The Matrix Revolutions
The Matrix Revolutions is a 2003 American science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis.[a] It is the third installment in The Matrix film series, released six months following The Matrix Reloaded. The film stars Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Jada Pinkett Smith, Monica Bellucci, Lambert Wilson, and Mary Alice who replaces Gloria Foster as the Oracle following Foster's death in 2001.
The Matrix Revolutions
The Wachowskis
Characters
by The Wachowskis
- Warner Bros. Pictures
- Village Roadshow Pictures
- NPV Entertainment
- Silver Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures
- November 5, 2003
129 minutes[1]
English
$427.3 million[5]
The film was released simultaneously in 108 territories on November 5, 2003, by Warner Bros. Pictures. While being the final entry in the original trilogy of the series, the Matrix storyline was continued in The Matrix Online video game. The Matrix Revolutions was the first live-action feature film to be released in both regular and IMAX theaters at the same time. It grossed $427.3 million worldwide, making it the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2003. The film received mixed reviews on Metacritic and negative reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, which criticized it for focusing on special effects over characterization.
A fourth film, titled The Matrix Resurrections, began production in February 2020 and was released on December 22, 2021.
Plot[edit]
Picking up immediately where Reloaded ended, Neo and Bane still lie unconscious in the medical bay of the ship Mjolnir. Inside the Matrix, Neo is trapped in a subway station named Mobil Ave, a transition zone between the Matrix and the machine world. He meets a "family" of programs, including a girl named Sati. The "father" tells Neo the subway is controlled by the Trainman, a program loyal to the Merovingian. When Neo tries to board a train with the family, the Trainman refuses and overpowers him.
Seraph contacts Morpheus and Trinity on behalf of the Oracle, who informs them of Neo's confinement. Seraph, Morpheus and Trinity enter Club Hel, where they confront the Merovingian and force him to release Neo. Troubled by visions of the Machine City, Neo visits the Oracle, who reveals that Smith intends to destroy both the Matrix and the real world. She tells him that "everything that has a beginning has an end." After Neo leaves, a large group of Smiths assimilates Sati and Seraph. The Oracle does not resist assimilation, and Smith gains her powers of precognition.
In the real world, the crews of the Nebuchadnezzar and the Mjolnir find and reactivate Niobe's ship, the Logos. They interrogate Bane, who says that he has no recollection of the earlier massacre. As the captains plan their defense of Zion, Neo requests a ship to travel to the Machine City. Motivated by her encounter with the Oracle, Niobe offers him the Logos. Neo departs, accompanied by Trinity. Bane, who has stowed away on the Logos, takes Trinity hostage. Neo realizes that Bane has been assimilated by Smith, and a fight ensues. Bane burns Neo's eyes with a power cable, blinding him. Neo discovers that he can still "see" machine source code in the real world and uses this ability to kill Bane. Trinity pilots them to the Machine City.
Niobe and Morpheus rush toward Zion in the Mjolnir to aid the human defenses. Zion's shipyard is overwhelmed by a horde of Sentinels, and the fatally wounded Captain Mifune instructs Kid to open the gate for the Mjolnir, which he does with the aid of Zee. When it arrives, it discharges its EMP, disabling all the Sentinels present but also Zion's remaining defenses. The humans are forced to retreat and wait for the next attack, thinking it will be their last stand.
The Logos is attacked by a wave of machines outside of the Machine City. To avoid the onslaught, they fly above them to open sky, and then crash into a building, fatally wounding Trinity. Neo enters the Machine City and encounters the leadership of the machines in the form of the "Deus Ex Machina." Neo warns that Smith plans to conquer both the Matrix and the real world and offers to stop Smith in exchange for peace with Zion. The Deus Ex Machina agrees, and the Sentinels shut down, stopping the attack on Zion.
The Machines plug Neo into the Matrix, whose population has now been entirely assimilated by Smith. The Smith with the Oracle's powers steps forth, telling Neo that he has foreseen his victory against Neo. After a protracted fight, Neo appears to concede defeat and allows himself to be assimilated. Outside the Matrix, the machines send a surge of energy into Neo's body, which inside the Matrix causes the Neo-Smith clone, then all the other Smith clones, to be destroyed, restoring the Oracle and killing Neo. The Sentinels withdraw from Zion, Morpheus and Niobe embrace, and Neo's body is carried away by the machines.
The Matrix is rebooted, and the Architect meets the Oracle in a park. They agree that the peace will last "as long as it can" and that those humans who desire it will be offered the opportunity to leave the Matrix. The Oracle tells Sati (who created a beautiful sunrise for Neo) that she thinks they will see Neo again. Seraph asks the Oracle if she knew this would happen. She replies that she did not know, but she believed.
Release[edit]
The Matrix Revolutions was released in theaters roughly three weeks after The Matrix Reloaded arrived on DVD, on October 14, 2003.[10][11]
The film had the widest release ever opening simultaneously in 108 territories at 1400 Greenwich Mean Time on November 5, 2003.[12][13]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
On opening day, The Matrix Revolutions scored $24.3 million, becoming the third-highest Wednesday opening, behind The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.[14] During its three-day opening weekend, it would earn $48.5 million.[15] In its first five days of release, the film grossed $83.8 million in the United States and Canada from 3,502 theaters,[16] but dropped 66% during the second week.[16][17] For three years, it had the highest five-day Wednesday opening for any Warner Bros. film until it was taken by Superman Returns in 2006.[18] The film would even compete against the newly released family films Brother Bear and Elf.[19]
Internationally, the film grossed $119 million in its first 5 days from 10,013 prints in 107 territories, with the third-biggest opening ever in Japan and Spain and the fourth biggest in the United Kingdom, Italy and Mexico.[13] Combined, it grossed $203 million in its first five days.[17] This made it the highest worldwide opening weekend for any film, holding the record until it was beaten by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King a month later.[20] The Matrix Revolutions would also achieve the record for having the biggest international opening weekend for an R-rated film until 2015 when it was surpassed by Fifty Shades of Grey.[21] The film grossed over $139 million in North America and approximately $427 million worldwide,[5] roughly half of The Matrix Reloaded box-office total, and was the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2003.