Matrix 3 sucks

November 5, 2003 3:44 PM

I feel so burned. I can't believe I (called in sick to go see) went to Matrix Revolutions. IMO, they shouldn't have made it into a franchise, as the first Matrix was just fine as a stand-alone movie.
posted by Lynsey (123 comments total)

What, did you not like the movie or something?
posted by eddydamascene at 3:45 PM on November 5, 2003

Sorry Lynsey, but I'm surprised it took you two whole Matrices to figure that out. The first one was overrated to begin with, all it did was 'invent' a special effect that probably would've invented for some other movie eventually.
posted by BartFargo at 3:47 PM on November 5, 2003

PS - Go see "Returner." It's not very original, but it has the heart that the Matrix series sorely lacks.
posted by BartFargo at 3:50 PM on November 5, 2003

better than the actual movie
posted by Hackworth at 3:51 PM on November 5, 2003

Liked the first, hated the second, won't see the third.
posted by Fofer at 3:52 PM on November 5, 2003

Best Movie of All Time.

This is nothing but a film industry profit orgy.

What an innovative, clever narrative.

This crapfest is a dead horse with a spear in its side.

At least it was better than the second one.

I hate Keanu Reeves.

The first one was magic, the rest... mleh.

Special effects fucking awesome!

[there, now do we really have to do this thread?]
posted by scarabic at 3:53 PM on November 5, 2003

Man, we really don't say fuck enough around here.
posted by xmutex at 3:55 PM on November 5, 2003

Well, since the thread is off to this kind of start ...

I didn't like the first one. The special effect was totally awesome, but I had already seen it in a kodak commercial, which demoted it to cool, from mind blowing. The movie itself didn't seem very engaging to me. Worse, everyone acted like Keanu.

To be honest, everyone's reviews of the 2nd and 3rd ones sound just like my review of the first one.
posted by jragon at 3:56 PM on November 5, 2003

agreed, RITAANAA was not amazing, but still better than the matrix films.

(heh, right now we're watching ol' Kaneshiro in a recent drama where he's supposed to be some sort of bowling genius...)
posted by dorian at 4:06 PM on November 5, 2003

ah cool, this saves me from having to e-mail everyone to see what they thought about it.
posted by mcsweetie at 4:06 PM on November 5, 2003

No scarabic, we have to do this thread. Ya see, I didn't mention in the post that I bought tickets for son, daughter-in-law, husband and me for this movie on the occasion of son's 30th birthday. Even at matinee prices, I paid $24 for tickets alone and we all felt burned. I want the Wachowskis exposed for the frauds they are; I'm out for blood, or at least a lot more vitriol! ;)
posted by Lynsey at 4:12 PM on November 5, 2003

Considering the Wachowskis gave us Bound, I was well within my rights to expect a way better 3rd Matrix installment.
posted by titboy at 4:12 PM on November 5, 2003

It's a mooooooooooovie. "Cash cow" is built into the very word. That's the only deeper meaning any huge 'event' film contains. If you accept this, you'll be a lot less cranky.
posted by WolfDaddy at 4:17 PM on November 5, 2003

Today, at lunch, my waiter took forever and when he finally showed up my soup was cold. :(
posted by eastlakestandard at 4:21 PM on November 5, 2003

yes, wolfdaddy, but mooooooooovies are supposed to be amusing, thrilling, intriguing, surprising, and/or horrifying, etc.

not just masturbatory computer animation and F/X.
posted by titboy at 4:22 PM on November 5, 2003

Hmm. I started my graduate seminar this evening by joking that it was good of the SF buffs (there are several in the class) to show up for Victorian fiction instead of going to the movie theatre. Looks like I can reassure them that Middlemarch was indeed the right choice :)
posted by thomas j wise at 4:36 PM on November 5, 2003

ssh! the Wachowskis don't know that we've secretly replaced their blood with vitriol...
</folgers>

try seeing/renting a recent independent or foreign film instead. this is not to make some ridiculous claim that all (or even many) independent or foreign films are great; but considering the bottomed-out signal to noise ratio emanating from hollywood, your chances are orders of magnitude better with nearly anything else. for the last few years, korea has been consistently putting out some of the best action films I have ever seen -- they unquestionably try to emulate hollywood, but usually end up doing so in very good ways rather than "succeeding" in doing so.

if enough people stop rewarding hollywood for its recent behavior, it will either change or die. conversely, people who pay to see movie "events" deserve what they get...

MetaFilter: we really don't say fuck enough around here.

fuck!
posted by dorian at 4:36 PM on November 5, 2003

You just didn't get it, you fucking mindless sheep! Read a book once in awhile and maybe you won't be such a fucking moron of the illiterate masses? Did you not see the symbolism and philosphical tangents involved? I am so much smarter than you! You went in expecting to see a good movie, while I went in to prove I'm smarter than all you dumb fucks! Hahaha! Bow before my intellectual artistic might! Watch me prove my point as I write a 20 page essay on the 50th viewing of this grand trilogy just to prove how much smarter I am!
posted by Stan Chin at 4:38 PM on November 5, 2003

I'm still pretty pissed off about red-hot-anal-sluts.com.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:45 PM on November 5, 2003

eastlakestandard: Really? Good god, that's dreadful! I'd create a front-page post for that, were I you :)
posted by kaemaril at 4:47 PM on November 5, 2003

god, can't you at least wait a day? I'm seeing it tonight. I don't need to be hearing this!
posted by delmoi at 4:56 PM on November 5, 2003

What a bunch of whiners!

