The Matrix Revolutions (2003) 
cast: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Jada Pinkett Smith, Carrie-Anne Moss, Helmut Bakaitis, Hugo Weaving, Mary Alice, Monica Bellucci, Harry J. Lennix, Ian Bliss, and Nathaniel Lees
action / fight choreographer: Yuen Woo-ping
director(s): The Wachowski Brothers
The tagline to "The Matrix Revolutions" -- the third (and hopefully last) installment to the overhyped "Matrix" trilogy waxes philosophically "Everything that has a beginning has an end."
Wow, that was deep. Heck, it might even be the most thought-provoking piece of Matrix speak I've encountered in the last five months of bloated media hype which saw the release of the eagerly anticipated midsection ("Reloaded") in May and the equally anticipated final chapter ("Revolutions") in October.
A la "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy "The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Matrix Revolutions" were filmed simultaniously over the course of more than two years with a price tag bigger than Middle Earth.
Whatever.
In four short years The Wachowski Brothers (Andy and Larry) have strayed so far away from what they began with can anyone who is not a card-carrying self-proclaimed Matrix geek honestly claim they really give a damn what fate has in store for this universe once the rain has stopped pouring? Yes, it's true -- I thought the original film (which is starting to look more and more like the masterpiece audiences hailed it as) was shackled with the leg irons of a mediocre narrative, pretentious monotone dialogue, and a co-star so hammy you could've stuck an orange in his mouth and shipped him to Hawaii.
The film's saving grace were sharp, cutting edge special effects that only occasionally exposed the kinks of computer generated imagery, and the action choreography directed by Hong Kong filmmaker Yuen Woo-ping who's bombastic use of wires and undercranking fit so snuggly in the Matrix universe.
Unfortunately, when May of 2003 finally did come barreling around the original's strengths were all the Wachowskis cared to pay much mind to and I ate my own words when I remarked I'd have rather forgone the original's script for over two hours of relentless action and special effects. The mood of the trilogy's second installment quickly turned depressing once the audience realized that so little of the original's plot was being built upon and too few questions were being answered.
In essence we saw one action sequence between Neo and Agent Smith reloaded over and over and over again.
Which brings us to October, where I'll admit for the first time despite all of this I was still curious as to the fate of the characters and Zion, the last human outpost that is only hours away from being assaulted by the Matrix's mechanical octopi drones in the beginning of an all out war of man versus machine.
Granted, the final installments in celebrated trilogies have often proven to be the least popular ("Return of the Jedi" and "The Godfather Part III" immediately come to mind), but nevertheless, I can't recall a trilogy powered by this much hype -- with this much anticipation -- that has ended on this lame of note. Let's be honest -- I can't think of a trilogy that has closed its doors with this loud of a thud on audiences period. True, I'm not a fan of the "Matrix" trilogy, nevertheless, I expected at least a mediocre conclusion to a mediocre trilogy and instead received one of the new millennium's worst epilogues.
Suffice to say like its predecessor "Revolutions" is nothing short of an orgy of bullets, machines, and kung fu which all look good by the way; however, we've long since grown tired of this charade and all but forgotten about the fate of mankind.