Matrix Revolutions - Your thoughts

[NeoMatrix]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]For those who have seen the movie, what did you think of it?

The movie itself was great.
However, as the ending of the Matrix Trilogy, I was disappointed.[/colorost_uid0]

[taya17]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]Should this not be in the Science Fiction section?

I agree. Great as a standalone movie, disappointing as the end to a trilogy that could have been so much more. Personally, I would have liked to see that Matrix-within-a-Matrix idea developed.

And I'm pretty much irked that there seemed to be so little connection between Revolutions and Reloaded, conceptually at least. Or perhaps it was just me. JMHO.[/colorost_uid0]

[Opium]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]Yep, it was a great stand-alone action/scifi/mystery/coolmovie, but hey...it wasnt exactly and ending to the trilogy. SO many unasnwered questions, and it did seem like jerky transition from Reloaded.
Oh well.
Keaunu Reeves is really hot running around looking confused, why did they mess with that?
DONT READ ON IF YOU HAVENT SEE IT YET! Must be highlighted to be seen just in case...

[color=whiteost_uid0]Oracle good.
Neo good.
And...
Agent Smith Did It!
Woopee.[/colorost_uid0][/colorost_uid0]

[Anonymous]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]Did anyone see this? Somebody wrote a fiver of it.[/colorost_uid0]

[Zeke]

[quoteost_uid0="taya17"][color=#000000ost_uid0]Should this not be in the Science Fiction section? [/colorost_uid0][/quoteost_uid0]
[color=#000000ost_uid0]Yes. I'm hereby moving it there.

I'm not going to read more than the first two scenes of that "fiver" to avoid being spoiled; it looks innocuous enough, though. The author probably is aware of where the five-minute thing comes from, but since he's not trying to pass his fiver off as legit, I'll let it go. He's not getting a great reception anyway.

Been around here before, Watcher? If not, welcome.[/colorost_uid0]

[JobeGDG]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]I didn't care for it either as the ending of the trilogy or as a stand-alone movie. As a stand-alone film, I found it poor because the alternating bits of fabulous and horrible writing gave way to mostly horrible (i.e. any time the kid opened his yapper.) Beyond the Train Man and his Station (arguably, the best parts of the movie,) no new ideas were introduced. The film revolved around resolving issues from it's predecessors, which made it predictable. And as you guys pointed out, it wasn't even very good at resolution![/colorost_uid0]

[Nan]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]Donner? Teh funny? Pfft!

There was more Matrix humour inherent in the bit where Neo scratches his nose while facing Morpheus in the first Matrix.

Teh funny, my foot. Sux0rz is more like it.

And now I shower. Dirty, dirty leet. So very unclean.[/colorost_uid0]

[Standback]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]I thought [iost_uid0]Revolutions[/iost_uid0] was a heck of a lot better than [iost_uid0]Reloaded[/iost_uid0]... it did a much better job of storytelling, with a lot of very dramatic (if fairly cliche) scenes. [iost_uid0]Reloaded[/iost_uid0] was just a lot of action... [iost_uid0]Revolutions[/iost_uid0] was a bit more than that.

A bit.

On the other hand, the real feeling was that here was a really epic plot, except that nobody bothered to take a look at any of the actual details. Half of the movie makes no sense whatoever. Neo gets new superpowers! Why? Nobody knows! But they're really cool! "They're from the Source," says the Oracle. "Oh, OK, then, whatever that means," goes Neo. "It's not as if we ever figured out what it was last movie or anything, so I guess we can blame anything on it." "Like chronoton radiation!"

And the ending with Smith... well, the battle was really cool, and the snatches of dialogue were building up to something. Then Smith gets Neo, and dies. Why? Ummm... Hey, look! All the other Smiths are blowing up too! Isn't that neat, fans? What do you mean, [iost_uid0]why?[/iost_uid0] Stop asking that, goddamnit!

There was just a [iost_uid0]lot[/iost_uid0] in this movie that was offered with no explanation or reason. Not in the "oooh, isn't this mysterious - I wonder what's going on" sense. Rather, with no sense at all. I left it with the feeling that I had no idea what was going on - and neither did the good Brothers W.

