$6.50 for that? (Matrix Revolutions SPOILERS)

[ebonywnd]

Carolyn....DON'T READ this until you have seen the movie! Plot is reveal and reviled herein.

Ok, this is just to open discussion on how disappointing that movie was, because I know there was a lot of it going around last night.

Firstly, it was a religious allegory. And it wasn't even, "oh, I have to search for the religion in it because it was so cool and well done I didn't even notice." No, it was blatant, staring me right in the face and flipping me off. "Take that, you non-religious bastards!" The movie could have been so much better without the religious aspect. If the movie had been better done, it would have been tolerable, but no, it was horrible.

Secondly, the dialogue made me want to cry. Tears of pain, mind you, not because it was so tear-jerking sad when Trinity died. That entire scene was just crap. It "took me out of the movie" as Roger said. (Not that I was into it after the first half hour anyway.) I was snickering quietly to myself the entire time. Two bad actors doing an overly drawn out death scene...oh joy.

Thirdly, while some of the special effects were cool, they were way too over-done. When Neo and Agent Smith in the air, the lightening effect was just laughable. And when all the Agent Smiths were lined up in the buildings and along the streets, I was just thinking about Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. They just looked like a bunch of ravens.....and I burst out laughing. I laughed at almost every crucial scene, because they were just so....bad.

Fourthly, the music just.....sucked.

Fifthly.....I know I am forgetting things I should put here, so please help me out.

As a finishing statement...I know some people liked it...*cough* Ian *cough*....so here is a question. Why? Please explain how that movie can be likeable after taking into consideration all of its flaws.

Ok, I am done for now.

-Laura "Let's hear it for 5am y'all" McIntosh
P.S. If you hadn't figured it out....I just got up approximately a half hour or so ago....so I might not make much sense. Then again, when do I, really?

[Ravenlock]

Just FYI - I put that spoilers tag on in case someone didn't catch it otherwise. I hate accidentally finding out the ending/events of a movie, no matter how much it sucked.

~Roger

[ebonywnd]

Yeah, good idea. Thanks. I wasn't thinking too clearly when I wrote that. Anger+tiredness=something bad, I'm sure.

[profdunebastard]

More of a gnostic allegory than a "official" christrian one, this aspect didn't bother me in the least actually.

the acting was indeed bad, but, meh, I endured it.

I seriously didn't hate this movie, it was neither good, nor bad:hot nor cold: but lukewarm-but I didn't spit it out cus it was the good kind of lukewarm (?)

[AnonymousUser]

Firstly laura, the movie isnt out to get you or any other '"non-religious bastards." The main point that the movies promote is the search for knowledge. It doesnt make this a bad movie for promoting beliefs not in-line with your own. Some movies just make the ideals a little more obvious than others.

Secondly, dialogue isnt everything. i mean, Tolkein dialogue sucked, but he made up for it elsewhere. same case here. the wachowski brother made up for the crappy dialogue with an overall well done plot concept. yes there were a couple bad parts that cant be covered up by this fact, but nearly every movie has those parts. nothing can be perfect.

Thirdly, mcuh of the computer animation was created to reinforce the fact that they were indeed in a computer simulation. I haven't heard anyone complain about the computer generated effects in the 'real world'

forth, music is a point of personal preference. i like john williams style classical music, which was very prevalent in this movie. thus, i dont have a beef with the soundtrack. and besides, the soundtrack isnt really the thing that makes a movie, it just adds certain aspects to it. just try watching a movie with out any music, it is missing a lot.

fifth, if these 4 things above had been to your liking, this movie would have indeed been perfect, but what can you expect out of today's hollywood. they even managed to fuck up star wars.

(finishing statement) You really shouldnt reject something based on a few simple supposed flaws in the movie. If you consider the story that is being told as your primary concern, the other aspects dont make that big of a deal.

[ebonywnd]

I would like to say that it was a combination of all these things that made me dislike the movie. I can , and have, endured movies with flaws before. And I did not like the way they went about the religious aspect, that is all. It was just so blatant. The scene at the end, with Neo in a Jesus-on-the-cross like postion and going off into the huge bright light was my main problem.

