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The Matrix Revolutions

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The Matrix Revolutions
Theatrical release poster
Directed byThe Wachowskis[a]
Written byThe Wachowskis
Based onCharacters
by The Wachowskis
Produced byJoel Silver
Starring
CinematographyBill Pope
Edited byZach Staenberg
Music byDon Davis
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • November 5, 2003 (2003-11-05)
Running time
129 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States[2][3]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$110–150 million[4][5]
Box office$427 million[5]

The Matrix Revolutions is a 2003 American science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis.[a] It is the third installment in The Matrix film series, released six months following The Matrix Reloaded. The film stars Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Jada Pinkett Smith, Monica Bellucci, Lambert Wilson, and Mary Alice who replaced Gloria Foster as the Oracle following Foster's death in 2001.

The film was released simultaneously in 108 territories on November 5, 2003, by Warner Bros. Pictures. While being the final entry in the original trilogy of the series, the Matrix storyline was continued in The Matrix Online video game. The Matrix Revolutions was the first live-action feature film to be released in both regular and IMAX theaters at the same time. It grossed $427 million worldwide, making it the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2003. The film received mixed reviews on Metacritic and negative reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, which criticized it for focusing on special effects over characterization.

A fourth film, titled The Matrix Resurrections, began production in February 2020 and was released on December 22, 2021.

Plot

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Picking up immediately where Reloaded ended, Neo and Bane still lie unconscious in the medical bay of the ship Mjolnir. Inside the Matrix, Neo is trapped in a subway station named Mobil Ave, a transition zone between the Matrix and the machine world. He meets a "family" of programs, including a girl named Sati. The "father" tells Neo the subway is controlled by the Trainman, a program loyal to the Merovingian. When Neo tries to board a train with the family, the Trainman refuses and overpowers him.

Seraph contacts Morpheus and Trinity on behalf of the Oracle, who informs them of Neo's confinement. Seraph, Morpheus and Trinity enter Club Hel, where they confront the Merovingian and force him to release Neo. Troubled by visions of the Machine City, Neo visits the Oracle, who reveals that Smith intends to destroy both the Matrix and the real world. She tells him that "everything that has a beginning has an end." After Neo leaves, a large group of Smiths assimilates Sati and Seraph. The Oracle does not resist assimilation, and Smith gains her powers of precognition.

In the real world, the crews of the Nebuchadnezzar and the Mjolnir find and reactivate Niobe's ship, the Logos. They interrogate Bane, who says that he has no recollection of the earlier massacre. As the captains plan their defense of Zion, Neo requests a ship to travel to the Machine City. Motivated by her encounter with the Oracle, Niobe offers him the Logos. Neo departs, accompanied by Trinity. Bane, who has stowed away on the Logos, takes Trinity hostage. Neo realizes that Bane has been assimilated by Smith, and a fight ensues. Bane burns Neo's eyes with a power cable, blinding him. Neo discovers that he can still "see" machine source code in the real world and uses this ability to kill Bane. Trinity pilots them to the Machine City.

Niobe and Morpheus rush toward Zion in the Mjolnir to aid the human defenses. Zion's shipyard is overwhelmed by a horde of Sentinels, and the fatally wounded Captain Mifune instructs Kid to open the gate for the Mjolnir, which he does with the aid of Zee. When it arrives, it discharges its EMP, disabling all the Sentinels present but also Zion's remaining defenses. The humans are forced to retreat and wait for the next attack, thinking it will be their last stand.

The Logos is attacked by a wave of machines outside of the Machine City. To avoid the onslaught, they fly above them to open sky, and then crash into a building, fatally wounding Trinity. Neo enters the Machine City and encounters the leadership of the machines in the form of the "Deus Ex Machina." Neo warns that Smith plans to conquer both the Matrix and the real world and offers to stop Smith in exchange for peace with Zion. The Deus Ex Machina agrees, and the Sentinels shut down, stopping the attack on Zion.

The Machines plug Neo into the Matrix, whose population has now been entirely assimilated by Smith. The Smith with the Oracle's powers steps forth, telling Neo that he has foreseen his victory against Neo. After a protracted fight, Neo appears to concede defeat and allows himself to be assimilated. Outside the Matrix, the machines send a surge of energy into Neo's body, which inside the Matrix causes the Neo-Smith clone, then all the other Smith clones, to be destroyed, restoring the Oracle and killing Neo. The Sentinels withdraw from Zion, Morpheus and Niobe embrace, and Neo's body is carried away by the machines.

