Brilliant post. I also think it would have been better left as one film. For starters, Neo is simply a much more interesting character before he becomes the all powerful 'Kung Fu Jesus' of the sequels. I think as an audience it's just more thrilling to watch someone who feels like they're honestly in jeopardy. Plus he starts to look like a dick strolling about in that warrior-monk get up. Secondly it's easy to forget how much of the first film takes place inside the matrix itself (which of course still feels like the real world to us) which is really where all the fun stuff happens. The sequels progressively get bogged down in involving more and more of the true 'real world' which despite some terrifying glimpses in the original (the foetus fields, the towers of human batteries) turns out to be, well...dull...and filled with people wearing big wooly sweaters. Added to this the writing shifts into pretentious drivel mode - all of a sudden computer programs not only have personalities(!) but also enjoy swearing in french, fine wine and jealous love games... I mean, WHAT? I seem to remember reading somewhere that the Wachowskis have insisted that the sequels were the films that they actually wanted The Matrix to be. Either that's a big lie and these films are the result of trying to desperately string out an idea beyond it's limits OR, thanks to a limited budget and some timely studio intervention, we got a fantatsic first movie almost by fluke... I have to say that I only recently checked out the Animatrix cartoons. They are quite fantastic. Not only do they largely deal with more interesting events than the sequels, but the different styles of animation really suit the nightmare scenarios they depict. I recommend watching them if you haven't.
snopes.com: Sophia Stewart Matrix Lawsuit The case still hasn't been settled. Given the timeline I am very suspicious of the veracity of claims for the Terminator (which would have had to go from stealing the idea to pre-production in record time). As for the Matrix, without knowing the specifics of what she alleges, its harder to say. What made the Matrix stand out was not its ideas, which were already cliched to any informed SF fan, but its style and blending of genres, something hard to get from a manuscript.
What killed Speed Racer is that Hollywood has no idea which 30 year old ideas people are interested in (Star Trek) and which people have largely forgotten about (Speed Racer, Land of the Lost).
I think the sequels have some very interesting ideas, and some good action sequences, but are over indulgent and break under their own weight. The Zion dance sequence Trinity's fate, and the battle of Zion all run much too long. We all get the idea by that point.
Yeah, the first one was totally awesome. The second one started off quite well, but about halfway through i just completely lost interest.
Still haven't seen it myself, but what determines success or failure of a film like that is box office, not quality. Thus Speed Racer is a failure, and TF2: ROTF is a success.
Yeah, I agree with your take on the Terminator claims. I didn't follow that to know the specifics of that particular allegation, and could care less considering Terminator 2 was arguably the best in the franchise and had nothing to do with her even more. One of the allegations I had read about, in the LA times several years ago, concerning the Matrix was that she had submitted Sci Fi stories to the Wachowski's during a time when they were asking writers to send sci fi stories for an opportunity to have it turned into a movie and be recognized, yada yada yada. I don't know what proof was presented to support this claim, if any. The Third Eye was the work she submitted. They turned her story down. And then a few years later, or something to that effect, she went to watch The Matrix and was like, "WTF? That's the story I submitted to these guys and they turned me down." She alleged that they simply changed names of characters, and obviously the title, as well as cut out various other plot details to make the story shorter for the movie, however, it was essentially the same story she had written with Wachowski tweaks. You know, a lot of people call this chick crazy, but the fact is that people do still work and tailor it to fit their style before presenting it. In the electronics field, I've been a victim of that a few times, but when that person is your boss and has been there for 7yrs beyond you with a good standing reputation and it's his word against yours, what can you do? There are also con artists, I acknowledge that, but it just seems more unlikely with this story to me.
Optimally, I think the Matrix series should have ended with the first movie. It had a tight storyarc, the philosophizing wasn't overwrought, the effects were excellent and it ended at a good place. I don't think the sequels are as bad as they're made out to be, but they definitely don't come close to the original. Assuming the franchise couldn't have just stopped at one film, what I would have done instead: - Elevated Morpheus to de facto leader of Zion and the human resistance. - Kept the general plot arc that the machines/Sentinels are coming to destroy Zion in the real world. - The human characters discover that they can use the Matrix as a "back door" to get into the programming system for the Sentinels. This allows them to send warriors into the Matrix to destroy the program "avatar" that represents a Sentinel in the computer, thereby causing the Sentinel to "crash" in the real world. Instead of the final battle being metal squids vs guys in exoskeletons, the final battle takes place largely in the Matrix. - In the real world, Neo sees a few odd things happening, including being able to disable small numbers of Sentinels with his mind and being able to "see" the machine "energy". - After humanity wins the final battle, Neo confronts Morpheus for the "twist ending"...Zion is another level in the Matrix. Morpheus is a program designed to detect the minute percentage of humans who subconsciously reject the "standard" Matrix. He then loads these humans into the "Zion" Matrix, which provides them with an "answer" for their subconscious doubts, provides an intricate "story" to keep their minds occupied and is more stringently programmed to prevent subconscious rejection. "The One" is any rare human who does subconsciously reject the Zion Matrix and these people are given specially abilities in the standard Matrix to distract them as much as possible. And V for Vendetta.
The first film was excellent and effects like Bullet Time were a welcome addition to standard fight scenes in western films, however by the time the two squeals rolled around the effects were overused and run into the ground. It didn't help with the Whacko Brothers suddenly elevating Neo into the digital Jesus both in the Matrix and the real world and his sudden powers of being able to 'see' and destroy things in the real world, while at the same time having his voice lowered and monotone. I think about the only times I remember him showing any emotion was towards the end of the second film when he was in the Architects room and you saw alternative reactions in the other monitors. The rest of the time it was the same flat voice, the same wooden stance, and the same lack of emotion.
First Matrix is fantastic, sequels suck, especially Revolutions. They just felt like bizzare religion based nonsense
I to this day have never seen the sequels nor will I ever see them. In my mind they never existed. The Matrix is a perfect example of why sometimes a movie should never have sequel.
It's been a while since I've seen the sequels, so can someone remind me what the point was of messing around in the Matrix? I can't for the life of me remember how that was supposed to help.
To find the One. Which they found. After that I guess it's to not look like a bunch of unwashed fucking hippies.