I'm suspecting that the majority of the posters who liked the first but hate the rest of the series are really just upset that it gained in popularity over time. The same kind of people who rip on a movie because 'the book was better'. Well guess what... Bladerunner is an awesome movie and the book sucks!

I thought the movie was pretty good. If it ended any other way, you'd be complaining that it was a 'typical hollywood ending'.

In other words, go see the movie. $7 is not that much to spend. Don't listen to those complaining about being ripped off! $7?! BOO HOO!
posted by kookywon at 5:08 PM on November 5, 2003

Does that mean I shouldn't bother going to see Matrix Reloaded?
posted by carter at 5:09 PM on November 5, 2003

Even at matinee prices, I paid $24 for tickets alone and we all felt burned

even worse, you threw your $24 at an industry that sneers at you and yours and engages daily in bribery and corruption (quaintly referred to as lobbying and campaign contributions) in an attempt to restrict your freedom. when WILL you WAKE THE FUCK UP?
posted by quonsar at 5:13 PM on November 5, 2003

So, just out of interest ... anybody boycotting the MPAA? If so, do you think this movie is worth an (ahem) exception?
posted by kaemaril at 5:18 PM on November 5, 2003

reloaded needed more explosions, less tight close-ups of laurence fishburne reciting bargain-basement kierkegaarde, and way less of that zucker brothers-like rave scene.
posted by pxe2000 at 5:43 PM on November 5, 2003

Bladerunner is an awesome movie and the book sucks!

Yeah, but how was Bladerunner 3?

I saw the Station Agent last night and Matrix Revolutions tonight. The Station Agent was better. Revolutions was the worst of the three Matrix movies by a pretty wide margin, IMO (major points off for underutilizing the delectable Monica Belucci, who was almost invisible here).

Lots of pretty flashes and bang-bangs, though.
posted by rushmc at 5:46 PM on November 5, 2003

Metafilter: Lots of pretty flashes and bang-bangs
posted by pizzasub at 5:56 PM on November 5, 2003

cool! as long as there's shiny stuff that blows up, i'll pay anything!
posted by quonsar at 5:58 PM on November 5, 2003

So let me get this straight: You were bored to tears (like most of us) with the second movie. You bought into the hype. You paid good money to take the family. What was it that P.T. Barnum said about never underestimating the American public?

Me? I'm not giving the Wachowskis one red cent for this. And neither should you. In fact, because we had to see Keanu's scrawny ass and sit through insufferable Philosophy 101 in the last one, they should pay us back double.

Fuckers.

Okay. So what other MeFi threads are there?
posted by ed at 6:18 PM on November 5, 2003

This post should not exist. Regardless of whether the movie sucks or not, a link to a review and a link to a corporate ad site are not metafilter.
/obligatory

Also, what made you think it wouldn't suck? I find your surprised tone confusing.
posted by erebora at 6:21 PM on November 5, 2003

But then you realize...

There is no post.
posted by pizzasub at 6:23 PM on November 5, 2003

dorian: try seeing/renting a recent independent or foreign film instead

I'm with dorian. Instead of Kill Bill, try Takeshi Kitano's Zatouichi (Ichi the Killer.) Chanpon.org review here. It's a fun samurai flick, lots of gore, some campy scenes, and a nice look back into samurai-era Japan.
posted by gen at 6:26 PM on November 5, 2003

pizzasub, that *would* have made me spit pop on my monitor, if'n i was a pop spittin' man.
posted by quonsar at 6:28 PM on November 5, 2003

What, was there not enough slaughter of innocent "sleepers" in this movie? [being a security guard or a bystander in a movie like The Matrix sucks, especially when the heroes show up]
posted by moonbiter at 6:30 PM on November 5, 2003

Matrix is good fun as long as you weren't expecting anything. It's kinda like American democracy in that way.
posted by Brilliantcrank at 6:36 PM on November 5, 2003

Metafilter: good fun as long as...aw, fuck it.
posted by pizzasub at 6:44 PM on November 5, 2003

This is the best movie review MetaFilter thread ever!
posted by yhbc at 6:54 PM on November 5, 2003

See what happens when you lie that you're sick?
posted by anathema at 7:11 PM on November 5, 2003

yeah! you ruined the movie for EVERYONE!!!
posted by quonsar at 7:18 PM on November 5, 2003

Oh god, BartFargo, "The Returner" is the absolute worse asian matrix rip-off film ever (Avalon or Volcano High are better, Resurrection of the Little Match Girl is okay)... great presence by Takeshi Kaneshiro but that's about it.
posted by bobo123 at 7:20 PM on November 5, 2003

It's puzzling how anyone thought this was going to be a good movie after the second one turned out to be such a pile o tripe..
posted by zeoslap at 7:39 PM on November 5, 2003

Okay. So what other MeFi threads are there?

