Neo and Trinity die.
Ha ha ha, that’s right, I’m not kidding. They both die.
That said, “Matrix: Revolutions” solves the major issue most people had with “Matrix: Reloaded”: too much chat, not enough splat. Having foregone the philosophical mumbo jumbo, they get right down to the action, and boy, is there a lot of it. The movie is a near constant, massive, epic battle over the fate of Zion, the last human settlement in a world dominated by huge, killer robot monsters which must feed off of humans, sucking their energy, in order to survive. It looks sillier in print than it does on screen, but not by much. The physics get wilder, the gymnastics get tighter, and the fights, of both gun and fist variety, get bigger. All the characters you expect to appear do, although Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) seems to have become a bit emasculated.
The original “Matrix” came out in 1999, and exploited spectacular, never-before-seen special effects. It revolutionized the way fight scenes have been portrayed ever since; combatants perform dramatic flips, jumps, spirals and curly Q’s. Neo (Keanu Reeves) learns that reality is an illusion, and that the world he knew is controlled by robots.
The second Matrix, “Matrix: Reloaded,” went further to explain some of the philosophy behind the movies: reality is an illusion, and the understanding of this allows one to control it. Descartes said it first, but he didn’t have all these cool gunfights to back it up. The fights get bigger; in order to keep the novelty fresh, but the result is like watching a really cool video game.
This effect continues in the third and final episode of the Matrix series. The fights get even more grandiose, with the final battle between Agent Smith and Neo looking very much like an episode of Dragon Ball Z. They fight floating in the air. It’s raining, of course. They pound each other into the ground, destroying their surroundings, leaving massive impact craters, with no apparent damage to themselves.
As long as you have no problem closing your eyes, sticking your fingers in your ears, and singing loudly at certain points in the movie, you can have a good time. There are some very funny moments, most of which are intentional. The movie manages to understand its purpose: big fights, shiny things, and explosions. It pokes fun at itself from time to time, by applying what is hopefully a tongue-in-cheek dollop of cheese. But you will find yourself furrowing your brow and wondering a lot. For example, in the final battle for Zion, the humans must defend themselves from invasion by the robot army. They do so in large mechanized robot thingies with guns for arms. They look really cool. What doesn’t make sense is that the person operating the thing is totally exposed. They’re sitting on the outside. Why? Who knows?
Overall, I’d say “Matrix: Revolutions” was enjoyable. But, please, for your sake and mine, don’t try to analyze it. Just go for the big explosions and robot squid monsters and super-ninja gun fights, and enjoy them for what they are.