The Matrix is rebooted, and the Architect meets the Oracle in a park. They agree that the peace will last "as long as it can" and that those humans who desire it will be offered the opportunity to leave the Matrix. The Oracle tells Sati (who created a beautiful sunrise for Neo) that she thinks they will see Neo again. Seraph asks the Oracle if she knew this would happen. She replies that she did not know, but she believed.

Cast

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Production

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The film's budget was estimated between US$110 million[4] and $150 million.[5]

Filming occurred concurrently with its predecessor, The Matrix Reloaded, and live-action sequences for the video game Enter the Matrix. This took place primarily at Fox Studios in Sydney, Australia. Most notably, the subway scenes were filmed at the disused tunnels of St James railway station, and the end sequence with the Oracle and the Architect was filmed in the Royal Botanic Garden.[7][8] Carrie-Anne Moss injured her ankle during the shooting in Australia.[9]

Soundtrack

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Main article: The Matrix Revolutions: Music from the Motion Picture

In contrast to its predecessors, very few "source" tracks are used in the film. Aside from Don Davis' score, again collaborating with Juno Reactor, only one external track (by Pale 3) is used. Although Davis rarely focuses on strong melodies, familiar leitmotifs from earlier in the series reappear. For example, Neo and Trinity's love theme—which briefly surfaces in the two preceding films—is finally fully expanded into "Trinity Definitely"; the theme from the Zion docks in Reloaded returns as "Men in Metal", and the energetic drumming from the Reloaded tea house fight between Neo and Seraph opens "Tetsujin", as Seraph, Trinity and Morpheus fight off Club Hel's three doormen. The climactic battle theme, named "Neodämmerung" (in reference to Wagner's Götterdämmerung), features a choir singing extracts (shlokas) from the Pavamana Mantra, introduced in the Upanishads. The chorus can be roughly translated from Sanskrit as follows: "lead us from untruth to truth, lead us from darkness to light, lead us from death to immortality, peace peace peace". The extracts were brought to Davis by the Wachowskis when he informed them that it would be wasteful for such a large choir to be singing simple "ooh"s and "aah"s (according to the DVD commentary, Davis felt that the dramatic impact of the piece would be lost if the choir was to sing 'This is the one, see what he can do' in plain English). These extracts return in the film's denouement, and in Navras, the track that plays over the closing credits (which may be considered a loose remix of "Neodämmerung").

Release

[edit]

The Matrix Revolutions was released in theaters roughly three weeks after The Matrix Reloaded arrived on DVD, on October 14, 2003.[10][11]

The film had the widest release ever opening simultaneously in 108 territories at 1400 Greenwich Mean Time on November 5, 2003.[12][13]

Reception

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Box office

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On opening day, The Matrix Revolutions scored $24.3 million, becoming the third-highest Wednesday opening, behind The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.[14] During its three-day opening weekend, it would earn $48.5 million.[15] In its first five days of release, the film grossed $83.8 million in the United States and Canada from 3,502 theaters,[16] but dropped 66% during the second week.[16][17] For three years, it had the highest five-day Wednesday opening for any Warner Bros. film until it was taken by Superman Returns in 2006.[18] The film would even compete against the newly released family films Brother Bear and Elf.[19]

Internationally, the film grossed $119 million in its first 5 days from 10,013 prints in 107 territories, with the third-biggest opening ever in Japan and Spain and the fourth biggest in the United Kingdom, Italy and Mexico.[13] Combined, it grossed $203 million in its first five days.[17] This made it the highest worldwide opening weekend for any film, holding the record until it was beaten by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King a month later.[20] The Matrix Revolutions would also achieve the record for having the biggest international opening weekend for an R-rated film until 2015 when it was surpassed by Fifty Shades of Grey.[21] The film grossed over $139 million in North America and approximately $427 million worldwide,[5] roughly half of The Matrix Reloaded box-office total, and was the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2003.

Home media

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The Matrix Revolutions was released on DVD and VHS on April 6, 2004.[22] The film grossed $116 million in DVD sales. Additionally, it was released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on October 30, 2018.[23]

Critical response

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Further information: List of accolades received by The Matrix film series

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, The Matrix Revolutions holds an approval rating of 34% based on 218 reviews and an average rating of 5.30/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A disappointing conclusion to the Matrix trilogy as characters and ideas take a back seat to the special effects."[24] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 47 out of 100 based on 41 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[25] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, a grade down from the "B+" earned by the previous film and two grades down from the "A−" earned by the first film, therefore the second lowest grade earned by a film in the series.[26]

Some critics criticized the film for being anticlimactic.[27][28] Additionally, some critics regard the film as less philosophically ambiguous than its predecessor, The Matrix Reloaded.[29][30] Critics had difficulty finding closure pertaining to events from The Matrix Reloaded, and were generally dissatisfied.[31][32]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four, despite offering criticisms of his own, on the grounds that it at least provided closure to the story well enough so that fans following the series would prefer seeing it as to not.[33]

Sequel

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Main article: The Matrix Resurrections

While making the Matrix films, the Wachowskis told their close collaborators that at that time they had no intention of making another installment after The Matrix Revolutions.[34][35][36][37] Instead, they gave their blessing to the notion of gamers "inherit[ing] the storyline", and The Matrix Online video game was billed as the official continuation.[38] In February 2015, in interviews promoting Jupiter Ascending, Lilly Wachowski called a return to The Matrix a "particularly repelling idea in these times", noting the studios' tendency to green-light sequels, reboots, and adaptations over original material,[39] while Lana Wachowski, addressing rumors about a potential reboot, said that they had not heard anything, but she believed that the studio might be looking to replace them.[40] At various times, Keanu Reeves and Hugo Weaving have stated that they would be willing to reprise their roles in potential Matrix films, but only if the Wachowskis were involved.[41][42]

In March 2017, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Warner Bros. was in early stages of developing a relaunch of the franchise, with Zak Penn in talks to write a treatment, and interest in getting Michael B. Jordan attached to star. According to the article neither the Wachowskis nor Joel Silver were involved at that stage, although the studio would like to get at minimum the blessing of the Wachowskis.[43]

Warner Bros. officially announced the development on a fourth film in August 2019, with Lana Wachowski serving as director and producer on it. Lana wrote the screenplay with David Mitchell and Aleksander Hemon. Grant Hill produced it alongside Lana. The production is a joint-venture between Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures, similar to the original films. Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss reprise their roles from the previous films; Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving do not appear in the film. Production began in February 2020 in San Francisco,[44][45] briefly halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[46] and wrapped in November of that same year. The film, The Matrix Resurrections, had its world premiere in Toronto, Canada on December 16, 2021, and was released in theaters and on HBO Max on December 22, 2021.

