Go read Choke (or, why I don't like Revolutions)
Well, this amused me.
You are Agent Smith, from "The Matrix."
No one would ever want to run into you in a
dark alley. Cold as steel, tough as a rock,
things are your way or the highway.
What Matrix Persona Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Mostly because any other result would have sent me into a downspiral of self-loathing and hatred.
I saw Revolutions on Friday.
Once again, I found myself in a position where I really, really wanted to like a film...
But couldn't.
I tried. I really did. I just couldn't.
The only character in the trilogy that I actually liked was Agent Smith. By the end of Revolutions, my desired ending involved Smith controlling the Matrix, from there somehow destroying the machines, killing humanity and unmaking existence. It would have been the ultimate nihilist statement.
What actually occurred... well, it's not worth explaining at great length, so I'll speak in the abstract.
I feel that movies should require and provoke thought. They should leave you changed in some way. They should make you ask questions, or see something differently.
The first Matrix did that. The sequels did not.
I'm not going to say that the Brothers Wachowski are not intelligent men. Clearly, they are, and they can write a fight scene like no others. Their knowledge of philosophy is clearly impressive.
However. I don't think cramming different Biblical themes and subtle philosophical references makes a movie good. It makes it complex, sure. But I don't think it makes it good.
If things had flowed, I wouldn't have had a problem. But I felt as though the movie was written to sound smart rather than actually be smart. I felt the characterization was pretty poor.
The ending bothered me, because I felt like I had wasted six hours of my life to learn... nothing. Even if I don't agree with what a writer/director says, I can admire their work if they're motivated enough by a thought or a notion or a belief to create something impressive. For me, the Matrix was not that kind of creation.
The fight scenes, while "cool," did not occur to me as being anything particularly new or spectacular. I couldn't feel any real emotion, because the outcome of each fight did not matter to me. The defense of Zion was pretty to watch, but didn't really stand out, in my opinion. It basically felt to me like a combination between the Death Star and the Final Fantasy CG film. I give them credit for the visual of the machines swarming into the city like a plague of locusts/rats. That was pretty damn eerie.
Overall, I get pissed when people tell me that I "just didn't get" the film. Maybe I didn't. I don't know. I've yet to hear someone tell me exactly what it is that I'm missing.
The thing is, the climax of a film is only one part. Even if I didn't "get it," that doesn't take away my right to criticize what I think was poor acting, poor dialogue, throw-away characters and uninspiring philosophy.
Watch Revolutions, then go watch Fight Club. Or American Beauty. Or Adaptation, or Donnie Darko. In my mind, there's no contest.
Solid story-telling > pretty visuals and unnecessary philosophical jargon.
In my opinion.
On a related note, I give you my tribute to Chuck Palahniuk:
Peace and good karma.
You are Agent Smith, from "The Matrix."
No one would ever want to run into you in a
dark alley. Cold as steel, tough as a rock,
things are your way or the highway.
What Matrix Persona Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Mostly because any other result would have sent me into a downspiral of self-loathing and hatred.
I saw Revolutions on Friday.
Once again, I found myself in a position where I really, really wanted to like a film...
But couldn't.
I tried. I really did. I just couldn't.
The only character in the trilogy that I actually liked was Agent Smith. By the end of Revolutions, my desired ending involved Smith controlling the Matrix, from there somehow destroying the machines, killing humanity and unmaking existence. It would have been the ultimate nihilist statement.
What actually occurred... well, it's not worth explaining at great length, so I'll speak in the abstract.
I feel that movies should require and provoke thought. They should leave you changed in some way. They should make you ask questions, or see something differently.
The first Matrix did that. The sequels did not.
I'm not going to say that the Brothers Wachowski are not intelligent men. Clearly, they are, and they can write a fight scene like no others. Their knowledge of philosophy is clearly impressive.
However. I don't think cramming different Biblical themes and subtle philosophical references makes a movie good. It makes it complex, sure. But I don't think it makes it good.
If things had flowed, I wouldn't have had a problem. But I felt as though the movie was written to sound smart rather than actually be smart. I felt the characterization was pretty poor.
The ending bothered me, because I felt like I had wasted six hours of my life to learn... nothing. Even if I don't agree with what a writer/director says, I can admire their work if they're motivated enough by a thought or a notion or a belief to create something impressive. For me, the Matrix was not that kind of creation.
The fight scenes, while "cool," did not occur to me as being anything particularly new or spectacular. I couldn't feel any real emotion, because the outcome of each fight did not matter to me. The defense of Zion was pretty to watch, but didn't really stand out, in my opinion. It basically felt to me like a combination between the Death Star and the Final Fantasy CG film. I give them credit for the visual of the machines swarming into the city like a plague of locusts/rats. That was pretty damn eerie.
Overall, I get pissed when people tell me that I "just didn't get" the film. Maybe I didn't. I don't know. I've yet to hear someone tell me exactly what it is that I'm missing.
The thing is, the climax of a film is only one part. Even if I didn't "get it," that doesn't take away my right to criticize what I think was poor acting, poor dialogue, throw-away characters and uninspiring philosophy.
Watch Revolutions, then go watch Fight Club. Or American Beauty. Or Adaptation, or Donnie Darko. In my mind, there's no contest.
Solid story-telling > pretty visuals and unnecessary philosophical jargon.
In my opinion.
On a related note, I give you my tribute to Chuck Palahniuk:
Peace and good karma.