The latest thread on broadcast flags is good, especially after this one.
posted by homunculus at 7:47 PM on November 5, 2003

Hackworth, thanks for posting that link. I hadn't seen it before and i was literally laughing out loud reading it. Tee.
posted by zorrine at 7:52 PM on November 5, 2003

Lynsey, clearly you didn't consult the oracle. For shame.

I'm going to go out on a limb and declare that I liked it. (Quonsar, take it easy with the chainsaw, ok) I know, I know, I wouldn't know Shit from Shinola, et cetera, et cetera. As someone who tends to avoid mainstream cinema, The Matrix^tm movies are a bit of a guilty pleasure. Sometimes, it's nice to see what a couple hundred million dollars can buy at ILM. I got exactly what I expected and exactly what I paid for.
posted by shoepal at 8:04 PM on November 5, 2003

gen: Ichi the Killer is a very different movie from Zatoichi.
posted by mokujin at 8:05 PM on November 5, 2003

I liked it just fine. Neat effects, some fun fights and Jada Pinkett Smith is, if I may say so, totally hot in a kick-ass way. I wasn't expecting a life-changing experience, just pretty lights -- which, if you're in the mood for pretty lights, is well worth the $3 matinee price I paid. I don't know why y'all are bitching so.

On the other hand, if Return of the King doesn't rock, I may have to cry.
posted by jscalzi at 8:25 PM on November 5, 2003

I think I'm better off when I go in to see movies without knowing anything about them. I mean, I saw Kill Bill without even knowing it was by Quentin Tarantino until the movie started, and I was totally blown away.
posted by Veritron at 8:30 PM on November 5, 2003

where the hell do you people live where movies are $7 or $3 for matinees? where i live, matinees are almost $9 and regular movies are $13-$17.
posted by dobbs at 8:38 PM on November 5, 2003

I dunno about the Matrix sequels - I thought the first was great good fun - but Hackworth's link is a hoot.
posted by furiousthought at 8:42 PM on November 5, 2003

I'm with you, Jscalzi, on all counts. Saw the matinee ($4.75, eegads, perhaps I should write a FPP about the cost?) , liked the movie, drooled over pinkett smith, and am eagerly awaiting the return of the king. I hope he comes soon, I'm tired of movies where you cringe during the dialogue because you just KNOW it's gonna fall flat.

Did the dialogue fall flat? Yeah pretty much. Did the new oracle suck? Yes. Were the action scenes really pretty? OHhhhh boy they were nice, and don't believe anyone who says the "orange vision" was stupid, it was a nice ethereal effect for a movie that's sort of apocalyptic anyways.

I'm gonna go further out on a limb: I enjoyed the scenes with Reeves and Moss. Despite cruddy dialogue (see above graf) they got a pretty decent chemistry and it was nice to see some subtly relationships instead of the pr0n-fest that was Matrix Reloaded.

Upon preview: Shouldn't this whole FPP go in MetaTalk? Because uhm, that's where metafilter members can just talk about stuff like this, right?
posted by Happydaz at 8:52 PM on November 5, 2003

where the hell do you people live where movies are $7 or $3 for matinees?

Southwestern Indiana is one place.
posted by moonbiter at 8:58 PM on November 5, 2003

where i live, matinees are almost $9 and regular movies are $13-$17.

Currency difference, dude. CAN$9 ~ USD6 or 7. Which wouldn't be far out of line for an in-town big-city matinee. Steep, but not crazy.

I've seen first-run movies for substantially less than that in greater Toronto, though. A mall in North York, IIRC.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:10 PM on November 5, 2003

I'm suspecting that the majority of the posters who liked the first but hate the rest of the series are really just upset that it gained in popularity over time.

No, that's not it. At least not for me. I don't care a bit how popular the movies are or not. The disappointment is in the wasted potential of some truly clever and innovative ideas.

The first one did do more than popularize a new special effect - it very creatively transformed some ancient mythological metaphors into technological ones. Like it or not, that accounts for fully half of my enjoyment of the first movie. However, in #2, all that started to fall apart. They started planting lots of big words and ideas, like clues to a larger puzzle. But here in #3, rather than answering the questions they'd raised, or building on the clues and puzzles they'd started - they dropped all of them with a perfunctory wave of the hand and instead went for a pure shoot-em-up extravaganza. Which is ok - it's a great roller coaster ride, and I enjoyed it for that, but they didn't deliver on the potential they'd created in #1.
posted by dnash at 9:12 PM on November 5, 2003

