Was the first 'Matrix' just that good, or is the story getting just that bad? After "Reloaded", it was pretty much a silent, universal agreement amongst those who watched it that it was just not 'the' Matrix. I agree. It wasn't close. But for "Revolutions", I figured I'd reserve judgement and let the movie speak for itself. Which was one of its' biggest problems: it didn't know when to quit talking. Where "Reloaded" over-killed us with unbelievable action, "Revolutions" euthanized us with circular dialogue that went no where slow. There are some stand-out moments and the special effects are handled far better in this installment than the last. "Revolutions" begins where "Reloaded" left off...anyone remember? Didn't think so. So, this movie basically begins in the same confusing manner and then you realize, oh yeah, it's about that damn Neo, a.k.a. 'the One'. This time Neo has to go up against Agent Smith, no seriously, for real 'real' time. And as if by fighting the thousands of Smith clones in "Reloaded" didn't wear him out, now Neo has to deal with Smith growing even bigger. Unfortunately, bigger doesn't mean a 100 foot, tall, Godzilla-like version of Smith traipsing through Zion, but it does mean more special effects for the audience to glaze through (who would've guessed that). Don't get me wrong, I am a HUGE fan of "THE" Matrix. The first one that is. It embodies something so unique and different that perhaps it has proven itself impossible to recapture the heart without losing just about everything else. There were certain elements in the first one that you expected to remain in "Reloaded" and "Revolutions"-- i.e., Neo's narration to end the movies, Morpheus remaining mysterious and aloof, but always respected, seeing the human world Neo lived in before he entered the Matrix and seeing Trinity not so easily become the 'stand by your man' woman she seemed more forced into being (in the script). In "Revolutions", I was looking for Jada Pinkett-Smith to kick ass, literally. She delivered a solid performance, but it would have been nice to have her open the movie with the signature fight scene. Because of the blatant, albeit, sometimes nauseous, religious overtones the "Matrix" has liberally applied throughout the installments, it seemed that "Revolutions" would be very well what its' name boldly proclaims: a revolution and have Zion rise up and turn against Neo -- but no it wasn't (perhaps that Revolution will not be cinema-tized). At least not in this one. There are rumors that there will be more installments to come. If that's true, here's a few suggestions: Don't keep showing us how cool everyone can fight, we know already -- create a new mental fight. Give us our mysterious Morpheus back. Don't bring Agent Smith back from the dead. Don't bring Trinity back from the dead, unless she's a Matrix spirit. Give Neo something to say-- then again, scratch that. Let Jada kick some ass ON SCREEN. Don't keep trying to impress us with 10 minute special effect sequences. Of course the reason we all fell in love with the original Matrix did have something to do with the special effects, but it was also due to that stuff in between-- oh yeah, the story. And it's because of this powerful, unique story that we keep coming back, hoping to be brought back to those two hours when we knew: movies ain't gonna be the same after this.

Directed and Written by: Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski