I recently purchased the Matrix blu-ray because it was on sale. I’ve often said I’d like to watch the original Matrix again on an HD TV just to experience it in high definition with surround sound. Well, my TV sucks, but maybe someday I’ll actually get to experience that whenever I can find someone willing to let me borrow their TV for three hours. The movie is only 2 and a half hours long, but I assume the last half hour will be me staring blankly at the screen in awe of what I will have witnessed and in remission from the sad transition from that experience back into reality.

Crappy TVs aside, I decided to take the plunge, plug in and receive all the data the Matrix had to offer me.

But first some back story.

I saw the original Matrix sometime when I was in high school. I didn’t understand most of it at the time, but I knew immediately it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. I hadn’t seen many cool things to that point, so that was likely a valid feeling. I enjoyed talking to my friends about the parallels between Neo’s story and the story of Jesus Christ, an obvious allegory. In the place I was then, it blew my mind and raised the film to the top of my list of great movies. Like I said, I hadn’t seen much yet anyway, and the movie it replaced was probably Star Wars, but still, it had left its impression. I’ve only seen it maybe once since my original viewing.

Upon hearing of the coming sequels when I was in college, I, like the millions who enjoyed the Matrix was absolutely jacked up like a professional wrestler just to see something, anything that was called the Matrix. That is, IF (huge IF) it could live up to the original.

The Matrix Reloaded came out toward the end of my freshman year at Ohio State. I went to the show on opening night with a group of friends from our campus ministry. From the opening credits, I was plugged in, as if they’d stuck the jack right into the back of my neck, even though I don’t have a port. I was wowed by the record-setting budget. The actions scenes were unlike anything I’d seen. The philosophical dialogue splattered my brain matter onto the audience around me (if that was you at the AMC Lennox Theatre near the Ohio State campus, I apologize), even though I still didn’t understand most of it (listening to the dude in the white room at the end made my head hurt). The ending left the film on a cliffhanger, and everyone left the theater ready for the final installment, and with an agonizing six month wait ahead of them for the finale to end finales (that’s pretty final). Obvious flaws of ten minute dance scenes interspersed with an over the top, yet still somehow bland love scene were overlooked because though the movie started slowly, it ended very well. The Wachowskis already had everyone’s money in their pocket for the Revolutions. There really was no choice.

The Matrix Revolutions came out when I was a sophomore. I don’t remember why, but I didn’t go see it on opening night. I think it had something to do with having some exams or something that weren’t finals, so it wasn’t like everybody was busy studying, just unlucky me. And it really was just me. Every one of my friends saw it on opening night. My roommate, who didn’t even like the Matrix saw it that night. I was really bummed that I was seemingly the only one in the world who didn’t get to go, but somehow I survived. My friends were not so fortunate.

Just about all of my friends told me it was a disappointment, a letdown. Every trademark of the franchise was missing or at best misused. I was bummed yet again because not only did one of my favorite stories end badly (they even told me the ending since it “wasn’t worth seeing”), but I wouldn’t even get a chance to see it while it was still in theaters since no one would want to go see it again. I would have to wait until it came out on dvd. Oh Noes!!!

So I forgot about it more or less. Until one weekend night, it was playing on TV on the OSU movie channel. My roommate and his girl had no better ideas, and I hadn’t seen it, so we stayed in and watched the Matrix Revolutions on the tele.

I went into it with low expectations, and boy, were they ever met. Neo’s stuck in a train station? Really bad and cliched dialogue? A giant turd dropping from the ceiling to crush the hopes and dreams of everyone in Zion and myself? Water exploding across the screen instead of the ultimate kung fu extravaganza promised for the final showdown with Agent Smith? Neo lamely dies, and the oracle saying he will return to finish the lame Christ allegory? Jesus! What went wrong? Who thought this was a good idea? By the end, I was actually satisfied. Satisfied I hadn’t wasted a single cent on this travesty of a bad movie. It was so bad, it soured me on the entire series. All the hope the Wachowskis instilled in me was a lie after all. A sham. All these years of waiting for a proper ending to Neo’s saga, died a sudden yet painful death just as he did, in that dorm room that night.

That was six years ago. Until recently, I had seen nothing of the Matrix. I had taken the blue pill. I went back to safety and comfort. But now, I was ready to give it another chance. Perhaps the original film had retained its quality where the sequels had failed. Actually, I went into it expecting disappointment, and coming to find even the original wasn’t all that great after all.

I was wrong.

From the opening credits transitioning into the code running down the screen into Trinity busting out of the building surrounded by cops, I was totally sucked back in again. That has to be one of the best opening action scenes in cinematic history. It is really unlike anything else you’ve ever seen. Cinematography is so fresh and original with its sudden stop and revolution around the suddenly static actors. The chase across the roof tops is exciting as Trinity repeatedly breaks physical laws. Her final run to the phone booth as the biggest semi you’ve ever seen races to smash her before she gets out is an exclamation point on an exhilarating ride, leaving you catching your breath. And that’s just the beginning.

From that point on, we follow Neo. The writing is superb. Every piece of dialogue says something important. It’s constantly foreshadowing or revealing something new. Not having watched any Matrix since Revolutions shortly after it was released made me see for the first time the Matrix in the context of its sequels. Being able to watch it as a standalone film offers an awe-inspiring experience. It’s impressive that 11 years later, the philosophy is still relevant, maybe even more relevant than when it was released. The allegory of the Matrix itself, i.e., the “dream world,” and the prophetic arrival of the One can actually mean many different things. The parallel to the Biblical story is accurate, but the idea of a system of control can mean anything from the controlling hand of God, to simple fate, to more tangible means of control like governmental or economic systems, or even hollywood and the media. It really can mean whatever you want it to. And that’s good art.

It’s more impressive to me that the Wachowskis were able to take that source material and make a cohesive continuing story out of the next two films. It doesn’t seem like it was their intention to make sequels from the start, so being able to make it all fit together is impressive. The film is enhanced by its sequels, as it foreshadows events that don’t take place by the end of the film, though since we all thought this movie was all there would be, we assume differently. It’s interesting to see how my views changed in light of the sequels.

This is moviemaking at its finest. Nearly every part of the film is important. There is little waste. The only thing I can think of that felt out of place is one of the more iconic scenes of the movie: the fight in the lobby. It certainly seems to be there just to be a great action piece, which it is. But if these people are trying to save others in the Matrix, then why are they OK with maliciously killing all of these guards? It just seems out of place, and within the story, it could be removed completely without changing much.

By the end, it was obvious to me that my worries about the film holding up over time and botched sequels were more than assuaged. This is a greater piece of work than I had previously realized. I would deem the Matrix, as a standalone film, a modern classic. There really hasn’t been anything made since then that could hold a candle to it, though many have tried. It’s easy to forget how original it was with all the crappy action movies that have have borrowed ideas from the Matrix. When something becomes McDonaldized — though McDonalds itself is horrendous — that which it copied, the source, is pretty darn awesome. And that’s the case here.

I was so thrilled that I began to wonder if perhaps my previous perceptions of the sequels were misplaced. Maybe as a coherent story, it could actually work rather well. So, out of interest, general boredom, a lack of anything else to do on a day off as well as my continuing descent into insanity, through the magic of Instant Netflix, I decided to make a marathon of it and run through the whole trilogy. That same night.

As a side note, I thought it was kind of silly , yet symbolic that I ate dinner while watching the Matrix, drank a beer while watching Reloaded and had popcorn for Revolutions. I think the comparisons are just though I didn’t do that on purpose.

I began into the Matrix Reloaded without the same sense of excitement and anticipation I had when I saw it originally in the theater. And it made a big difference. During the opening 45 minutes (around a third of the film), I was in awe … of how much it sucked compared to what I had just watched. New boring characters, talk of a boring coming war, and ten boring minutes of boring dancing interspersed with the most boring sex scene ever. Remembering how lame I thought the third movie was and knowing I still had three to four hours left to go, I nearly gave up. It’s really that bad. It’s nearly unwatchable. The buildup and anticipation must have carried anyone who enjoyed the second film through the first third of it. I didn’t remember it being that bad. Not only did nothing seem to serve much of a purpose other than to obtusely set up the rest of the story, but there was little of meaning that was said or done. The quick, meaningful dialogue of the original was gone, replaced by people talking about things to build the story, but nothing of value. No philosophical allegories or foreshadowing (other than characters talking about what was obviously inevitable). Ugh. Almost turned it off.

But then, it turns the corner, when Neo meets the Oracle in the park. More of the mystery of the Matrix is revealed, as well as Neo’s purpose. So, something like you don’t have a choice but the choice is up to you but it’s not really a choice because you’ve already made the choice and now you just have to understand it. I think that’s basically what was communicated there. And reading my own description of it now just makes it seem kinda dumb.

In the original Matrix, the Wachowskis managed to take heady concepts and make them easy to digest and understand, thus making the viewer feel smart. Then in the sequels, they seemed to toss odd circular ideas on top of it, that probably make sense in some way, but aren’t really worth the trouble it takes to sort it all out. That’s one way the sequels fail. Not that they have bad ideas, but that they fail to be easily understood.

Then, we go on to have long action scenes with a couple of interesting conversations along the way, the return of Agent Smith, some more boring new characters who don’t really stick around long enough to make an impact and at the end, Neo makes his big stand against the squiddies in the real world, doing things he shouldn’t be able to do while outside the Matrix. The final shot shows an unconscious Neo laying next to Bane, who is inhabited by Agent Smith, and is the likely cause of some recent disaster we don’t get to see. All in all, it’s honestly pretty good when it’s good, and horrendously bad when it doesn’t work. Drop the first 45 minutes and trim the actions scenes, and we’re actually doing pretty well. Themes begun in the first film grow and shift and twist in some interesting ways. So it’s about half of a really good movie and half of a really crappy action movie.

So what about part three?

Watching them back to back, it’s obvious the second and third movies are just two parts of a whole. The Matrix Revolutions starts off immediately where Reloaded ended. There’s not even a return to the events up to this point, a la, Lord of the Rings. Just right back into the room where we left off in the second. Watching it together with the second film, it feels like they chose an arbitrary ending point for the second one and cut the film off there, and just started it back up with the beginning of the third.

