The Matrix Revolutions

In the run up to the release of 'The Matrix Revolutions', producer Joel Silver has been telling anyone who'll listen that there'll be no Matrix 4 as the publicity shy Wachowski brothers envisaged the story as a trilogy. After viewing the final part, one gets the impression that 'The Matrix' doesn't even extend that far, for this final part relies as heavily on convention as the original defied it. Indeed, for something that began so promisingly and provoked such an entertaining, if slightly head scratching, sequel, it is difficult, for even the most ardent fan of the series, to justify the sheer laziness of this final part.

Without giving too much of the very thin plot away, as those who saw the second film will know, Neo (Reeves) is caught between the Matrix and real world where he is at the mercy of Marovingian (Wilson). After Trinity rescues him, he has to help protect Zion against the final assault of the machines. Worse yet, it seems as though the threat presented by Agent Smith has not yet been neutered.

In comparison, 'Revolutions' makes its slightly older brother 'Reloaded' appear to be something of a masterpiece. Gone are all the things that made it interesting in the first place - Yuen Woo-Ping's beautifully choreographed carnage has been largely dismissed in favour of more traditional sequences, while the splendid sense of style which characterised the first two movies as much as the much lauded 'bullet time' is also lost, cloaked by the fiercely drab sets. Hell, it's so - whisper it - boring that you may even finding yourself missing all of that philosophising about existence, choice and destiny, which always sounded like it was composed by an undergrad student in the throes of a particularly intense relationship with a bong. While 'The Matrix' was never a particularly warm motion picture, all sense of emotional connection with the characters has been dismissed as the relentless, fiercely unimaginative action mounts up in a fashion that is more Michael Bay than the visionaries that the Wachowskis once flattered to deceive that they were. As blank as Keanu's visage and not quite as smart.