I'd hoped for better. Really I did.

And let the records show I'm submitting this FBC block ahead of time:

[quoteost_uid0]
[bost_uid0]Neo and Smith:[/bost_uid0] Bam! Pow! Whack!
[bost_uid0]CGI and SFX:[/bost_uid0] Just... (pant) a few... (wheeze) more...
(pant) minutes...
[bost_uid0]Smith:[/bost_uid0] Ahahaha, Mister Anderson! I have won! Mister Anderson, Mister Anderson MisterAndersonAndersonAnderson!
[bost_uid0]Neo:[/bost_uid0] Would you just say a few weird nonsensical things, so that we can attribute the ridiculous finale in another
moment to the Oracle.
[bost_uid0]Smith:[/bost_uid0] Sure, why not?
[bost_uid0]Neo:[/bost_uid0] Oh, speaking of the Oracle, I choose not to stop fighting 'till the bitter-- GAK!
[bost_uid0]Smith:[/bost_uid0] GAK!
[bost_uid0]All The Other Smiths:[/bost_uid0] GAK!
[bost_uid0]Oracle:[/bost_uid0] Watch me smile enigmatically, as if that just made
any sense whatsoever.[/quoteost_uid0][/colorost_uid0]

[catalina_marina]

[color=#000000ost_uid0][quoteost_uid0]And the ending with Smith... well, the battle was really cool, and the snatches of dialogue were building up to something. Then Smith gets Neo, and dies. Why? Ummm... Hey, look! All the other Smiths are blowing up too! Isn't that neat, fans? What do you mean, why? Stop asking that, goddamnit![/quoteost_uid0]
Actually, that part makes perfect sense to me, even though they don't give an explanation right then and there.

Remember the event in the original Matrix where Neo jumps [iost_uid0]into[/iost_uid0] an agent and the agent explodes? This time he does about the same. Instead of doing that himself he allows Smith to get around [iost_uid0]him[/iost_uid0].

I actually thought the movie was great. It bothers me no one else seems to.[/colorost_uid0]

[Standback]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]A) Then why didn't he jump in again, instead of allowing himself to be overwritten?
B) Then why didn't he survive, like he did back when he was just discovering that he actually had some powers?

and most of all,

C) Wasn't the whole "jumping-into-Smith" thing what caused all this in the first place? Based on Smith's condition and ability throughout [iost_uid0]Reloaded[/iost_uid0] and [iost_uid0]Revolutions,[/iost_uid0] I would venture to say that the "merging and destroying" method has proven rather uneffective for Agent-terminating.

I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm just saying there's really no way anybody can tell. I've been frustrated enough to browse a newsgroup or so, and I'm met by 50% "you're right, it was severely messed up," and 50% who can't believe I didn't understand the obvious answer - unfortunately, they toss half a dozen different and mutually exclusive "obvious answers" at me, from "It's the same as the first movie, he jumped into him", to "the Main Computer sent a power surge through him" to "[iost_uid0]Neo[/iost_uid0] sent a power surge through him once he was already enveloped" to "Neo actually [iost_uid0]lost[/iost_uid0]" to "Once Neo died, Smith did too, to balance the Equation," to "the Oracle did it." I've got more if you want 'em, and I don't like a single one of them, because none of them is actually shown in the movie. Neo is overwritten. Smith blows up. If something happens in the middle, I think it was accidently cut out of the final film.

Clearly, something in this scene was not clearly represented.

This reminds me of right after [iost_uid0]Reloaded[/iost_uid0], when Neo discovered he had previously untapped superpowers: he was suddenly able to send EMP pulses in the Real World. The forums were abuzz - was the Real World another Matrix? Or was Neo a program, like the Oracle or Smith in Bane? Or was it something completely unexpected?

Well, [iost_uid0]Revolutions[/iost_uid0] answered that, all right. "It's from the Source," we find out. In other words: Neo has discovered he has previously untapped superpowers. Whoop-dee-doo. That was a real shocker, wasn't it, folks?

The reason I think the movie isn't great is simply this: LOUSY PLOTTING. "Why do you have superpowers?" (shrug) "Why do you want to go to the Machine City." "Because, umm... Because I [iost_uid0]have[/iost_uid0] to." What happened at the end? Well, we've got some theories...