I could imagine watching these movies in the theater with six months in between would be pretty jarring. I wouldn’t have remembered everything that happened in the second movie that foreshadowed everything new I was now taking in. Watching them back to back, the third movie starts off really well, much better than almost anything from the second. The emotional hooks the writers cast in Reloaded finally start to pull you in in Revolutions. Maybe it was just because I was tired, but the first hour an a half or so of Revolutions was really good, and themes that were only touched on previously, really begin to show. This film feels much more human. It is both a celebration and damnation of humanity.

At the same time, unfortunately, the dialogue is still really bad. They picked some pretty lame cliches to run through with everything in Zion and especially between Morpheous and Naiobe.

But on the other hand, some of the things I used to hate about the film, I came around to. Neo being stuck in the train station was an interesting take on humanity and a person’s struggle to reconcile reality with whatever faux reality we create for ourselves, whether it be dreams or entertainment or what have you. All he can do is sit and try to come up with a way to get out, when in actuality, he can do nothing. That is limbo. He is shaken from his limbo by Trinity, that which matters most. It’s actually quite elegant and subtle, which is a departure for the series.

Unfortunately, when the giant turd drops from the ceiling (the drillers) and crushes some dudes, before the explosive diarrhea squiddies follow through the hole is unironically when everything turns to crap. For one thing, I don’t know how anyone in production could look at the driller drop and think it looked good, let alone not looking like a giant turd about to crush your movie. It makes sense for Hollywood. It’s all fun and games until someone poops in the punch bowl, like a fart in church. The symbolism here is incredible.

The overblown sequence of action scenes that follow is perhaps the worst part of the entire trilogy. Not only is it uninteresting, mindless action. It involves bunches of characters we’ve barely met and tries to make them seem important by making them die after making a big stand. And it takes way too long to do it. Just get us to Neo and Trinity. We don’t need to see all of this.

And it looks really bad. Some dude is wearing a helmet from Space Balls. The mech things looks like little crabs throwing their claws in the air and waving them as if they’re not supposed to care, but they really do care, otherwise they wouldn’t be doing it. Random people run around doing stuff, but it’s nearly impossible to tell what’s going on. Morpheous and Naiobe are running around doing who knows what. I really have no idea what’s going on this whole time. Robots are attacking and people are defending. I can’t follow any of the threads other than that. Nor do I care to. I’ll say it again, it’s bad.

At the same time, however, in the theme of the story, it oddly started to make sense. This drawn out incoherent mess symbolized human existence in many ways. These people are fighting for seemingly no reason other than merely their own survival. But that’s futile anyway since all people must die eventually. We see supposed heroes we’ve barely met have their big moments. Life is fleeting. We don’t get to know the vast, vast, vast majority of the billions of people who we share this planet with. We get to know a few of them very well. The heroes who make it into the news we’ll never meet, let along get to know them. We are told the stories of their lives so we can know who these people are. Do we really know them? No. But for a brief moment, they stand apart from the rest of the 7 billion. And that’s what this whole battle is. Futility, yet some small hope. Obscurity but some small measure of glory. It certainly could have been shorter and maybe I was just starting to lose it after watching 6 hours of film, but I gained a new appreciation for what I once thought was pure crap.

The ending is fitting, as Neo is able to defeat Agent Smith by sacrificing himself. The Oracle and Architect spout some nonsense and we end.

Looking back on it, the second and third films may as well have been one long film. And at that, I’d say about a third of that long film was fluff. You could have cut an hour out of each and made it one cohesive film, streamlined and much more meaningful. Instead of outright hating the third film, I think it’s about on even ground with the second. The themes are more subtle, and maybe I was looking too hard to find meaning just to try and justify spending all that time I spent watching. But if I extracted these thoughts, chances are others have as well. I might go so far as to say I prefer the third film to the second. I don’t know if I’m ready to say that though. There are many years of frustration that would need to be overcome first.

While the sequels contain a lot of fluff and convolution, the single story arc of Neo is excellent. And the companions to that arc are his relationship with Trinity and his rivalry with Agent Smith. Morpheous could have been a great character, but he’s completely wasted in the sequels. Everything else doesn’t really matter very much. The directors may as well have done without Zion completely, as it really adds very little of interest to the story.

The sequels definitely delve into eastern religion and philosophy that were broached in the first film, though they sat under the Christian overtones. These kind of make a jumbled mess of everything. But isn’t that what it’s like trying to discern truth?

At its conclusion, I would say this is a good trilogy. I no longer believe the original was the only good portion of the story, though it certainly was the best. The sequels wold have been better as one film, but everyone managed to double their money by splitting it into two.

You can’t really do this sort of thing with many movies or series. This was a unique experience, and one that I would say was worthwhile. The redemption for me of the sequels is something that feels good. I am still trying to digest the philosophical insinuations, but I think it all probably makes sense, I just don’t know how exactly.

I do have one question. Perhaps one of you can help me with the answer. It’s something that has been bothering me all my life. I’ve just never been able to figure it out on my own. Until now. Now I have help. And because I have help, I have hope.

What is the Matrix?