I am going to pay $15 to see it in IMAX on Saturday afternoon, and I don't have a problem with it. It's $10 to see it on regular screens even at 9:00 AM here in NYC. I also liked Revolutions, and thought it made a nice sequel to the original action movie.
posted by riffola at 9:29 PM on November 5, 2003

If you have access to the internet you have no excuse for stumbling into a major crap-fest. Read a review. They're free.
rotten tomato
posted by mrhappy at 9:37 PM on November 5, 2003

Better yet, why pay at all? If it's a piece of turd that, for some inexplicable reason, movie hop. Not that I necessarily condone this.
posted by ed at 9:48 PM on November 5, 2003

That should have read: If it's a piece of turd that, for some inexplicable reason you have to see, movie hop.
posted by ed at 9:49 PM on November 5, 2003

Does anyone else recognize that these three movies do not a trilogy make, and thus any expectations of some kind of grand saga running through the entire series are false?

The Matrix was a standalone movie that, because it was popular, had a continuation movie made. That was obviously split into two movies. Badly.

Move on, and enjoy the show.
posted by WolfDaddy at 10:02 PM on November 5, 2003

"Where the hell do you people live where movies are $7 or $3 for matinees?"

Small town America, my friend. I also pay $2 an hour for my daughter's preschool. And it's excellent.
posted by jscalzi at 10:11 PM on November 5, 2003

I paid $69 for six tickets at NYC + Fandango prices, and I feel like I got my money's worth. I would have enjoyed some more sequences in the Matrix, but there was no other way to wrap up the movie. I'm looking forward to going back this weekend and watching it again in IMAX. Fun flick.

I'm at a point where I get the brainy movies through NetFlix, while I watch the fun, shit-blows-up movies at the E-Walk on 42nd Street. They're just movies.
posted by subgenius at 10:17 PM on November 5, 2003

It's sad, but I haven't even seen the first Matrix yet.

/is frightened by Keanu Reeves
posted by dhoyt at 10:33 PM on November 5, 2003

Many ideas were set aside for lots of guns, things blowing up, so forth.

Also, if Smith never existed, the machines would have won.
posted by the fire you left me at 10:35 PM on November 5, 2003

of course the 2nd and 3rd sucked... it's pretty hard to make sequels when the film you plagiarized in the first place was a stand alone... you know, what with the lack of further source material and all.
posted by t r a c y at 10:41 PM on November 5, 2003

of course, dark city was a plagiarism homage to groundbreaking -- and well-known, might i add -- silent films. if you're doing shots for every metropolis reference, you'll be drunk by the end of the title sequence.

ever since yerfatma yelled at me about my tendency to "shit on threads" i've refrained from anything remotely related to conflict. i also respect tracy. as a result of that respect i will tactfully refrain from discussing the editing, or kiefer sutherland's amazing, oscar-worthy performance. that is all.
posted by pxe2000 at 11:24 PM on November 5, 2003

The films are strategically tied to the Video game, are they not? Didn't the Wachowskis get a dumptruck full of cash to braid both media?
posted by malwilde at 11:28 PM on November 5, 2003

malwilde: so this is all a vast conspiracy to make les wachowskis richer?! smells like profit to me...
posted by pxe2000 at 11:30 PM on November 5, 2003

Revolutions was the worst of the three Matrix movies by a pretty wide margin, IMO (major points off for underutilizing the delectable Monica Belucci, who was almost invisible here).

If you go into a movie with expectations, you're bound to be disappointed. Most bad reviews of Revolutions focus on what the movie didn't provide (missed expectations) and not on what they did provide.

That being said, I'm sad they switched genres from Science Fiction to Science Fantasy.
posted by uftheory at 11:33 PM on November 5, 2003

The book Blade Runner was based on is one of the best sci-fi novels of all time. Disregard any Metafilter post to the contrary!
posted by inksyndicate at 11:48 PM on November 5, 2003

Certainly, pxe2G, all profit is conspiracy. However, the correlation of ideas across media can only broaden the consumer's perspective. Putting more ducats in the studio's coffers and relishing the entire franchise are not mutually exclusive.
posted by malwilde at 12:05 AM on November 6, 2003

Did anybody think it a bit incredible (apart from the 'plot') that wheelbarrows were needed to carry ammunition to those guys in those things and that we were supposed to get gooses bumps when that chicken fart steered his barrow through the debris.

A fucking WHEELBARROW!!!!
posted by kenaman at 12:28 AM on November 6, 2003

huh. i liked the wheelbarrels. like maybe that was my favorite part. i was like, wow, the future is analog.
posted by jennanemone at 12:42 AM on November 6, 2003

THESE THREADS ARE SO FUCKING STUPID. I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THE MOVIE. IN FACT, I THINK ASKING PEOPLE FOR OPINIONS ON MOVIES OF THIS NATURE IS AN EXERCISE IN THE UTMOST STUPIDITY.

I like Peter Travers, but occasionally disagree with him. I also don't ask people for in-depth opinions on movies before I see them, or read reviews past the first paragraph. I expect I'll probably enjoy the movie, since I would never go see it expecting anything other than what it likely is.

YOU SUCK FOR MAKING ME RESPOND TO THIS, BUT GEEK REVOLUTIONS MAKE MY SKIN CRAWL.

take that, mother fuckers!
posted by The God Complex at 12:56 AM on November 6, 2003

The God Complex . You seem like the kind of person that wiil find a perverse liking this film. Watch out for the wheelbarrows you will probably be buying a scale model of one for Xmas....
posted by kenaman at 1:00 AM on November 6, 2003

* Spoilers *

Trinity is really a man.
Neo is actually a ghost.
Agent Smith's first name is Tyler.

* /Spoilers *
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 2:56 AM on November 6, 2003

Neo wakes up and it was all a dream.

Fine I said it.
posted by skallas at 3:59 AM on November 6, 2003

Appropos of almost nothing, it was rather hysterical when the entire theatre cheered for homegrown talent Monica Bellucci's only line.

And I don't know if this is a result of dubbing or not, but...

/*Spoiler*/

...the death scene was waaaaaaaaaaaaay too long. Once again the audience threw in their opinion with cheers along the lines of "Christ, kiss her already and get on with it" and "Fuck, just die already."

/*spoiler over*/
posted by romakimmy at 4:06 AM on November 6, 2003

I liked Revolutions. But if you're looking for something different, one good science-fiction movie that didn't get much press (as it was an indie film) is Existenz. I'd recommend it.
posted by halonine at 4:08 AM on November 6, 2003

kenaman - you've been listening in on my phone conversations - that's exactly what I said, ridiculous; though not as bad as the accompanying dialogue "I never finished the training" "neither did I". Jeezus.
posted by biffa at 4:11 AM on November 6, 2003

I bought tickets for son, daughter-in-law, husband and me for this movie on the occasion of son's 30th birthday

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
posted by Frasermoo at 4:16 AM on November 6, 2003

I think I may just spend half the dough and stay home to watch the long-anticipated, earth-shattering release of Weird Al Yankovic's Ultimate Video Collection.
posted by adampsyche at 4:35 AM on November 6, 2003

Biffa you nailed the worst line, 'Neither did I'. from a film full of (fails to think of a word which expresses how negatively I feel about the dialog) lines.

What frustrates me most is that there is so must more wrong with this film that I have the time express. Reading all your comments has helped, but I would really be interested to hear a defence from the writer/directors. The film looks like it was made by different people.
posted by kenaman at 4:50 AM on November 6, 2003

I have to admit that it didn't seem to answer a lot of questions that were raised. But then again, could it be that we (the audience) read into it too much?

I really enjoyed the movie. I knew going in there wasn't going to be too many "in the matrix" sceenes because the story was ending. I mean come on lets be real here, when the second one ended, there was like 24 hours until Xion was breached. That translates to roughly a day and a half that a movie must cover.

Its an ending to a movie. I had expectations going in based on this and I was happy with it. Sure it is not some epic trilogy like LOTR, Star Wars, of Indiana Jones, but it also is only covering the span of like 2-4 months roughly.

To me the only questions I felt that should have been answered came at the end of the movie. All of you who have seen it should know what I am talking about. However, the movie was left wide open to make sequels and prequels.

Originally when I heard that it was a trilogy, I was told that they were going to make Morpheus's story first, then have neo save the world. Who knows, maybe they are still doing that part.

You go to a movie to be entertained and this movie did that. If you want your mind to be stimulated, pick up a book.
posted by thebwit at 5:43 AM on November 6, 2003

- Props to pizzasub, hackworth and Civil_Disobedient.
- What inksyndicate said.
- Riffola, I'd love to hear if the Imax version is worth the trouble.
posted by theora55 at 5:46 AM on November 6, 2003

thebwit,

*spoilers*



At the end of the first film the one big thing I thought needed resolving was the freeing of humanity from the matrix, 2 and 3 didn't really address this, they just introduced some other stuff, most of which was resolved by the end of 3. Humanity was mostly still enslaved though, and even with the option to leave it has been previously stated that there aren't enough facilities to cope with lots of people coming out en masse, plus that would leave the machines without power.
Also, Jada Pinkett Smith was bloody rubbish - a dwarf with one facial expression, roughly:glowering.

More bad dialogue:
"You did it"
"No, we did it"

and actually it was just her, and Morpheus did bugger all for the whole film except go on about how he believed in Neo.
Must stop now.
posted by biffa at 6:59 AM on November 6, 2003

I am going to pay $15 to see it in IMAX on Saturday afternoon

Make SURE it's actually in IMAX where you go. I went to a theater where it was supposed to be, but it wasn't.

Once again the audience threw in their opinion with cheers along the lines of "Christ, kiss her already and get on with it" and "Fuck, just die already."

Were you in my theater?? Some guy shouted out "die already!" there, too, and most of the audience got the giggles for two minutes.

