Can't remember exactly where my friend found this, but take a read for anyone that thought they had this figured out. Really, too many people try to read too much into these movies when it's really laid out right in front of you. This is a good read and if you were like me and thought way to deep and was disappointed that your deep thinking wasn't satisfied this will explain it.

THE MATRIX TRILOGY EXPLAINED - HONESTLY
by mikejwash@sbcglobal.net (movies profile) Nov 6, 2003
1052 of 1151 people found this review helpful

Let me first say I PROMISE YOU WILL LOVE THIS TRILOGY IF U READ THIS.

I apologize if my email does not follow the rules of this forum, but I felt I could offer you a very clear explanation of the Matrix series in light of reading your reviews of the Matrix Revolutions. The bottom line is people don't understand it. So this is a crash course for anyone who wants answers. Real one's, not some fanboys idea of what it's about. Please note, SPOILERS ARE ALL THROUGH THIS REVIEW.

Here we go with the basics.

Zion is real! The Matrix is not.

The Matrix was designed to provide a mental stimulus for the human bodies connected to the machines as a source of power. This is the sixth version of the Matrix. There have been multiple versions of the Matrix because of a flaw in the program (kinda of like Windows). That flaw is giving individuals the ability to choose.

The first Matrix was designed as a perfect uptopia (see pt. I - Smith explains it to Morpheus; pt. II - The Architect explains it again) but humans did not accept it as real so they just kept waking up. It was redesigned to reflect our civilization at it's last stage before it was taken over by the machines (the year 1999).

The Architect's problem with this new design (the anomoly)of the Matrix is that it require individuals to think freely, i.e. choice. It was the Oracle that suggested he redesign the Matrix in this way. But since humans have choices, so must the programs sent to watch over them, i.e. The Agents, thus bringing us the problem that is Mr. Smith. In Reloaded, The Architect continues to speak of the anomoly he is unable to get rid of, which is why at some point, he feels the only solution is to destroy the Matrix and those who are aware of it (the people of Zion) and start from scratch again.

The Oracle says it clearly in Revolutions. Mr. Smith is the result of the anomoly trying to balance itself. Mr. Smith began to think freely (see part I where he is freaking out while interrogating Morpheous) and the result was a negative one. Realize this, he is a similar program to the One so he is far more dangerous than a normal individual who makes bad decisions. Mr. Smith's virus like behavior happened in EVERY VERSION OF THE MATRIX. The result would always lead to the same thing -- a system crash if they didn't quickly reboot the system. The same knee jerk reaction you have when you realize someone has sent you a virus.

The One program was created to solve this problem. But each version of the One ultimately failed. Neo is different, in Reloaded he choose the door that led to Trinity, not the door that RESETS the program. Note: The Architect even noticed that Neo's experience in the Matrix was different than all the rest, realizing he was the first of them to fall in love.

Onto Revolutions:

Neo's choice has changed everything. The system is still threatened by Smith's behavior, so the Oracle makes a new choice; one she has never done before because no version of the One has ever chosen the difficult path as opposed to easy one of just resetting the system. She allows herself to become merged with Smith in the HOPE that she'll be able to help Neo when the time is right.

Neo makes another unique choice. He goes to the machines and asks for PEACE as opposed to simply destroying the system by going through the opposite door as all other versions of the One did. It was a simple as that to save Zion. Machines don't need very long to process that this may be a better idea than just constantly resetting the system.

At the end, Smith says to Neo the movies tagline - "Everything that has a beginning has an end," as the Oracle is speaking to Neo through Smith. Neo realizes it all along, the only way to end this is to sacrifice himself. The Oracle noted that Neo and the Source (the computer mainframe, the Architect they're all one and the same so don't get confused) are connected which is why he can control machines outside the Matrix. He uses this connection to his advantage. He becomes a Mr. Smith and since all the Smith's are connected, the Source now has a lock on Smith and simply deletes him. Pretty simple huh?

I came to this EXACT conclusion myself. Glad to see I'm not the only one who "gets it".

