Matrix Revolutions

[erikred]

First the good: In the final fight scene, Neo and Smith go seriously Superman-style on us in an amazing flying fight above the City. This may very well be the breakthrough scene that allow real superhero movies to be made. I mean, really, which would you rather watch: Wolverine versus Sabertooth on Lady Liberty's head, or martial-arts style Superman versus martial-arts style Apollo over an entire city? Give me flying combat any day of the week.

And now the rest:
-- So, wtf? Neo lets Smith transform him and then... what? He subverts Smith from the inside? How? How was it indicated? Why do the Smiths begin to explode? What is Neo, the Norton Antivirus of the Matrix?
-- So, more wtf? Neo's stuck at the train station. What is this, the firewall between Machine City and the Matrix? What kind of lameass hacker is Neo that he can't figure out a way out of the firewall?
-- So, even more wtf? What is Neo? A sentient program like Smith or the Oracle inserted into a flesh host? An actual human being shaped by genetic manipulation/social engineering inside the Matrix? The product of some mysterious messiah instinct in the human gene pool that just kicks these mystical beings into the mix every once in a while?
-- Why would Machine City require that every program have a purpose? Where did this fascistic utilitarianism spring from? If we are to assume that most programs of the new age are sentient, why must we assume that their society would be based on the same space/memory restrictions our current computer systems use? Why not an Introdus-style society a la Greg Egan?
-- If I controlled the vast number of squiddies that were swarming into the dock, I would have set some as decoys and then had some flank and dissect the puny humans in their unprotected metal exo-skeletons. And why don't the Machines understand the need for snipers? Bah, silliness.

And there are so many other questions remaining that my fingers would fall off before I could write them all down.

Overall impression: I'm glad I saw it, since Reloaded ended on such a cliffhanger, but I'm also glad I only paid matinee price.

I am saving my remaining exuberance for LOTR: Return of the King.

Comments

[mumbojumble.livejournal.com]

OK, I was waiting 'til I saw it to read this post. Now, my own question: WHY, other than the obvious fact that they wanted to look like Transformers, did the Zion troops use those gun robot machines THAT HAD NO FACE MASKS OR BODY PROTECTION? I mean, if I were building the ultimate war robot fighting machine against mechanical jellyfish that whipped things to shreds with their tentacles and I knew that a human being would be riding in the machine, wouldn't I consider that in my design?

Just wondering.

I did love the last fight scene in the rain, though, for the visual effects. I usually don't like fighting at all and have been known to fast-forward through fight scenes when certain other people are in the bathroom. Shhh. Don't tell! Hehehe.