migblog

so i saw the matrix. (for details you would not want spoiled, i suggest you just keep reading. otherwise, highlight the text below and it'll all be revealed to you like one of those secret message things.)

and what the fuck was that? i mean, reloaded was a much better movie compared to this. it wasn't a stellar ending to a trilogy; it was mediocre at best. fine, the story ended, but then what? it leaves so many minor details just hanging out in the open.

i accept the fact that neo and trinity both died at the end of the movie to serve their purposes as the archetypal hero-as-sacrifice characters. i also accept the fact that this was much more an ensemble piece than the other two movies. in the first, for example, you had the crew of the nebuchadnezzar, getting picked off one by one, seeing some people you would have been attached to just die. (i must admit, mouse was a favorite of mine. and switch.) in the second, you had trinity, neo, and morpheus. the oracle, sometimes. but then now, it's everyone and everyone, agent smith and all the agent smiths in the program, along with that kid neo saved and captain mifune and niobe and ghost and the captain of the hammer.

what i don't accept, though, is the role of the merovingian and all the other "minor" characters. that could have been expanded so much, along with persephone's character (although monica belluci i guess deserves only two lines if she's just going to show her gadonk-gadonks anyway). the trainman, sati, the oracle, seraph. seemingly minor characters were suddenly introduced and reintroduced that we had no chance to like them, let alone like them enough to feel something whenever they perished.

and major characters also got the shaft: morpheus got 'moted to being niobe's second-in-command; link became a gunner; zee became an infantry soldier. trinity dies. neo gets blinded. and bane, the guy who smith assimilated into in reloaded, was much more... unimportant in the third one. the councilmen of zion were overrated, and the presence of this "machine god" was overplayed. and don't get me started with that blatant jesus reference when neo sacrificed himself to get rid of the smith program -- a cross of light over his torso, and then a sun reference. whoop-de-doo.

very predictable, too, was the dialogue in this movie. one would think that by putting in a ship's name as the logos (which, coincidentally, is greek for "talk") that there would be a great discourse this time around. there was no architect monologue. there was no oracle spouting off cryptically awesome shit. no, what we had was everyone saying "i believe" and trinity going "nothing" when there's so much subtlety that could have been toyed with. but no, the wachowskis decided to be blunt and blatant.

even then, though, the blatancy is roundabout. the easy-peasy direction of the plot, from the existence of the human race to the chase scene to neo's arrival at machine city, was supposed to be straightforward. but there were a lot of misguided twists and turns, some things that could have been done without and some things that could have been added to add more depth and dimension to all the characters that were introduced.

i would have liked to see more of the matrix in this movie. all i got was a nasty real world.

there are some awesome moments in this movie, i must say. trinity's ascent into the heavens to see the sun before she dies is wonderful. neo finally showing some emotion (albeit blindness) was good. the explanation of the the program to neo of things such as love and karma made me think and appreciate what philosophy teaches. visually, it's stunning; the scapes are eerie and dense, the colors are subdued and heavy; content-wise, the action paces itself well, but the story itself is muddled; and finally, the length of the movie was in itself somewhat of a burden.

i would say, see it for yourself. you'll either like it, or you won't. chances are you'll like it if you're a die-hard fan who bought both the animatrix as well as the videogame, but if you're just regular joe like the rest of the world, you won't. it's too broad a spectrum that the movie's addressing.

the ending was open-ended. that, i liked. but they really should just stop when they're ahead.

and in other news, miguel has booked a flight to london for spring break. i'll be leaving on the twenty-second of march for heathrow international airport, coming back the twenty-ninth. i think it's the most important impulsive decision i've ever made this semester.

i'll be in oregon for the weekend cheering on the bears in eugene. it'll be ass-cold, ass-wet, and ass-early. i'm really just looking forward to the bus ride and eventually the debauchery that will follow in oregonia.

i need to write a paper tonight. and i need to turn it in tomorrow. i think that'll be the challenge of the night, really, just finishing the paper and figuring out how i turn the damn thing in to my professor when i'm leaving at five-thirty in the morning (and the class doesn't start until one o'clock).

and now, time to munch, pack, and scribble. ah, i love multitasking.

posted by Open Source Food @ 7:15 PM