The first movie was great because it had some cool ideas, a sense of mystery and paranoia, and real style. Wheras the two sequels had no real new ideas (beyond "there are programs that are becoming humanlike," and that was neither particularly exciting nor any more than a subplot), NO mystery or paranoia (because the mystery of the Matrix is already revealed in the first one - Morpheus hasn't got anybody to guide any more), and style was turned mainly towards drawn-out SFX battles and stuff blowing up.

The original was NOT a movie about Neo, it was a movie about the Matrix, about a certain setting, mood and style. Whereas the sequels were stereotypical Hollywood action movies, with a touch of stereotypical Hollywood romance and "you gotta [iost_uid0]believe[/iost_uid0]"-ism thrown in. That, and mixing in as much religious allegory as possible, because it can't be a plot hole if it's religious allegory, can it?

Does this answer your question?


Come to think of it - did you even have a question?



There is... no... question.


I'm going to go get some sleep now. Have a nice day.[/colorost_uid0]

[Nan]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]Whoa, you're expecting reason from what is essentially a live-action anime movie?

You're in for a world of frustration there, my friend.[/colorost_uid0]

[catalina_marina]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]Alright then, let's just start at the top.

A) Didn't you see how much trouble he had fighting Smith? Or trouble... Smith was a good match anyway. Why? Because he used the Oracle's power, so he knew what Neo was going to do before he did.

B) My guess, because he was overwritten. Then again, so was the Oracle.

But was it really Smith who killed him? The Machines disconnected him from the Matrix, and aren't they supposed to go to one of those cell phones before they log out?

C) Hmm, you're right, that was Smith too... I don't have an answer for that one right now.

[quoteost_uid0]"the Main Computer sent a power surge through him"[/quoteost_uid0]
I can't seem to remember when exacly that was, though it was my first thought.

[quoteost_uid0]"Neo actually lost"[/quoteost_uid0]
Neo didn't loose. Maybe he died, but I think he sacraficed himself to achieve a greater goal. Peace.

[quoteost_uid0]"the Oracle did it."[/quoteost_uid0]
The Oracle wasn't really in control, do you think?

[quoteost_uid0]"Why do you want to go to the Machine City."[/quoteost_uid0]
He didn't answer that question to anyone, because he probably didn't know back then. Or he did but he knew he was going to die and didn't want anyone to stop him. However, if you've watched the end, it seems pretty clear to me why he went. He went for two reasons.
1. To kill Smith, and
2. To save Zion. I don't know if he really [iost_uid0]needed[/iost_uid0] to go to Machine City to kill Smith, but he first had to cut a deal with the Machines to get peace.

[quoteost_uid0]NO mystery or paranoia[/quoteost_uid0]
If there was no mystery, then why do you have so many unanswered questions? You want mystery, yet you want all the answers to your questions presented on a silver platter. Something doesn't fit here.

[quoteost_uid0]and style was turned mainly towards drawn-out SFX battles and stuff blowing up.[/quoteost_uid0]
True, but those were particularly good, don't you think?

And btw, Neo didn't give up. It was an act. The fight scene and the part where Neo stops was just a clever plan to make Smith believe he could take him over now. Maybe Keanu Reeves can't act, Neo [iost_uid0]can[/iost_uid0]. Maybe he's this dumb kid in the original movie, he has become a superhero now, and we can't have dumb superhero's, can we.[/colorost_uid0]

[Standback]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]First of all, let me preface this by saying that my disrespect on this subject is aimed entirely at the film's creators, and not at all at you. Not that I'm intending to be saying anything insulting or rude, but if I get too sarcastic or something - if at any point you believe I am being in any way insulting - I apoligize in advance, and please point it out, so I can apoligize in particular and avoid doing it again.

Sorry about that.

[quoteost_uid0]A) Didn't you see how much trouble he had fighting Smith? [/quoteost_uid0]

Didn't you see how easily he kept a hundred of them off him a few days earlier? Think back to the merging scene in the original. Neo wasn't even fighting. He let the bullets drop; time literally stood still. When he merged with Smith, it wasn't an attack Smith could just dodge - it was the One, an unrelenting force he could not avoid. Somehow, though, he seems to have lost that, because it would be awfully inconvenient for Neo to blow up all the bad guys before they could spend all their SFX budget.