REVOLUTIONS is a fantastic movie when you take it as a WHOLE with RELOADED, and, in a since, the original. Everything happens, just as the Oracle and the Architect say it will. It's all one big cycle, as evidenced by the start of Matrix #7 at the end.

Agent Smith does not have free will. As Neo's opposite (i.e., the anti-Christ) he has only the power to destroy. This is why he asks Neo toward the end of their final duel why he feels it makes any difference to go on fighting. Neo's answer is "Because I choose to." Smith can't understand that. The Oracle said it herself: "Soon he will have the power to destroy this world, but he won't stop there. He can't." He can't. As long as Smith exists he will do nothing but destroy.

The biblical associations are also off. The Architect is not God, he is Satan. The Oracle is God. That's why the Oracle is the only machine or program that does have free will.

All of the machines and programs are angels or daemons which do not have free will, a blessing bestowed only upon human beings. That is why the Architect has to reset the Matrix every time and begin it again. As Lucifer (an angel) he does not have the power to think against his original programming...think beyond it, perhaps, but he can't contradict it.

The Architect's role as Lucifer also explains the way Neo sees the machine world after he's blinded. Lucifer is the "light bearer."

And no, understanding this film does not have anything to do with liking it. I understand spinach, but it's still dispicable.

Kirk
NP - The Matrix Revolutions

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Originally posted by rkeaveney:
Mike - everything happens as the Oracle and Architect say it will because these are scripted feature films!

Ryan
NP: HONEY "Tuba Concerto", Mervyn Warren

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Yes yes, I know that. I guess what I meant is that the ending of REVOLUTIONS isn't as vague and out of left field as a lot of people seem to have taken it to be because of what the characters said.

Then again, it's just a movie, and I'm probably thinking too hard about it. I need sleep!

I disagree with a few of his assesments though. First off, the second Matrix didn't have a problem because it gave everyone choices. It had a problem because it DIDN'T give anyone choices. That's why it was stumbled upon by the oracle. By giving people a choice, people were able to accept the program. However, as the architect states, it's really only an ILLUSION of choice. Hence the reason so many programs know what's going to happen, so long as the understand the choice. As the oracle says "You've already made the choice, now you have to understand it." She says this because in the Matrix, no one has a choice. It's simply an illusion. As the architect says "You are the sum of a remainder inherent to the programming of the matrix." The One was never created to solve any problem, in fact the One was never created. It's an anomoly, as they say repeatedly throughout the movie. It's simply a result of having the illusion of choice present in the matrix programming.

I don't believe that SMITH is in every matrix. Why? Because of Smiths existence in this 6th version, Neo now had a bargaining chip for peace with the machines. If a reoccurring Smith problem could be resolved by simply reloading the matrix, then Neo would never have had to fight Smith at the end of Revolutions. He could have just connected with the source and be done with it.

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Originally posted by franz_conrad:
I take that line about 'not seeing past the choices we don't understand' as similar to that moment in Frank Herbert's Dune where Paul Atreides can only see the future insofar as he understands it. The future that lies beyond a choice he hasn't made yet is unclear. I think this is the case for Neo - he has to choose whether or not he will save Trinity in Reloaded, but because he hasn't made that choice, he can't see what the conclusion of her falling is. I don't think it's a reference to the limited choices anyone in the matrix has. The real question is choice versus destiny, and it is driven home in every meeting between Smith and Neo, and also in the meeting between Neo and the Architect and Neo and the Oracle.

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But consider this dialog.

NEO: Are you saying I have to choose whether Trinity lives or dies?

ORACLE: No, you've already made the choice. Now you have to understand it.

This implies that choice is an illusion. The Merovingian even says this straight out. "Choice is an illusion created by men with power." However, perhaps Neo is able to choose? Maybe he learns to choose? It's up to interpretation I think. He is the anomoly, so I would buy the fact that he is able to actually choose, and Smith obviously has a hard time understanding that.

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Originally posted by VaultComplex:
But consider this dialog.

NEO: Are you saying I have to choose whether Trinity lives or dies?

ORACLE: No, you've already made the choice. Now you have to understand it.

This implies that choice is an illusion.

