MATRIX REVOLUTIONS, THE
Reviewed April 12th, 2004 by Dan Jones
"Everything that has a beginning has an end. I see the end coming, I see the darkness spreading. I see death... and you are all that stands in his way. If you cannot stop him tonight, then I fear tomorrow will never come."
The Matrix Revolutions is the 3rd and last chapter of the Wachowski brother’s Matrix series. Revolutions brings us back immediately where we left off; we have the machines digging towards Zion, Neo in a quasi-comatose state trapped between the real world and the Matrix, and Agent Smith reeking havoc inside of the Matrix.
A lot of critics have enjoyed bashing the last films in the Matrix series, but I’m going to step back from that. Sure, the original Matrix was an incredible film; the film brought a new style to film-making, forever changed special effects and fight choreography, and packed a very intriguing story to boot. Nevertheless, after seeing the trilogy in its entirety, it’s easy to guess that Reloaded and Revolutions were more the style of film’s the brothers wanted to make in the first place. Whereas the original had a bit of philosophy entangled in its plot, the final two delved far deeper into it, often with long commentaries on the human race, existence, beliefs, life & death, etc…
The film once again contains tremendous visuals, most notably the machine’s siege on Zion, and the final battle between Smith and Neo. Neo, Trinity, Morpheus, and the gang all fall back into their roles well, and once again many new characters/programs pop-up. The film’s climax might leave some disappointed; I’ve heard a number of comments on it, some saying it’s an overly Hollywood ending… which I have trouble agreeing with on a number of grounds, and some saying it doesn’t match the idea of what the original suggested. I myself perhaps wanted it to go a different way, but the path that was selected does fall into the structure laid out along the way; things have changed, how much so will have to be seen. Will there be more sequels? I highly doubt it.
Presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, Revolutions looks essentially exactly like Reloaded does (being shot at the same time helps): excellent. We have excellent detail throughout; a robust, if not heavily dark and green-tinted, color palette. I noticed nothing in the way of source or presentation problems, neither compression or problems with edge enhancement. Overall a slick looking transfer.
Audio wise, we are given an exceptional 5.1 Dolby Digital mix with great clarity, a very solid and powerful low-end, and very intelligent and active use of the surround channels. The siege scene sound is hugely active and extremely detailed with excellent nuances and ambient sounds. An excellent mix all around.
Like Reloaded we have a nice amount of extras. Starting it off on disc one, we have trailers for The Animatrix and Revolutions, as well as teaser trailers for the Matrix and The Matrix Reloaded (I have to say I enjoyed seeing the original teaser again).
Disc two houses the rest of the extras. “Revolutions Recalibrated” provides us with a 20-odd minute behind-the-scenes look at the film, with a good deal of interview material from the film’s cast and crew. Overall this does seem a bit promotional or congratulatory, but some of what is here is interesting.
"CG Revolution" runs about 15 minutes and deals with the many special effects in the film, while “Super Burly Brawl” delves into how the final battle was created, providing us with storyboards, some behind-the-scenes footage and the final footage.
“Future Gamer” gives us information on upcoming video game, Matrix: Online. “Before the Revolution” is a useful featurette that outlines the history that has taken place inside of the Matrix series. "3-D Evolution" gives us some storyboard and concept art that helped in creating the world we see in Revolutions.
Finally we have web-links and a follow the white rabbit option that unlocks four short behind-the-scenes featurettes.
Overall, the Matrix Revolutions is a worthy final chapter to the Matrix series. With an engrossing storyline, tremendous special effects and the usual Matrix style, Revolutions on DVD is an easy recommendation.
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