[quoteost_uid0]Smith was a good match anyway. Why? Because he used the Oracle's power, so he knew what Neo was going to do before he did.[/quoteost_uid0]

Possibly. That's an interesting idea, and could easily have been inserted into the film. But it wasn't. All Smith said was that "he already knew he was going to win." There's no attribution of Smith's victory to the powers of the Oracle - only of the knowledge that he will be the victor. It seemed he won simply because he was stronger and faster and more in control. You could say, "well, he *might* have used the Oracle's power," but you certaintly have no sign in the film that he *did.* I wish you had.

[quoteost_uid0]B) My guess, because he was overwritten. Then again, so was the Oracle.[/quoteost_uid0]

My point exactly.

[quoteost_uid0]But was it really Smith who killed him? The Machines disconnected him from the Matrix, and aren't they supposed to go to one of those cell phones before they log out?[/quoteost_uid0]

Again, an interesting theory. And again, absolutely no pointing to that in the film. It's like a horoscope - they explain so little, that you take whatever they give and try to fit what actually happens to fit their vague little prediction. It *feels* like Neo dies fighting Smith; saying the machines stabbed him in the back requires actual stressing of such an event.

Your responses to the other people's ideas I won't answer; I just gave them as examples of stuff other people saw as obviously as you do your solution. Feel free to take it up with them.

[quoteost_uid0]
[quoteost_uid0]"Why do you want to go to the Machine City."[/quoteost_uid0]
He didn't answer that question to anyone, because he probably didn't know back then. Or he did but he knew he was going to die and didn't want anyone to stop him. However, if you've watched the end, it seems pretty clear to me why he went.[/quoteost_uid0]

It's perfectly clear to me why the writers needed him there - that's where they need him for the grand finale. Neo suddenly deciding, "My god, I need to go somewhere insanely dangerous and get myself killed," on the other hand, makes no sense whatsoever. It's heavy-handed plot-forcing and nothing more. It *could* have been done if we'd seen Neo get an actual vision some kind... or better yet, if Neo *had* a smattering of a reason why he wanted to go. But nooooooo...

I'm reminded of one of R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt books, where one character proudly announces that he's discovered a wonderful spell, "Create Plot Device." Well, he doesn't *call* it that, but describes it as "getting you where you [iost_uid0]need[/iost_uid0] to be." By which he means, "Where the good Mr. Salvatore needs you to be so this plot actually goes somewhere." So of course moments later a shipload of people appear at the next major plot event. Subtle, dude. This is exactly the same. Plotting and motive are too hard, let's just get to the bit where he blows stuff up.

[quoteost_uid0]If there was no mystery, then why do you have so many unanswered questions? You want mystery, yet you want all the answers to your questions presented on a silver platter. Something doesn't fit here.[/quoteost_uid0]

All right, [iost_uid0]this[/iost_uid0] is just wrong. "Unanswered questions" and "mystery" are far from the same thing. When twelve guests at a secluded vacation home discover their host dead, that's mystery. When the twelve simultaneously have a heart attack and die, and one of them spends his dying minutes scrawling "It was me, I'm sorry, I'm secretly a Priest of the Bovine Order" on the wall, I'm asking "what the heck?" That's an unanswered question, but it sure isn't a mystery.

"How did Neo kill Smith?" is not presented as a mystery. It's presented as a long fight, at the end of which, Neo wins. They just skip that tiny little stage in which he actually, like, does the winning. "What is the Matrix?", "Who are these guys chasing me?", "What's going on in the real world?", and "Is Neo the One?" are mysteries - they're presented as something that at the beginning we don't know, and lo and behold, as the movie goes on, we find out. That's what a mystery movie is *about.*

Simply saying "we won't explain to you what the h*** is going on, neener neener neener" does not qualify.

That's all.[/colorost_uid0]

[catalina_marina]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]This whole situation makes me think of two things, the latest TJI and Japanese Anime.