I would also have to say that the plot was not the best. I did like parts of the movie, but not the majority of it. It was an interesting concept, however. And true, they were in an artificial environment for basically all the fight sequences (with Neo at least) and while I agree not every thing has to be realistic, there is such a thing as good taste. The coolest effect can force you out of your willing suspension of disbelief if it comes at the wrong moment.

I agree that music is part personal preference, so instead of just calling it bad, how about I say I found it to be intrusive. In general, the only time I remember hearing the music is when it annoyed me. The music was admittedly not bad the entire time, but yes, music is meant to add something to a movie, but there are many things it can add, not just drama.

As an ending, I would like to say that I did not completely reject the movie. Rather, I was disappointed with it, and so that made me a bit angry. Rants are generally supposed to be taken as illogical and over-done. I believe it was Carolyn who mentioned that punching bags weren't supposed to punch back....but I am okay with that. As long as people realize that perhaps logic isn't always driving when these things get posted, everything should be alright.

-Laura

[profdunebastard]

Dude Mike, where were you when I was trying to defend the movie earlier? I agree with all your points, and you said them much more eloquently than I can. Kudos for that, anti-kudos for not backing me up-(but anti-kudos aren't strong enough to cancel a postive kudos, so you are still in the clear with a good fraction of kudos remaining.

[ebonywnd]

LOL, a fraction of a kudos? hahaha...that is great. I didn't know that one could give fractions of kudos. I must try that sometime....

[profdunebastard]

sure you can...take the bar, break it into a fraction. Eat one piece, give the other one today...especially if it is the snickers kind.

Metaphorical kudos work too, but they aren't as appetizing

[ebonywnd]

I was referring to your usage of kudos and anti-kudos, of course. I figured that there could not be an anti-Kudos bar...then again, that may be celery...oh, I am confused!

-Laura "hehe....he....hehehe...hehe...he" McIntosh

[Seirscius]

*grumbles* Why didn't they put sniper rifles on the Sentinals?!

[_sublime_]

I must say, I agree with pretty much everything Laura said, except the part about bad acting on Keanu Reeves' part. Now, he was definitely a lot better in the first movie... but even in the 3rd one, he was wonderful. *sigh*

[ebonywnd]

Oh, come now.....he can be cute and a bad actor. Just because you have a crush doesn't mean he can do no wrong. But thanks for backing me up!

[AnonymousUser]

A little something to think about

It's interesting how the Wachowski's constructed Reloaded and Revolutions. Love it or hate it, everything that happens is merely on a philosophical base, and everything plays second fiddle to that. Hence the plot holes and lack of character development.

Let me get you started with a partial explanation of the final battle between Smith and Neo. Themes of choices. You cannot see beyond the choices you do not understand, drilled into us by the Oracle throughout the series. Well, Smith takes over the Oracle and now has her 'sight'. He foresees the battle with Neo and his win. Only one Smith fights Neo because he foresees that only one Smith is needed to win. All he sees is up to the moment when he defeats Neo, because that is the choice that he has made--Smith chooses to destroy Neo. But he doesn't understand why he is killing Neo. So he cannot see past that choice and realize it will ultimately destroy him.

The Wachowski Bros. wanted to examine the idea of what is real, mind over matter, existence and all these things, so they created a story about The Matrix. They don't care that there are probably better sources of energy than humans, because this suits their device of examining this philosophical topic.

Why do the robot suits not have protection for the humans? Because they wanted it to be humans fighting the machines, human vs machine war, and if they were encased in many layers of protection it would just look like machines vs machines.

I could go on forever, but a lot of it is discussed in groups.google.ca/groups?dq=&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&threadm=b6058b85.0311062219.17f459e2%40posting.google.com&rnum=92&prev=/groups%3Fdq%3D%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26selm%3Db6058b85.0311062219.17f459e2%40posting.google.com%26rnum%3D92 [google.ca] if you are interested in more.

So sure, there are many, many plot holes and undeveloped characterizations. And I'm not trying to make excuses for the Bros. But I think it is worthwhile to understand that this wasn't lack of foresight by the writers, they just had (in their minds) more important things they wanted to talk about, than geek out on the silly little plot details. There is a lot more substance to the movies than people realize, it just may not hit home on the normal areas that most people care about in movies, character and plot.