The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

The Matrix Revolutions is a 2003 American science fiction action film and the third installment of The Matrix trilogy. The film was released six months following The Matrix Reloaded. The film was written and directed by the Wachowski brothers and released simultaneously in sixty countries on November 5, 2003. Despite the fact that it is the final film in the series, the Matrix storyline continued in The Matrix Online.

The film was the second live-action film to be released in both regular and IMAX movie theaters at the same time.

PLOT SUMMARY

After the events of The Matrix Reloaded, Bane and Neo are unconscious. Neo’s neural patterns suggest he is in the Matrix. Neo finds himself trapped in a subway station, a transition zone between the Matrix and the machine world. Neo meets a “family” of programs, including a girl named Sati, whose father tells Neo the subway is controlled by The Trainman, an exile loyal to the Merovingian. When Neo tries boarding a train with the family, the Trainman refuses to let him aboard.

Seraph contacts Morpheus on behalf of the Oracle. The Oracle informs Morpheus and Trinity of Neo’s confinement. Seraph, Morpheus and Trinity enter Club Hel to persuade the Merovingian to release Neo. The Merovingian demands “the eyes of the Oracle” in exchange for Neo’s release. Trinity provokes a Mexican standoff, forcing the Merovingian to release Neo.

Troubled by visions of the Machine City, Neo visits the Oracle. She characterizes Smith as Neo’s exact opposite and negative, who threatens to destroy the Matrix and the Machine City. She states that “everything that has a beginning has an end”, and that the war is about to end. After Neo leaves, a large group of Smiths assimilate Sati, Seraph and the unresisting Oracle, gaining her powers of precognition.

In the real world, the remaining crew of the Nebuchadnezzar and the Mjolnir (“Hammer”) find Niobe’s ship, the Logos. They also interrogate the now-awakened Bane, who claims he has no memory of the events of the earlier battle. As the captains plan to return to defend Zion, Neo announces that he needs a ship to travel to the Machine City. The captain of the Hammer refuses, but motivated by her meeting with the Oracle, Niobe offers Neo the Logos.

Niobe pilots the Hammer through service tunnels in order to avoid the Sentinel army. They discover that Bane has murdered a crew member and presumably hidden aboard the Logos, but are unable to warn Trinity and Neo. Bane ambushes Trinity, taking her hostage. Neo fights Bane and realizes he is Smith. Smith blinds Neo by cauterizing his eyes with a power cable. Despite his blindness, Neo sees the glowing form of Smith and kills him. Trinity pilots them to the Machine City.

In Zion, the defenders deploy infantry and Armored Personnel Units against the Sentinels and two drilling machines. The APUs are unable to hold the docks and Captain Mifune is fatally wounded. Mifune tells the Kid (Clayton Watson), who has been rearming his APU, to open the gate for the Hammer. Kid pilots the APU and opens the gate. The Sentinels are on the verge of overwhelming the humans when the Hammer arrives at Zion and discharges its EMP, disabling the Sentinels but also the remaining defenses. The humans are forced to retreat to the temple’s entrance and wait for the next attack, which they believe will be their last stand.

Neo and Trinity are attacked by the Machine City’s defenses. Neo uses his powers to destroy the incoming weapons, but Sentinels overwhelm the ship. Neo tells Trinity to fly the Logos into an electrical storm cloud, disabling the Sentinels but also the ship’s engines. Trinity sees sunlight and blue sky for the first time before the ship free-falls into the Machine City. The ship collides with a tower, the impact causing several pieces of the tower to pierce the ship, killing Trinity.

Neo enters the Machine City to bargain with the Machines and their leader, the Deus Ex Machina. Neo warns that Smith is beyond the Machines’ control and will assault the Source. He offers to stop Smith in exchange for a ceasefire with Zion. The Machines agree, causing the Sentinels attacking Zion to stand down. The Machines provide a connection for Neo to enter the Matrix. In the Matrix, now wholly populated by Smith’s copies, the clone with the Oracle’s powers steps forth, claiming that he has foreseen his victory.

The Smith clones watch while Neo and Smith fight, finally brawling in a flooded crater. Neo is outmatched but refuses to give up. Seeing Neo’s determination, a frustrated Smith continues attacking, but when he repeats the Oracle’s words, “Everything that has a beginning has an end”, Neo realizes the meaning behind the words and baits Smith into assimilating him. With Neo’s body serving as a conduit to the Smiths, the Deus Ex Machina sends an energy surge through his body. The Neo-Smith and the clones burst into light that ripples through the Matrix. After the energy burst, the Oracle’s body is shown lying in the crater. In the real world, the Sentinels withdraw from Zion. Neo has sacrificed his life to save the Machines and the humans. The Deus Ex Machina says, “It is done”, and Neo’s body is carried away by the Machines.

The Matrix “reboots”, repairing the damage caused by Neo and Smith’s battle. The Architect and the Oracle meet, agreeing to unplug all humans who want to be freed, and that peace will last, “as long as it can”. Sati, who has created a colorful dawn sky to honor Neo, asks the Oracle whether they will ever see him again. She replies that she thinks they will. Seraph asks the Oracle if she knew this would happen, and she replies that she did not know, but she believed.

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