TJI because of[quoteost_uid0]Instead of answering such important questions, [iost_uid0]Enterprise[/iost_uid0] is making the viewers think about them.[/quoteost_uid0]
and Anime because from my (very limited) experience with it, it doesn't answer a lot of questions either.


[quoteost_uid0]"well, he *might* have used the Oracle's power," but you certaintly have no sign in the film that he *did.*[/quoteost_uid0]
It depends how strong your sign has to be. First, it was pretty clear that it was indeed the Oracle, or her version of Smith, or whatever you want to call it. And do you see any other reason why he would have taken her in the first place?

[quoteost_uid0]It *feels* like Neo dies fighting Smith; saying the machines stabbed him in the back requires actual stressing of such an event.[/quoteost_uid0]
I have to admit this one was a little far-fetched. I think I was comparing them with the Borg; Neo has fulfilled his purpose, so the Machines don't need him anymore. That's probably nonsense, because they called back their army too. They didn't *have* to do that.
Then again, they wouldn't necessarily have stabbed him in the back. Say he did die, but being the one, he could have come back. He did that before. But then the Machines disconnected him because he was dead, no use keeping him connected then.

I'll do your job for you this time and point out this is just a theory, but it's all I can give you.

[quoteost_uid0]Neo suddenly deciding, "My god, I need to go somewhere insanely dangerous and get myself killed," on the other hand, makes no sense whatsoever. It's heavy-handed plot-forcing and nothing more.[/quoteost_uid0]
As far as I understood, he had some kind of 'feeling', like the dream in Reloaded, but non-visual. This one got me a little confused. If they wanted a motive for it, they could easily have the Oracle say that. Instead, they pointed out she didn't.
[quoteost_uid0]"What is the Matrix?", "Who are these guys chasing me?", "What's going on in the real world?", and "Is Neo the One?" are mysteries - they're presented as something that at the beginning we don't know, and lo and behold, as the movie goes on, we find out. That's what a mystery movie is *about.*

Simply saying "we won't explain to you what the h*** is going on, neener neener neener" does not qualify.[/quoteost_uid0]
Then what would you call most [iost_uid0]X-files[/iost_uid0] episodes? They don't always answer everything. Or do they? It's been too long...



On a side note:
[quoteost_uid0]I'm reminded of one of R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt books, where one character proudly announces that he's discovered a wonderful spell, "Create Plot Device."[/quoteost_uid0]
Is that something negative on [iost_uid0]Drizzt[/iost_uid0]? I'm impressed.[/colorost_uid0]

[FatMatDuhRat]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]The main reason why Neo & Smith fought each other
at the end of that movie was for all of us to see that
[bost_uid0]really[/bost_uid0] cool part where Neo's fist flew through the air in
extreme [iost_uid0]slooooow mooootion[/iost_uid0] right before it crashed
through all those rain drops and collided against Agent
Smith's face.

I heard several people exclaim in various languages,
"That was the absolute most coolest part of this entire
2-hour movie." (And it's probably true.)
[/colorost_uid0]

[catalina_marina]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]Various languages?

Dat was absoluut het coolste deel van de hele 2 uur durende film!

Just to add one more [/colorost_uid0]

[Opium]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]Say what you will, I think the best part of the entire film was Neo running in the train station, ending up right back in it, and then saying, oh-so-hotly, "Oh $#!*"

And of course the two main action sequences. And Smith's reaction to taking over the Oracle.

Oh, and Neo running in the train station. Did I mention that already? :bigsmile:[/colorost_uid0]

[Standback]

[color=#000000ost_uid0][quoteost_uid0]
Instead of answering such important questions, Enterprise is making the viewers think about them.[/quoteost_uid0]

[quoteost_uid0][quoteost_uid0]
Simply saying "we won't explain to you what the h*** is going on, neener neener neener" does not qualify.[/quoteost_uid0]Then what would you call most [iost_uid0]X-files[/iost_uid0] episodes? They don't always answer everything. Or do they? It's been too long...[/quoteost_uid0]

I'm not going to argue with you about the X-files, because I perfectly agree with you there. They had far too many episodes ending with some weird deus ex machina and no explanation whatsoever. They were trying to create that mysterious, "we-don't-know-anything,-but-the-truth-is-OUT-THERE" atmosphere. Sometimes they did it very well - suddenly the whole episode comes together, and we realize how alien and bizarre the threat-of-the-week was, and what was so special about it that let it do whatever it did. A lot of times, they just went, "it was ALIENS, get it?". And those episodes - at least their endings - rather sucked.

