Here is my review I posted on another forum, along with some questions that someone had raised there.
WARNING!! THERE ARE MAJOR SPOILERS IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE!!![/u] If that is the, case, read at your own risk!!
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Someone else's stuff:
Too many things were not explained. I would have been happier had they started the second film with Neo coming to Zion. That film should have given much more history of Zion and why they felt Neo was important. Instead there was this cliched treatment of him as a messiah by the masses, and a sketchy five minute explanation of Zion. No one seemed to believe in Morpheus, yet they diverted resources to allow him to find "the One". How the hell did all these humans get down near the earth's core and build this massive habitat? Where did they get the resources? How did they do it without the machines knowing? What is their source of energy? It must be immensely powerful. What about sunlight? How do they compensate for the lack of sun? How do they get oxygen? How are their ships powered? Where are the ships in the final battle? Why not have an EMP in the Dock when the Squidies come in? Why not send an EMP missile or several ships to the Machine City and use an EMP to knock it out? Why are the machines so inefficient? Instead of sending millions of Squidies down to Zion, why didn't they just send a nuke down? Or a deadly gas? Or drop an EMP down first? Am I really to believe that those dudes in the Mech's are really firing bullets at those hundreds of thousands of Squidies who could just swarm them in seconds and be done with it? How do the Squidies propel themselves? How can Neo see when he is rescued from his pod in the first movie? If the eyes are not used when humans are born the optic nerve does not connect. How does Neo breathe when he returns to the surface? Who is it exactly that he's talking to? How does he effect the physical world outside of the Matrix? Or the reverse, in Agent Smith's case. That just doesn't make any sense. It's like they decided to make him this superman and it's just too convenient and unbelievable. In Reloaded it's just silly how invulnerable and all-powerful he is. Also, when he's fighting all the Smiths in Reloaded, couldn't there have been a way for him to defeat one during combat instead of knocking them away and having them come back at him? It's ridiculous for him to even stay and fight. Yet he does. I like righteous butt-kicking kung fu style, but there were times where it just dragged. It's kind of like, here's another long fight seen where no one really gets hurt, they just beat each other silly and break a few walls.
I also didn't believe the love between him and Trinity. Maybe that's just the acting. And unfortunately in Reloaded, Morpheus' character is so lame. That speech, at the rave whatever (and why are they partying when doom is headed their way?), I about threw up. He was so cool and kick ass in the first one. Strong, deep, commanding and mysterious. I guess he did seem more vulnerable and human in Revolutions which redeemed him in my eyes. He's still my favorite character in the trilogy.
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My stuff:
film should have given much more history of Zion and why they felt Neo was important
See The Animatrix for further details.
did they do it without the machines knowing?
The machines did know. In Reloaded, the Architect told Neo that Zion had been destroyed 5 times in the past.
Why not have an EMP in the Dock when the Squidies come in? Why not send an EMP missile or several ships to the Machine City and use an EMP to knock it out?
EMP was unavailable because they had all been sent out to defend other parts. My understanding is that EMP takes forever to recharge (either that, or each ship uses it only less than once, which I dont believe). Either way, they were "gone" (see "ambiguity").
How does he effect the physical world outside of the Matrix? Or the reverse, in Agent Smith's case.
See "ambiguity."
I also didn't believe the love between him and Trinity. Maybe that's just the acting. And unfortunately in Reloaded, Morpheus' character is so lame. That speech, at the rave whatever (and why are they partying when doom is headed their way?), I about threw up. He was so cool and kick ass in the first one. Strong, deep, commanding and mysterious. I guess he did seem more vulnerable and human in Revolutions which redeemed him in my eyes. He's still my favorite character in the trilogy.
See "film."
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Film: I find Revolutions to be a film of action, almost devoid of storyline progress or character development. The first part to address is the love scene. The love between the two was originally intended to end with The Matrix, because the film was not expected to do so well. But with the love stuck in there, the directors threw cheesy love scenes between the two, and sometimes forcing it too much. In Reloaded, not much, the sex scene, and Trinity being saved when Neo gets that bullet out. In Revolutions, the relationship between Neo and Trinity applied to only a few cases. The most important is that if not for their "love" for another, Neo would have had no way to get to Zero One. The second important occurs in the beginning, when she convinces that French bastard to let Neo out of the train station. The love story was forced and there was no way out.
Like Deckard said, there was little character development. What happened to the personalities that were so strong in The Matrix? Revolutions was a big gunfight. Its conclusion could have been written out in half an hour, no more than an hour. The useless chatting and other stuff took up most of the movie. I wasnt expecting the death of Trinity, nor was I shocked (or even a bit surprised) that she died. With no other way to end the love story (and what a "classic" way to end it), its as if her death were "inevitable."
Characters, etc: (1/2)
Action: **** (4)
Ambiguity: The ending sucked. It stunk. It was horrible. The
average viewer is not smart enough, apparently, to follow the hints that the directors put into the movie. I came out of the theater and people were like "Oh, I didnt think Neo would die!" Those dumbasses! (Well, I guess you COULD blame the directors for that, but its better to blame other people's dumpidity.) The second to last scene we see of Neo is him being unplugged from the Matrix. Then some stuff happens, and we see him being taken away by this machine whatchamacallit. The Oracle tells the little girl (forgot her name) that they'll be seeing Neo very soon. Prior to this, the Architect said that whoever that wanted to be unplugged will be. Now, given the facts, it is
likely that Neo will be reinserted into the Matrix, although it takes some tying up of loose ends to come to that. Bad directing. the case was too ambiguous.
Second, what happens to the sentinels? Last we see is them hovering in the dock, NOT leaving. It is
vvery difficult to predict or assume what happens to them. Do they help rebuild Zion? Do they just leave? Where will the humans go? Zion is in ruins, and repairs will take years. Will the humans go to the surface? The human and machine society remains and unknown to the viewer at the end of the film.
Third, what happens to the French guy? We now know the obviously plays a major role in the Matrix, as his ties may go directly to the Architect. We know that Trinity forced him to let Neo back in, but remember that he "doesnt forget" nor does he forgive. Knowing the French, he should have went after the bounty on trio, but didnt. Did the Architect also resolve the conflicts here??
Fourth, if Neo were the savior of humankind, and the machines knew that Smith was out of control, who was there to save the machines? Agents were to keep those who were potentially gonna disconnect from really disconnecting. Zion was created by the Architect so that those who actually were disconnected could be wiped out simutaneously. But if Smith were really out of control, and Neo and the bigass machine thing had a deal, why werent agents sent in to assist Neo, even in the smallest way?
Storyline: ** (2)
Overall movie? I think it was pretty good. There wasnt much of a story to tell, so the directors went overboard on the fighting (which, I must admit, was pretty good). I think Revolutions itself ranked second in the triology, but only because it was the ending. Without some of the action scenes which made up for the crappiness of the story, the thing would have been dead. All in all, no real strong emotions.
Action: *** (3 1/2)
Revolutions, overall, barely makes 3 stars (out of 4 1/2).
The Matrix: Revolutions rating: *** (3)
Trilogy rating: *** (3)
The Matrix rating: *** (3 1/2)
The Matrix: Reloaded: *** (3) 