Also, Dark City > any Matrix movie. It's not even close.
posted by rushmc at 7:32 AM on November 6, 2003

what is it about flashing lights up on the wall that turns so many of you above-average people into gibbering idiots?
posted by quonsar at 7:40 AM on November 6, 2003

rush, it's at the Loew's Lincoln Centre Theatre on Broadway. We've already got tickets for it.

theora55, will do!
posted by riffola at 7:46 AM on November 6, 2003

ahh, but you still went and supported it didn't you...
posted by omidius at 8:02 AM on November 6, 2003

Man, what a bunch of whiny bitches. It wasn't Lawrence of Arabia or the Seven Samurai (or Showgirls), but it was fine. I've seen waaaay more than my share of crappy movies, and this wasn't anywhere near the middle, much less the bottom. If you felt ripped off because you went in with high expectations, then you deserved to be disappointed. It's just a movie, kids.
posted by majcher at 8:16 AM on November 6, 2003

The first one was overrated to begin with, all it did was 'invent' a special effect that probably would've invented for some other movie eventually.

You mean like _Lost in Space_? They didn't use the effect as much, but they did it a year before The Matrix.
posted by joquarky at 8:22 AM on November 6, 2003

>romakimmy> it was rather hysterical when the entire theatre cheered for homegrown talent Monica Bellucci's only line.

yeah, how strange that a bunch of kids get somewhat unruly when Bellucci appears onscreen in full latex-dominatrix gear, showing a massive amount of impossibly pushed-up, D-cup size cleavage

;)

but even if she was not too bad in other films, I agree that her one line in "Revolutions" was lame and badly delivered . what can you do -- she'd obviously like to take Sophia's Loren road, from bombshell to diva to actual kickass actress. but she's probably not good enough an actress

and yes, even if I kind of liked "Reloaded", "Revolutions" bored me beyond belief. my two cents
posted by matteo at 8:25 AM on November 6, 2003

People disappointed by the new Matrix should check out Shaolin Soccer instead. All of the fun + effects... but none of the pretension.
posted by ph00dz at 8:38 AM on November 6, 2003

" of course the 2nd and 3rd sucked... it's pretty hard to make sequels when the film you plagiarized in the first place was a stand alone... you know, what with the lack of further source material and all."

little aside, the first rooftops Trinity runs over in The Matrix , are the exact props used in Dark City.

Dark City was prettier in certain ways, and is kinda different sub genre than The Matrix imho.


and, without having seen it, i'm gonna say i loved it. why? you ask?

live action MECHS!! i'm not watching this movie to get my fill of philosophy or gnostic/zen/whatever allusions, i'm watching it to see what whatever umpteen generations of chip processing innovation can pump out of a massive CGI rendering farm.

well, that, and some decent kung fu. i can't just keep watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and the whatever number of HK kung fu flicks to get my dosage.


EYE candy ppl, EYE CANDY.



and maybe some latex.
posted by eurasian at 8:46 AM on November 6, 2003

*spoiler*

- the war is over? and the architect promises to free any who want to leave the Matrix?

hmmm - who is gonna provide the juice then?

on a burnt out world with limitted resources won't the newly free humans and machines compete for those same resources?

seems to me the "war is over" will last about as long as a ceasefire between certain middle-eastern factions these days.
posted by jkaczor at 8:50 AM on November 6, 2003

How many people in this thread feel about Matrix 2 & 3 is how I felt about Highlander's sequels and its television series. The original Highlander film starring Sean Connery, Christopher Lambert and Clancy Brown is one of the greatest cinematic accomplishments in the history of the medium. The writing was great, the acting high caliber, the action, the suspense, the humor. What's not to love? However the sequels paled in comparison and seemed like a purposeful attempt to cash in on the belated success of the original, which tanked in the box office but swelled in the video sales and rentals years afterward, sparking a cult sensation that made it THE sleeper hit of the 1990s.

I enjoyed Matrix 2 for what it was, but waited for it to hit DVD because I didn't expect very much from it. After the Highlander fiasco, I hope for the best but expect the worst from any cinema franchise. I haven't decided yet whether or not I'll go see number 3, or wait for video.

Sounds to me that y'all just had your expectations set at impossible levels, but tell me.. is it the Wachowski brothers who let you down? Or did you let yourself down by putting them on too high of a pedestal?
posted by ZachsMind at 8:56 AM on November 6, 2003

Shaolin soccer was tremendous. I wish I saw this thread before I wasted $8.50 on Revolutions last night ... What is the process for getting my money back?

The high point of the movie was the preview for the Tom Cruise LAST SAMURAI movie ... And the girl in the reflective latex pants who squeezed by me to get to her seat.

It was sort of like reading Metafilter - I was surrounded by gangs of geeks!
posted by luriete at 9:05 AM on November 6, 2003

Were you in my theater??

I guess that means the quality of Italian dubbing didn't slip and that scene really *was* interminable. I would have much preferred the 3 minute excess to be devoted to something mildly more amusing. Like Monica Bellucci's latex encased breasts.