Please tell me that you can see the difference I am talking about here - between information that is deliberately withheld in order to provoke curiousity, suspense, thought and mood, and information that's withheld "just because" or because the writers don't know it either. The first is good storytelling. The second is very bad storytelling, and highly frustrating for the reader or viewer who sense that the writer isn't quite bothering to do his job.

In this case, it's quite obviously the latter, not the former. For what purpose are the writers keeping the information from us? What reaction are they hoping for? It's not suspense and awaiting for an actual answer - if there's another movie, it's not going to start with, "Well, what ACTUALLY happened was, Neo waited until Smith had melded with him, and then returned to the Source, dragging Smith along with him." Nothing like that. We're never going to find out the answer.

Emotion? A statement on how much we don't know? What, exactly, is the emotion/debate at stake here? "The Lady and the Tiger" ends without us knowing the end - because that, in itself, is the point - what difficult choice she'll make. That's how open-ended stories generally are - we see the options, we're aware of the consequences, and that's it, either because we can predict enough of what will happen for ourselves, or because the choice and the consequences are themselves the point of the story. This, on the other hand, is an utterly pointless and neutral-value question - how did Neo win? This isn't a debate, or a conflict, it's just a question of objective fact. There's no emotional question or debate.

Thought? If there was a single clever answer, I could accept that - "it's there, if you just think about it. It'll come to you." But it was so vague, and I've heard so many conflicting answers, none any better based than another, that there is clearly no "right" answer. Or, if there was, it's incredibly subtle. Given the quality and style of [iost_uid0]Reloaded[/iost_uid0] and [iost_uid0]Revolutions[/iost_uid0], I'm not going to bet on "subtle".

Just please say that you can see the difference I'm talking about. Please.[/colorost_uid0]

[NAHTMMM]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]Kinda like the stated difference between the endings of Twain's "Was it Heaven? or Hell?" and "A Medieval Romance" or whatever he called it.[/colorost_uid0]

[Kira]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]HUZZAH! Â It took me two weeks of trying, but I finally got to see [iost_uid0]Revolutions[/iost_uid0] and now I can post here. Â And thus....

[bost_uid0]WARNING: BRUTAL SPOILERS AHEAD[/bost_uid0]

First off, I'd like to say that the best seven minutes of the movie consisted of (1) the [iost_uid0]Return of the King[/iost_uid0] trailer, seen for the first time on the big screen ([iost_uid0]YOWZA![/iost_uid0]) (2) the trailer for [iost_uid0]Troy[/iost_uid0], full of Brad Pitt-y goodness, and (3) the trailer for [iost_uid0]The Last Samurai[/iost_uid0], full of Tom Cruise-y goodness and cool music.

Don't let that mislead you, though: I really did enjoy this one. Â It was way better than [iost_uid0]Reloaded[/iost_uid0] and frankly better than what I was expecting. Â The action was gripping, I actually cared about what was going to happen to the characters (well, most of them), and I could hardly believe it had already been two hours when it was over. Â I went in fully aware that the ending was ambiguous, so I can't say that much was a shock. Â (And I knew Trinity was dead the instant the ship crashed and she flew backwards off the screen, so that wasn't really a shock either.) Â

And, contrary to a lot of what I've heard, I think the ending was appropriate. Â However, I don't think it's necessarily that ambiguous. Â Here's my theory... in [iost_uid0]Reloaded[/iost_uid0] (forgive my remembering any of this wrong, I've only seen it once), the Architect tells Neo that he is not the first One, and this is not the first Zion. Â It's a cycle -- some people refuse to accept the Matrix, they are freed, they found Zion, the One comes, returns to the Source, Zion is destroyed. Â And it all starts over again. Â Normally, the Oracle plays along with all this like a good little program, even helps out. Â This time, she made choices that led to a different outcome: Neo returned to the Source, but this time Zion survived.

