With the machines attacking Zion, Captain Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), must rush back to the city with the last functional EMP weapon. Neo (Keanu Reeves), and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) head for the machine city where Neo will discover his destiny. And the Agent Smith clones have taken over The Matrix.
The Wachowskis brothers (writers, directors, and producers of the series) need a class on symbolism. You see, a symbol should be symbolic, not literal. Sounds pretty simple, and obvious, but the brothers missed it. They are constantly confusing symbols with what they reflect, thus Neo, a symbolic Jesus, has powers because he is Jesus. The final answer to why Neo can perform miracles outside of The Matrix is that he’s an avatar of God (or a god). But I thought he was a metaphor for an avatar of…no, wait, that way lies madness.
The upshot is that in 1999, The Matrix left two unanswered questions, and in 2003 those questions have been answered by making the symbols into the actual religious figures. What a waste.
But the mistaken use of symbols is broader. Almost everything in The Matrix Revolutions represents not only one thing, but several, often contradictory things. There is no clear message because there is no single interpretation. If anything can mean everything, then it all means nothing. However, it does make for a replayable game—pin the religious icons on the film entities. It works best with Eastern religions, but I’m more familiar with Christianity than Hinduism, and besides, any religion works. Let’s try a round.
Neo is Christ
The Oracle is God
Zion is Heaven
The Architect is Satan
The Machine City is Hell
Morpheus is John The Baptist.
Trinity is Mary (take your pick)
Agent Smith is the Antichrist
The Matrix is Earth
This one works well, particularly if you’re a conservative Christian and go with the idea that God is good. Neo is the savior (it’s hard to miss the crucifixion, though for symbolic fun, Trinity has a crucifixion scene too), and he sees fire in the Machine City. You can’t beat the symmetry of Agent Smith being Neo’s opposite. And the Oracle not only is the one who sends Neo to free the world, but she also made The Matrix, partly anyway (because the Architect’s versions kept failing). Still, the analogy isn’t tight in all areas. The Architect is more of a God-like figure, and he’s the ultimate in order. So, let’s spin the wheel again, this time taking a more cynical look at Christianity:
Neo is the Antichrist
The Oracle is Satan
Zion is Hell
The Architect is God
The Machine City is Heaven
The Train Station is Purgatory
Morpheus is The False Prophet
Trinity is …well, no one all that much
Agent Smith is Christ
The Matrix is Earth
Hey, that works even better, as long as you don’t mind making God and Christ the bad guys—kinda. The Oracle is an angel (I mean program) that fell to Earth (I mean the Matrix) because she is a fan of freedom (Satanists should be happy with this version). Neo, while having no freedom of his own, is here to stop Christ from causing Armageddon (which is part of God’s master plan—read your Bible), and allow people to continue having a choice, at least on Earth. And Zion sure looks like Hell to me.
That not your favorite? Just mix and match (keeping in mind that Neo’s name is an anagram of One). Smith could be Satan, or perhaps a new fallen angel like Gabriel in The Prophecy. We already had a Lucifer (named Cypher) in the first film, but he makes for a better Judas anyway. We can make Zion into Eden, and let The Matrix be Hell. Or better still, The Matrix can be purgatory (with all those no-longer-useful programs just waiting—and isn’t the Merovingian’s club called Hel?
Enough with Christianity; try another religion. How about Zarathustrianism? According to its teachings, all of the universe is Ahura Mazda, but he’s split into Spenta Mainyu and Angra Mainyu (The Architect and The Oracle). There is Heaven, Hell, Armageddon, and a Messiah, which should be pretty easy to fill in. And the whole basis of the religion is the choices you make. You see, nothing is real. It’s all an illusion, which if you can overcome, you can “return to the source.”
Don’t like that one. Choose another.
The problem isn’t that you can squeeze multiple basic religious systems onto the framework of the film, but rather that The Wachowskis brothers just mindlessly took pieces of every faith they’d heard of and tossed them together. When Neo could be equally Christ, the Antichrist, and the avatar of Vishnu, what is it all supposed to mean? Not much. It’s just a game for first year religious studies majors.
The Matrix Revolutions is certainly a sister film to Reloaded (they were filmed consecutively). Around the metaphors, there is lots of dialog I wish I’d never heard, and a couple of spectacular action sequences. I’m slightly partial to Revolutions over Reloaded as I’m more of a Zulu fan (the inspiration for the never-ending battle of Zion) than a The French Connection car chase guy. That’s the only real reason to like one over the other. It’s just your preference for how you want your smash-and-bash effects served up.
Unfortunately, all drama is removed from the action scenes. I didn’t care about any of these characters, and I’ve yet to meet anyone who claimed they were emotionally moved by the fate of Neo and Trinity. Or anybody in Zion. Some people die; some people live; some relationships work out. None of it matters. But it is really pretty. Really, really pretty.
Like its predecessor, I recommend this for viewing at a theater (but try for a cheaper matinee), as it looks so good on the big screen. Better would be a home viewing if you owned a nine foot screen, as then you could go get a drink, read the mail, or chat, whenever there was dialog.