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It indicates that he had a choice and he made it. As to what it implies ... I think you can get out of her statement: that choices can be made, that the choice of life and death can be made by Neo, and that the Oracle knows that a choice has been made. Remember, the Oracle is not like other programs (e.g. the Merovingian's prattle about choice as an illusion). She isn't cynical about the capabilities of mankind and their choices - rather she's bet everything on their potential.

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Originally posted by VaultComplex:
This implies that choice is an illusion. The Merovingian even says this straight out. "Choice is an illusion created by men with power."

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Firstly, and completely off the topic, I think the best scene not seen in Revolutions was the one where Smith absorbed the Merovingian. Secondly, men without power but a lust for it are always trying to imply that men with power have no choice but to surrender their power, and I think this point is demonstrated in the cases of the Architect, Smith and the Merovingian. All of them are slaves to choice, which is a word, unlike love, that they do not appear to understand. (Incidentally, when Keanu declares his free will at the end, I half expected Al Pacino to come in and do his devil act!)

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However, perhaps Neo is able to choose? Maybe he learns to choose? It's up to interpretation I think. He is the anomoly, so I would buy the fact that he is able to actually choose, and Smith obviously has a hard time understanding that.

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Well, Smith is a machine whose favourite module (for those fortran lovers out there) is the one that defines limits, consequences and logical conclusions (esp. that inevitability). Presumably anyone who is given over to consequences and logic - like the Architect, like the Merovingian, like the Agent that tries to dispatch the Keymaker ('then you were meant for one more thing - DELETION!') - can't understand choice. Each of them has a different way of putting it:

- for the Merovingian it is the 'effect' of an identifiable 'cause'.

- for Smith, it is the 'inevitable' and the reduction of all emotion, thought in other beings to attempts at self-justification.

- for the Architect, we hear more about mathematical precision, prediction, the remainder from balanced equations.

For all of these guys, the consequence of initial conditions appears absolute. If you start with an imbalance between two forces, the stronger force will win. Cause wins over in the effect, circumstance dictates the choice of the One, and the inevitable will out. They are basically the Strangers from Dark City, Christoff from The Truman Show, the aliens from Solaris, etc. Does it all come down to the proposition that choice is what makes us human?

NP Dinosaur (Newton-Howard)

[Message edited by franz_conrad on 11-08-2003]

http://www.efilmcritic.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1391

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Originally posted by James:
Here's the REAL explanation for Revolutions....

Kirk

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SPOILER WARNING

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"Alas, just as Trinity couldn't have survived the final encounter, neither could Neo. (What kind of life could they have, anyway? They're archetypes, not characters. What would they do, raise a bunch of clichés?)

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Originally posted by Laurent WATTEAU:
Hope this helps understanding "Revolutions"

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Moreover, the films themselves carry a much more self-important air. They want to be more than "just movies." They are not simply trying to entertain. They are trying to question a great many things and, presumably, get the audience questioning them as well.

Not that I want to end up defending these sequels, but calling them "just movies" does them a disservice, I think. I can't speak for all the detractors, but I'm spending as much time as I am analyzing and criticizing them because I'm attempting to judge them at the level that I feel the Wachowskis want them to be judged. I may very well be misinterpreting their intentions, but I don't think so.

If they give me a drink and call it wine, I'm not going to judge it by the standards of water.

Kirk

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Originally posted by Icebreaker:
The Matrix trilogy are just movies because it wasn't set out to SOLVE or END any of the philosophical paradoxes and debates. People who criticize it for being too open-ended fail to realise that. The Matrix is simply trying to RAISE THE POINT about causation, free will problem, etc.

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Sorry, I don't understand what you're saying. I completely agree about raising the point and not answering it, but I fail to see how that constitutes the "just a movie" argument. When has philosophy ever answered anything? The entire business of philosophical debate is about questioning solutions, not solving questions.

My purpose was not to argue the "just a movie" argument. It is to refute those who criticized the Matrix for being too open-ended.

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Originally posted by TV's Frank:
...Also, if we go by Davis's track times, it was actually only 4:12!

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Hahaha...good catch! Shows you how drawn out it was. I think everyone was like, "Lord Trinity just kick it" Cold, I know