/perv

on spectacularly long, I got distracted preview: As I didn't see Reloaded, my best friend told me they were cheering for the fact that she actually spoke, as she didn't have many lines in Reloaded. She could be wrong...

what is it about flashing lights up on the wall that turns so many of you above-average people into gibbering idiots?

Dunno. Probably the same weird impulse that causes me to wonder which pill Neo would have chosen if the proffered pills were in suppository form.
posted by romakimmy at 9:08 AM on November 6, 2003

...Oh, and last night I saw Yojimbo on DVD, which is a very cool Akira Kurosawa film that inspired the plot for Clint Eastwood's "Fistful of Dollars" or so the legend goes. Toshirô Mifune is no Keanu Reeves, but I think that's one reason why I enjoyed it.
posted by ZachsMind at 9:21 AM on November 6, 2003

since dark city is getting more love on this thread, and since many people prefer it to the matrix because the latter allegedly ripped off the former, i'm thinking to myself:

does no one recognize the very strong debt that dark city owes to metropolis? metropolis was and remains a very popular movie (here in boston, kino's rerelease last year played at semi-mainstream theatres), so it's not as if this is some obscure movie from whence alex proyas cribbed his ideas. (since dark city is not the best known film in the world, i would imagine that most of its fans have at least seen/heard of metropolis -- this isn't la jetee/12 monkeys here.) many of the visuals in dark city go beyond evoking the dystopian industrial feel of lang's film and get uncomfortably close to the original, and some entire shots appear to be stolen from metropolis.

i am really not a fan of dark city for reasons that have nothing to do with this thread. however, the similarities between dark city and metropolis make the "matrix rips off dark city" argument somewhat contradictory, at best.
posted by pxe2000 at 9:51 AM on November 6, 2003

It's just a movie, kids.

I submit that it's people with attitudes like yours that are responsible for the dreck we normally get in our theaters. Nothing is "just" anything unless you choose to limit it so.

what is it about flashing lights up on the wall that turns so many of you above-average people into gibbering idiots?

Given the, um, decidedly non-intellectual focus of your website, q, I should hardly consider yourself in a position to throw stones.

she'd obviously like to take Sophia's Loren road, from bombshell to diva to actual kickass actress. but she's probably not good enough an actress

You clearly must not have seen Malena if you can say that.

It was sort of like reading Metafilter - I was surrounded by gangs of geeks!

Yeah, there was a guy in my theater playing videogames on a Linux laptop before the show (I was rather impressed...the graphics were as good as anything I've seen on Nintendo/Sega).
posted by rushmc at 10:06 AM on November 6, 2003

/spoiler/

Near the end, Agent Smith reveals that he is Neo's father.

/spoiler/


Well, OK, not really.
posted by mooncrow at 10:10 AM on November 6, 2003

"Where the hell do you people live where movies are $7 or $3 for matinees?"

Downtown Calgary, Canada - $6.50.
posted by jkaczor at 10:20 AM on November 6, 2003

Hey. I liked it.

Loved the first movie. Didn't like the second at all. There were moments, sure, but overall I was bored. The third, I enjoyed. I wasn't expecting anything good after Reloaded. Revolutions was way better.

They should cut out the bad bits of Reloaded and take the resulting half hour and add it to the beginning of Revolutions.

On the topic of slaves, when did the architect say he would free anyone?
posted by ODiV at 10:34 AM on November 6, 2003

what is it about flashing lights up on the wall that turns so many of you above-average people into gibbering idiots?

I think its because flashing lights is how God rewards me when I kill prostitutes, and I get confused.
posted by biffa at 11:22 AM on November 6, 2003

You clearly must not have seen Malena if you can say that.


heh.
not too clearly, I suppose, since not only I have actually seen Malena (which I consider a badly acted bad movie, certainly Tornatore's worst -- and I have seen all of them) but I have also seen a lot of Bellucci's movies, like -- off the top of my head -- Ricordati Di Me (her best role, you should check it out), Irreversible, L'Ultimo Capodanno (she had a -- much talked about -- full frontal nudity scene), Stressati, I Mitici, Il Cielo è Sempre Più Blu (she had a very small role in a funny little film -- she got slapped by real-life Italian novelist Alessandro Baricco). I also saw her in her first major role, La Riffa. Being so unbelievably beautiful, she suffers imo from the fact that her directors too often show the tendency to fetishize her, giving too little room for actual acting. Of course the ridiculous Wachowski part gives her next to nothing to do, but I still stand by my opinion -- she's working very hard, but she's not good enough to take Loren's road. Again, check out Loren in all her DeSica movies: Bellucci has a long way to go
to sum it up: it's probably no concidence that for her best role (Ricordati Di Me) Bellucci had to spend hours in makeup to look older (about 45) and heavier than she actually is. Directors tend either to use her beauty as a simple prop, or to fetishize her like Tornatore (or, in a sickening way, Gaspar Noé), leaving very little room for acting. too bad because she is humble and intelligent enough to understand that she needs to study more, and work more. she needs directors who simply don't see her as one of the world's mosty beautiful women. DeSica considered Loren an actress, not a beautiful statue




posted by matteo at 11:24 AM on November 6, 2003

Ok, I've seen the Dark City, Metropolis and Lost in Space nods - what about the true precursor - TRON! For what reason do programs need to present themselves as a human metaphor outside of the Matrix (train station)??!! And don't even get me started on the Orange vision - what the heck is that -- the spiritual plane? Let's watch the movie at the Harmonic Concordance!

