The Matrix Revolutions (Hindi) Review

This is it. This is what it was all about - a trilogy of films that created a cult following comparable to that of George Lucas' Star Wars series.

Yes, everything that has a beginning must have an end - unless you are talking of the 'Die Hard' sequels, of course. But in this case, all except the most ardent Matrix followers - those who have spent the last four years eating, living and sleeping Matrix - would feel a little cheated. What about those who missed the earlier films? Sorry folks, if the first two could not get you to drag your butt to the nearest theater, this one sure as hell won't. As regards the other, whatever this review says, you are going to catch this movie anyway.

Four years. That is how long Matrix fans have waited for the finale. Thousands of websites have spawned that have attempted to unravel the many mysteries of the film. And, that is what makes brilliant sci-fi. The film just tells you enough for you to draw your own inferences. The conclusion is always a little muddled. It is left entirely to you to decide where it goes from there.

Now comes perhaps the most pertinent of all questions. How much of the story should any review divulge? How much is too little, and just where does one draw the line to it being too much?

The final instalment begins where the previous one left off. Neo (Keanu Reaves) is comatose and Niobe (Jada Pinkette Smith) is missing. Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie Ann Moss) are told by the Oracle that Neo is stuck between two worlds. Meanwhile, the machines are about 20 hours away from reaching Zion. The war is going to end tonight, one way or another. Which way it does is up to Neo to decide.

But, what many Matrix buffs would find a trifle disappointing is the lack of dialogues that packed the many fundas in them that made Matrix what it was. This one has less pseudo-intellectual talk about Karma and loads of kickass action - the fight sequence between Neo and Smith (Hugo Weaving) being the highlight of them all. It is almost a celestial phenomenon, something that could give Superman and Phantom a run for their money. Fortunately, there is less of the typical American-wife syndrome - "You do not spend enough time with me" - as was in Reloaded.

I remember being completely floored by the first one, so much so that I had to see it a second time and a third time and a fourth time and a fifth time and... till I lost count and that VCD refused to play anymore. All Matrix devotees would be able to recall every word that Morpheus utters to Neo while he is freeing his mind. Did the Reloaded have that effect? Nah. And does this one do? Nah, again. But, then it is unfair to expect that brilliance to be matched. Heck, can you even imagine, if someone was to make one, what the sequel to 'Sholay' would be like?

Everything has its purpose. For members of that Matrix cult it is to indulge some more in the frenzy. For others, it is to be relieved that it is finally over. You'll either love it or you will hate it, but you just cannot ignore it.