing, people!) will effect my creator’s decision on casting me to Hell and not the fact that I live my life the best way I know how is a crock of shit to me. Sorry L. The Matrix seems to be the Wachowski’s creating their own religion on screen. Just like early man did when he began to question his existence, the Wachowski’s question this society, and created the Matrix for that purpose. - As I am a Catholic, you must understand I find this part of the post offending. I don't believe religion was just made up, nor do I believe that is the message The Matrix Trilogy is sending. And you must be extremely ignorate to believe that Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, and Jewish people etc. believe that same thing. Believing in a higher power is not the same thing. Try actually trying to research something before you post.


I disagree with a lot of your post.

I also don't believe that Personphone's (sp?) kiss had anything to do with Neo ending up in Mobile Ave.

I think that what Cedric is trying to tell us is not that everybody's beliefs are absolutelly the same (obviously not), but faith is a common thing in everyone. And of course there is always the "suprime being", think about it and maybe each religion has its origins on the very same thing. At least three religions have exactly the same "holy city" for whatever reasons you may argue, but they do.

Of course that i agree with Cecil very much as far as the plot of the movie goes, maybe it is some of the interpretation that i rather do not share, but anyways is a very nice effort.

What is impressive about the trilogy is that you can come up with you own messages and thoughts and still be valid for you and many people. I don't think many movies have done that.

What do you think?

I think I hate a movie where nothing got explained

Thanx for the comments, you guys (Good or Bad). I'm glad that people actually took the time to finish the entire analysis. Once I started writing I couldn't stop until every aspect, thought, and feeling toward the film was expressed fully. I feel these films are not getting the respect they deserve right now and felt the need to express my opinions, bluntly, informatively, unquely, and immediately.

CMG

I agreed with most of your post, and I also have my doubts about Sati...

she is abviusly an important factor of Revolutions, what I can't get the whole view...
I think that some part of the choise that the Oracle did was Sati, but I can't see why... then, before Smith "turn" the Oracle into himself, the Oracle ask what did he do with the girl, and another smith said something like "Even cookies need love"(the same words that the Oracle said to Sati), which means that Sati was "turned" too. And in the end of Revolutions, when all the Smiths are destroyed, the only persons that get their body, mind and life back, are the Oracle and Sati...

so this little girl is a total mystery to me, can someone get me free of doubts please... thanx

Trin!

Here is a post that pretty much explains what you are looking for, and i have to say that i pretty much agree with it. It only reinforces what i already believed, programs may be closing the gaps with humans as far as emotional beings. My favorite words come into mind... Evolution and Coexistance...
what do you think?

matrix-explained.com...



please answer