But other than that I really enjoyed the film.
posted by mouthnoize at 11:34 AM on November 6, 2003

Bellucci appears onscreen in full latex-dominatrix gear, showing a massive amount of impossibly pushed-up, D-cup size cleavage

They're getting my $7.
posted by UncleFes at 11:55 AM on November 6, 2003

Really, I preferred Trinity when she was the "older model who occasionally turned tricks" on Model's Inc.
posted by UncleFes at 12:04 PM on November 6, 2003

so a movie is good if there's a hot chick in it, but bad if it has explosions. and the special effects that were done in a gap commercial after the release of the matrix, spoiled the effects in the film because they were soo gap commercial, and like, corporate. oh and matrix is such a dark city rip off, dude.

maybe it was the writers obsession w/ comic book/anime style action, coupled with a decent understanding of philoso-fiction like neuromancer that led them to a guy with as much expressive capability as any good comic/anime hero - and notice simplicity of the plot line, being oh so like that of any good anime / visual masturbation fest where the story is as much driven by the action as the action by the story. i say quit crying and don't go see it if you don't like it, but all this negativity being spit over something as irrelevant as a blockbusters connnection the "first" of the series is very high school.

and on the special features of the dvd the producer tells of how 'bound' was done as a tester to see if the guys could direct. then matrix was made w/ the understanding that if it did well they could finish the trilogy - apparently the story was already written.
posted by bluefish at 12:14 PM on November 6, 2003

so a movie is good if there's a hot chick in it, but bad if it has explosions

That seems to be the main argument of the porn industry. And I'll bet they rake in as much as Hollywood does.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 2:53 PM on November 6, 2003

so a movie is good if there's a hot chick in it, but bad if it has explosions.

Ideally both should be there in service of something greater and more significant (like, er, a plot); failing that, though, it's just that hot chicks stand alone better than mere explosions.
posted by rushmc at 5:06 PM on November 6, 2003

civil_disobedient: whaddaya mean, there are no explosions in porn? :)
posted by pxe2000 at 5:11 PM on November 6, 2003

so a movie is good if there's a hot chick in it, but bad if it has explosions

But the best movies have a vampire AND an explosion.

Oh, and Lucy Liu

[/Futurama withdrawal]
posted by WolfDaddy at 5:57 PM on November 6, 2003

The Matrix is not a story. It is not a philosophy. It's a global marketing experiment -- the three films represent the audience desires of the three major film markets on the planet. Metaphilm, as usual
posted by fedextruck at 10:57 AM on November 7, 2003

I liked the movie. Watching it in IMAX was amazing! It's just amazing watching the movie on a HUGE screen. From now on I want to see all good special effecs flicks on an IMAX screen.
posted by riffola at 5:04 PM on November 8, 2003

Did Neo's MatrixVision not seem a little too close to Frodo's RingVision?

And what's up with Colonel Sanders and The Oracle at the end? I thought she turned into an Agent Smith clone?
posted by adampsyche at 8:08 AM on November 9, 2003

It was better than Kill Bill. Particularly damning was that its dialog was better than Kill Bill's.

Honestly, it was a decent action movie, with a bit of extra flair that mostly made up for the slower parts.
posted by NortonDC at 8:36 PM on November 9, 2003

Best of the three. Abso-fuckin-lutely awesome.
posted by pemulis at 12:16 AM on November 10, 2003

/me went in with low expectations...
posted by pemulis at 12:25 AM on November 10, 2003

It's a comic book of a movie series and was pretty much meant to be. At that, they did a great job. If for a while it seemed like it was a bit more, that it had a little substance, that's just gravy. Comic books accidentally stray into substance and plot all the time, and then throw it out the window because they don't know what to do with it. Same with these movies.

And yes, they are in fact movies, not "films"so you can unclench your sphincter a little bit when you talk about them.
posted by badstone at 9:39 AM on November 10, 2003

The Matrix is not a story. It is not a philosophy. It's a global marketing experiment -- the three films represent the audience desires of the three major film markets on the planet.

Oh, bollocks. Big hairy dog's bollocks.

It was better than Kill Bill.

Just about anyfuckingthing would be.

Cranky, today, me.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:45 PM on November 10, 2003

OK, so I just watched it. It was heaps of fun, and better in all possible ways than I have been led to believe. Hell, I couldn't even hardly see the special effects because of DivX pixellation *cough*, and it was still good shit. I'll pay to see it in the theatre when it gets here.

Some'a you unreasonable-expectation-havin' people just plain suck.

That's all I have to say about that.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:31 AM on November 11, 2003