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Credited as The Wachowski Brothers.
  2. ^ Gloria Foster, who played the Oracle in the first two films, died before the completion of her filming for the third.[6] She was replaced by Mary Alice. Her changed appearance is addressed in the film's plot.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The Matrix Revolutions". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved September 15, 2013.
  2. ^ "The Matrix Revolutions (2003)". Lumiere. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  3. ^ "Matrix Revolutions, The". tcm.com. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  4. ^ a b "The Matrix Revolutions (2003) – Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski – Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related – AllMovie". AllMovie. Archived from the original on April 25, 2010. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  5. ^ a b c d "The Matrix Revolutions (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  6. ^ McKinley, Jesse (October 5, 2001). "Gloria Foster, Stage Actress, Is Dead at 64". The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
  7. ^ Sams, Christine (May 11, 2003). "Sydney sci-fi fans rush to re-enter the Matrix". The Sun-Herald. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
  8. ^ Buchanan, Levi (February 12, 2003). "'Enter the Matrix' aims to open a new game era". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
  9. ^ Lee, Alana (November 3, 2003). "Carrie Anne Moss: The Matrix Revolutions interview". BBC. Retrieved September 3, 2017.
  10. ^ Kipnis, Jill (March 1, 2003). "Blockbuster sales ensure DVD's sales saga". Billboard. pp. 1, 66. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  11. ^ "The Matrix Reloaded DVD Release Date October 14, 2003". DVDs Release Dates. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  12. ^ Hayes, Dade; Bing, Jonathan (2004). Open Wide: How Hollywood Box Office Became a National Obsession. Miramax Books. p. 372. ISBN 1401352006.
  13. ^ a b Groves, Don (November 17, 2003). "'The Matrix' Takes Over the World". Variety. p. 17. 10,013 prints in its first five days in 107 territories [excluding the US/Canada]
  14. ^ "'Matrix Revolutions' Opens Big, But 'Reloaded' Still Is the King". Wall Street Journal. November 6, 2003.
  15. ^ "At the Box Office". Sun Sentinel. November 12, 2003. Archived from the original on July 1, 2021.
  16. ^ a b "The Matrix Revolutions (2003) – Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  17. ^ a b "Variety Box Office". Variety. November 17, 2003. p. 15. 3,502 engagements [United States and Canada]
  18. ^ Scott Bowles (July 4, 2006). "'Superman' controls weekend box office". The Spokesman-Review; spokesman.com. USA Today. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  19. ^ Holson, Laura (November 10, 2003). "An Elf and a Bear Trip Up the Final 'Matrix'". The New York Times. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  20. ^ Gray, Brandon (December 22, 2003). "'King' of the World: $250M in 5 Days". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on June 19, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
  21. ^ Nancy Tartaglione (February 17, 2015). "'Fifty Shades' Higher In Global Bow At $266.6M; Record R-Rated Opening Overseas – Tuesday Update". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
  22. ^ Patrizio, Andy (January 10, 2004). "Matrix Revolutions on April 6". IGN. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  23. ^ "The Matrix Trilogy - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Ultra HD Review | High Def Digest". ultrahd.highdefdigest.com. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
  24. ^ "The Matrix Revolutions (2003)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  25. ^ "The Matrix Revolutions Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  26. ^ "Find CinemaScore" (Type "Matrix" in the search box). CinemaScore. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  27. ^ David Edelstein (July 27, 2010). "Time to pull the plug on The Matrix". Slate Magazine. Archived from the original on July 11, 2010. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
  28. ^ Clark, Mike (November 4, 2003). "– 'The Matrix Revolutions': This big finish isn't The One". Usatoday.com. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
  29. ^ Scott Foundas (November 6, 2003). "LA Weekly – Film+TV – The More the Murkier – Scott Foundas – The Essential Online Resource for Los Angeles". Laweekly.com. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
  30. ^ "Baltimore Sun: 'The Matrix Revolutions' makes it a little easier to believe". May 6, 2004. Archived from the original on May 6, 2004. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
  31. ^ 'Matrix:' Neo-nonsense[dead link]
  32. ^ Movie Review|'The Matrix Revolutions': The Game Concludes With Light and Noise, archived at Archived November 11, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  33. ^ Roger Ebert (November 5, 2003). "The Matrix Revolutions Review". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  34. ^ "Don Davis - Interview". soundtrack.net. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  35. ^ "Love bug bites the new Matrix - smh.com.au". smh.com.au. May 12, 2003. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  36. ^ "Next Neo Thing". ew.com. November 14, 2003. Archived from the original on March 19, 2017. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  37. ^ "New Matrix Games On The Way". October 28, 2003. Archived from the original on December 13, 2016. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  38. ^ Chadwick, Paul (April 11, 2005). "The Matrix Online". Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  39. ^ Lang, Derrik J. "Wachowskis unfazed by negativity ahead of 'Jupiter Ascending' launch". timescolonist.com. Archived from the original on March 16, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  40. ^ "The Wachowskis Talk Jupiter Ascending, Creating the Chicago Sequence, Sense8, and More". collider.com. February 4, 2015. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  41. ^ "Keanu Reeves is up for The Matrix 4 (exclusive)". yahoo.com. February 17, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  42. ^ Buckmaster, Luke (April 17, 2017). "Hugo Weaving on revisiting The Matrix: 'They would start again with different actors'". The Guardian. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  43. ^ "'The Matrix' Reboot in the Works at Warner Bros. (Exclusive)". hollywoodreporter.com. March 14, 2017. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  44. ^ Kroll, Justin (August 20, 2019). "'Matrix 4' Officially a Go With Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss and Lana Wachowski". Variety. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  45. ^ Kit, Borys (August 20, 2019). "'Matrix 4' in the Works With Keanu Reeves and Lana Wachowski". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  46. ^ Kroll, Justin (March 16, 2020). "'Matrix 4' Halts Production as Coronavirus Pandemic Grows". Variety. Archived from the original on March 16, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
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