Joel Silver on Matrix Revolutions:
Daniel RadoshJoel Silver on Matrix Revolutions: "At the heart of these films is the hope of integration; the synthesis of our finite knowledge of what is with our infinite beliefs of what might be."
At the heart of publicity (and fan apology) for the Matrix series has been just this kind of pronouncement, with the subtext that if you don't like it, you're just not smart enough.
But I've seen Matrix Revolutions, and I'm not unsophisticated, and I feel confident in saying that at its heart is a great heaping pile of dog turd. Unlike Reloaded, which was just boring, Revolutions is aggressively obnoxious. Without giving away anything (not that I'd encourage anyone to see it) the ending only works if the ENTIRE PREMISE of the series is simply false. And not in a clever we-had-you-thinking-one-thing-but-something-else-was-going-on way. Just, we-changed-our-minds. As someone who kind of liked the premise of the Matrix, I took this as a big fuck you from the Wachowski Siblings. (Some Slashdotters are trying to find explanations for the ending that don't suck, but I'm not convinced. Feel free to e-mail me if you have a better idea; I wouldn't mind being wrong about this).
MINOR SPOILER....
In trying to figure out what the hell had just happened to us, my friend Eric pointed out something that could be used to explain the ending, but that also, no matter what, represents a huge flaw in the premise: it's possible to fly above the clouds and see the sun. Which should also mean that it's possible to build towers high enough to collect solar energy. Which means the machines never needed to farm humans at all and could have won the fucking war centuries ago. (And don't even get me started on "By the way did we mention there's a rule that machines can't break their promises?" What the fuck?)
...END SPOILER
On the other hand, maybe the Wachowski's didn't even want to make another Matrix movie. Maybe they wanted to take over Star Wars. The best part of Revolutions -- the only fun part -- was the battle for Zion, which felt like nothing so much as the Star Wars sequel we've been hoping for in vain since Empire Strikes Back.