The Matrix Revolutions

A disappointing wrap-up to the Matrix trilogy. As skilled and inventive as they are, the Wachowski brothers have let their sense of self-importance run away with them. “Revolutions” is dour and dark, unleavened by the sense of humor that made the first (and to a lesser extent the second) film so entertaining. Inexplicably, the new movie takes place almost entirely in the drab “real” world, rather than the sleek and seductive world of the Matrix itself. In this, the Wachowskis have abandoned the single greatest strength of their series. The Matrix world was existentially horrifying, but also, in its willful suspension of the rules of physics and logic (not to mention its fine fashion sense), very attractive. The conflict between our dismay at what the Matrix did to humans and our desire to visit it was irresistible.

The bulk of “Revolutions” is devoted to a long, drawn-out battle between the humans and the machines, which, although visually impressive, is as far from new ground as you can get. (The generals glower and say “damn it” a lot, and young, fresh-faced recruits must become heroes, before rushing off to announce victory in the most embarrassing bit of cinema emoting since Leonardo DeCaprio declared “I’m king of the world.”) Thus we are left with just another in a long line of technically impressive but schlock-souled sci-fi extravaganzas, in which the prevailing belief is that if you make the explosions bigger and louder, you automatically make the movie more interesting. I would have thought that the Wachowskis knew that wasn’t necessarily true.