Thoughts on the Matrix Sequel: A Scientific Review

[Zantra]

Well I went and saw it, and was bitterly disappointed. Lots of questions answered, twice as many opened up. Great special effects though. Anyone else see this yet?

 

[BoulderHead]

I went to some effort to see the The Matrix, and The Matrix Reloaded. Is this the third one, out in the theaters already?

 

[Zantra]

Ya it just came out today. It's only the 4th movie I've seen this year. I don't go to a lot of em;)

 

[Zantra]

ok here's the ending as I saw it

WARNING! DO NOT READ ON IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW HOW THE MOVIE ENDS!

So if you've gotten this far, I'm assuming you've seen it. In the end, Neo and Smith are equal in every aspect. The "battle" is a stalemate, and could go on forever with no winner. The "truce" that neo negotiates makes the machines back off. If you recall back in the 2nd movie, during Neo's conversation with one of the council members, the councilor makes reference to the machines and man being dependant upon each other. This is all too true. Eventually Smith would have spilled over into the machine city and Destroyed the machines as well. He was a "copy" of neo, his equal. He gained some of neo when he was destroyed by him in the first movie.

The reason Smith was so surprised at the end, when Neo got back up is because he couldn't see past his own decision. Remember: the oracle said even she couldn't see past the end of someone's decision. Neo could. When Smith assimilated him, Neo became a part of him, human and all. Essentially, Neo was integrated into the mainframe, and took over the conciousness of the source, imprinting his humaness onto everything. That is why the machines backed off and Smith was destroyed. Then everything reset, and as the architect alluded to, the humans will be released.

And of course they left it wide open for a sequel.

They still didn't fully explain everything, but that explanation is probably as good as we'll get.

 

[hypnagogue]

Originally posted by Zantra
The reason Smith was so surprised at the end, when Neo got back up is because he couldn't see past his own decision. Remember: the oracle said even she couldn't see past the end of someone's decision. Neo could.

Little correction: the oracle says no one can see past a decision that they don't understand yet. She also says that the architect can't see past any decision at all. I suppose Smith was in the same predicament as the architect-- he didn't have that intuitive understanding that humans (and the oracle) have, so he couldn't see past his decision to assimilate Neo.

When Smith assimilated him, Neo became a part of him, human and all. Essentially, Neo was integrated into the mainframe, and took over the conciousness of the source, imprinting his humaness onto everything. That is why the machines backed off and Smith was destroyed. Then everything reset, and as the architect alluded to, the humans will be released.

My impression was that Neo struck a deal with the machines: let me get rid of Smith for you, and you let the humans go. Quid pro quo. The machines stopped attacking Zion before Neo was even hooked into the Matrix in that last scene.

And of course they left it wide open for a sequel.

They still didn't fully explain everything, but that explanation is probably as good as we'll get.

I agree, there are still a lot of explanation gaps left open...

I was really disappointed by this movie too. Reloaded and Revolutions just aren't as inspired or interesting as the original, which is a shame. At least Reloaded had its moments... Revolutions just seemed like a straightforward conclusion. Nothing really new, no especially surprising twists or interesting philosophy.

 

[Andy]

Yea i agree with you about the conclusion. I was very dispointed with the sequels to th the origional, but i did think revolutions was better than reloaded, reloaded let itself down with its over the top special effects that just seems stupid to watch. Whereas in revolutions the special effects never dominated a scene.

Still no where near as good as lord of the rings.

 

[Beren]

I ved this movie, with a passion. It was easily the best I've seen all year (so far ;) ). I'm going to see it tonight, again, actually. I found it to be much better than the second, which was a bit of a let down, and almost as good as the first. The first was groundbreaking, you can't groundbreak on a groundbreaker, if see what I mean.

Still no where near as good as lord of the rings.

I wouldn't say nowhere near, but RotK will blow everyone away. :)