That’s it. That’s it? THAT’S IT!!!! Those were the first words out of my mouth after seeing what is said to be the final installment of The Matrix franchise (unless it makes a ludicrous amount of dough, of course). Having loved the first "Matrix" to death and having enjoyed "Matrix Reloaded" mostly for its astounding action sequences, I came out of "Revolutions" very disappointed and angrier than a boner with no hole to fill. 

Now is it me or have "The Matrix" sequels forgotten who their daddy was? The original Matrix sported awesome characters, a strong storyline and a fascinating mythology behind it all to boot. There was so much potential for an above the norm, classic sci-fi franchise. I was thinking the next "Star Wars" for our generation! Sadly, that’s not what we got. When "Matrix Reloaded" kicked in, it lost half of the series’ endearing character development, went the “fortune cookie” way with its philosophy and pulled a fast one on us by negating what was established in the original. And now "Matrix Revolutions" took the series down to an all new low.

First off, everything that made "The Matrix" so damn razor kool was watered down. We got less insane martial arts fights, less enthralling gun play (that cheap rehash of the police scene from the first flick didn’t kick enough ass), less groovy stylish directing, less impressive action set pieces and less bullet time (who knew I’d miss it). But worst of all, we got WAAAAAY less Neo (Reeves), Trinity (Moss) and Morpheus (Fishburne). The last I checked they were the lead characters! No? Shite, Trinity and Morpheus had extended cameos here as opposed to parts. And what happened to hip-kat Morpheus from the first Matrix? Even Reloaded had the class to give him a shining moment during the massive highway/car chase bonanza. Here, all he did was stand in the background and look fat. I half expected him to whip a burger out of his pocket during the main battle scene. DO SOMETHING MORPHEUS! What a waste of a once AWESOME character! 

"Revolutions" also let me down in terms of the answers that I was expecting from it. I did my time on the video game, I watched "Animatrix" and I got  jerked off enough by Reloaded…and really thought that it was finally time to cum! I was wrong. Every character here still spoke in half-cocked riddles and when all was said and done, it came down to this: I’m either a moron for not fully grasping what was revealed or the Wachowski Brothers are sloppy mofos for flipping their last cards in such an incoherent and anti-climatic fashion. I’m supposed to feel content with this finale? COME ON MAN! I’m even more bamboozled now than I was at the end of Reloaded! The only thing that is crystal clear to me is that Joel Silver and the Wachowski Brothers sacrificed quality and uniqueness for a quick paycheck.

What "Revolutions" did deliver though was some good old generic sci-fi action bits that could be found in any PC videogame. I actually reached under my seat to see if there was a joystick...I wanted to play! On one end, sure the CGI was the shite, some of the “machines/weapons” designs were slick, the action was ass-whooping and a couple of good ideas did surface. But what the hell do I care about an extended action jamboree if the people involved are of no interest to me? I kept thinking of "Aliens" while watching this flick and about how great it was due to the fact that Hudson, Hicks, Vasquez and all were likeable and developed enough to keep me in the game on a deeper level than just intense shootouts. Here, all we got were B.C. actors who were not from B.C., acting or over-acting against a horde of CGI beasties. It was gnarly at first, on a cosmetic level, but without any human investment...it became old very quickly.

Gloria Foster (The Oracle in Part 1 and 2) died before she could shoot her scenes for REVOLUTIONS. She was replaced by Mary Alice.

Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions were shot back-to-back in Australia and California.