The cycle wasn't broken -- in the Matrix, things are right back where they started -- but this time, we got a different outcome.

[quoteost_uid0="JobeGDG"]Beyond the Train Man and his Station (arguably, the best parts of the movie,) no new ideas were introduced. The film revolved around resolving issues from it's predecessors[/quoteost_uid0]
Well, being that this is the third installment of a trilogy, that's sort of to be expected. Â If they threw any more new ideas at us, we'd probably be sitting around scratching our heads in confusion. Â Heck, we're already sitting around scratching our heads in confusion.

[quoteost_uid0="Standback"]I thought Revolutions was a heck of a lot better than Reloaded... it did a much better job of storytelling, with a lot of very dramatic (if fairly cliche) scenes.[/quoteost_uid0]
Agreed. Â I was on the edge of my seat for a good portion of the movie and I have to admit, the swarms of Sentinels actually had me muttering "Holy crap!" on more than one occassion. Â They were creepy in the first and second movies -- this took them to a whole new level.

[quoteost_uid0="Standback"]Neo gets new superpowers! Why? Nobody knows! But they're really cool! "They're from the Source," says the Oracle. "Oh, OK, then, whatever that means," goes Neo. "It's not as if we ever figured out what it was last movie or anything, so I guess we can blame anything on it."[/quoteost_uid0]
This actually makes sense to me. If Neo can tap into the computer processors of the machines (i.e. the Source, as I understand it), and the Matrix is nothing but a computer program, then doesn't it make sense that he'd have a lot of ability to manipulate the program (i.e. do whatever he wants, such as fly)?

[quoteost_uid0="Standback"]Then Smith gets Neo, and dies. Why? Ummm... Hey, look! All the other Smiths are blowing up too! Isn't that neat, fans? What do you mean, [iost_uid0]why[/iost_uid0]?[/quoteost_uid0]
My understanding of this is: Smith takes over Neo. Â Then, Neo takes over Smith. Â Game over. Â Neo took him down from inside his own program. Â The Oracle sort of did the same thing, I'd imagine -- she didn't destroy him, but she [iost_uid0]did[/iost_uid0] manage to survive inside his program once he took her over. Â (Hence how she "spoke" to Neo through Smith.) Â And besides -- so what if there are different interpretations around? Â I kind of like that -- to each their own, and you can understand it, or not, any way you want.

(As an aside, I can't watch any of those Smith take-overs without hearing Sean William Scott's "You'll like being a dude" from the MTV Movie Awards parody of [iost_uid0]Reloaded[/iost_uid0]... if you haven't seen it, get it. Â It's totally hilarious, and SWS does an uncanny Hugo Weaving impression.)

[quoteost_uid0="catalina maria"]I actually thought the movie was great. It bothers me no one else seems to.[/quoteost_uid0]
:::raises hand:::

[quoteost_uid0="Standback"]There's no attribution of Smith's victory to the powers of the Oracle - only of the knowledge that he will be the victor. It seemed he won simply because he was stronger and faster and more in control. You could say, "well, he *might* have used the Oracle's power," but you certaintly have no sign in the film that he *did.* I wish you had.[/quoteost_uid0]
Given that the Oracle is a [iost_uid0]very[/iost_uid0] powerful program, that Smith taking her over was a major point of the movie, and the fact that he kept talking about how he could see what was going to happen, I think it's a fairly good assumption. Â Also notice that once he took over the Oracle, the Matrix went completely whacked (that's when the feed from the Matrix went crazy on the two ships), because Smith has so much power that the Matrix isn't normal anymore. Â They may not have spelled it out for us, but what did you want -- Smith to wear a sign saying "I am using the Oracle's power to wipe the pavement with Neo"? Â Or perhaps we're all big boys and girls and can figure it out.

Overall, I'm quite pleased. Â Mostly because of my cycle epiphany, which gives me at least the illusion that I understood what was going on. Â The delicious evil of Hugo Weaving didn't hurt matters, nor did the (as Opium pointed out) hilarious "Oh $@#&" scene in the train tunnel. Â Not bad for $5.50 on a cheap Tuesday.

And besides -- I would have paid that $5.50 just to sit through the previews.[/colorost_uid0]