Why Oh Why ...
Nov. 6th, 2003 08:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scottishlass... is it that some ppl create masterpieces with just one flick ... but cannot carry the impetus and genius into a second or third part???
To quote the Blair Witch (another trilogy suffering flick)
"WHAT HAPPENED HERE IS TERRIBLE!"
SPOILERS - so beware if you read on!
I guess you can only follow the white rabbit once. That is what the Wachowski Bros did in 1999 and they did so brilliantly. For me, the MATRIX will be one hell of a movie of the late 20th century, but that is it. Reloaded and Revolutions were as painful to watch for me as were Ep 1 & 2 of Star Wars and that says a lot as I hate the new SW.
I have calmed down somewhat since last night when I watched the movie and all I can say is that I was sadly right about my hunch. I had deliberately kept away from spoilers and reviews to see for myself but what I saw yesterday were my worst nightmares unfolded about this movie.
Were the FX extensive throughout the movie? Yes, sad but true
Had it a dark mood? Yes, but since Blade Runner continuous rain has been a highly overrated plot device in cyber-punk/sci fi.
Okay so I give, Matrix (the one and only) had extensive FX but they were used to further the plot and were NOT the plot as in Reloaded and Revolutions.
Matrix had cool one-liners: There is no spoon; We need weapons, lots of weapons; ... follow the white rabbit; Dodge this. Matrix had style. Matrix was coolness perfected.
The second and also now the third had platitudes and bad dialogue ... and I have to say bad acting. Oh Hugo Weaving was his usual self ... he was good but somehow he lost his evilness and his expressive eyebrows along the way! Gee, folks, he is the Überprogramme, he is evil - that is how it was intended anyway and it just didn't work IMHO. Plain evilness is just plain boring, folks. The subtleness makes it brilliant!!
Keanu Reeves... well to be honest we all KNOW this guy can't act even if his life depended on it ... his Cooooool in the first part was straight out of the bogus journey *lol* but hey he was cool in Matrix and the fights glossed over the fact that heis not the brightest apple in the acting bushel. But in 2 & 3 ... I think I can only think THIS much that a dazed and confused or determined pout in Keanu's face is cute, after a time it gets boring fast.
And can someone please tell me what Carrie-Ann Moss and the script writer were thinking during that godawful death scene??? And then to end it all with a stupid "S'okay" ????? HELLOOOOOOOOOOO????? Did someone skip scriptwriting and plotting 101 somewhere between 1999 and 2002????
And don't get me started on Morpheus ... he was acting like his name .. he certainly put me to sleep with his holier than thou attitude. What was Lawrence Fishburne thinking??? This guy is Mr. sizzling Super-coolness in Matrix but in 2 and 3 ... better not go there. His dialogue was convoluted and I can't remember ONE single line he had.
And why did they forget that there are BILLIONS of ppl still hooked to the Matrix??? Helloooo??? Anyone there with half a bain still working??? Folks, this was one of the main punches in Matrix. That the Matrix is not real. IMHO they got so hooked up in the FX that they totally and completely lost and forgot about their initial plot. And where is the mysticism? I'm sorry but the bull that the oracle was sprouting made me yawn. BIG time. ARGH!! I'm getting all worked up again.
Then there are the FX ... don't get me going about the trackers ... in 1999 I already thought they looked like some sanitary sink tubes, now I'm certain we will be enslaved by sanitary chrome sink tubes in the future that glow in the dark. And speaking about FX ... sigh ... give me an old Atari and I can make better FX than these ... Okay, so I probably can't with an Atari *wiggles eyebrows* but hasn't SOMEONE told those FX artists that the human eye can be fooled only this much??? If you create an FX only on one level without at least two depth levels to give the eye and brain a sense of fuzziness and depth of an image, the brain will register the scene as off or false. That is straight out of Image Rendering 101. When everything is perfect, everything is without fuzziness, the brain KNOWS it is wrong, because we don't have perfect 20/20 most of the time and we need and expect fuzziness and that kind of gradual loss of depth in seeing. If you create a complete land- or in this case cityscape on a computer you need to add noise to the background to add reality and depth to the image, if you don't you have one perfect picture or scene but it is too perfect and thus being artificial. I could go on and on ... perhaps I'm too trained on images or something but that is always my main concern when seeing computer generated images on screen be it TV or silver screen.
Anyway, Matrix Revolutions was a huge let down for me. Personally, I'd wish the Wachowski Bros would have left Matrix as is, it is in itself a completed story line and as a stand alone an outstanding and innovative movie. As part of a trilogy, it looses its flair because of the two following parts. It is sad, but true.
To quote the Blair Witch (another trilogy suffering flick)
SPOILERS - so beware if you read on!
I guess you can only follow the white rabbit once. That is what the Wachowski Bros did in 1999 and they did so brilliantly. For me, the MATRIX will be one hell of a movie of the late 20th century, but that is it. Reloaded and Revolutions were as painful to watch for me as were Ep 1 & 2 of Star Wars and that says a lot as I hate the new SW.
I have calmed down somewhat since last night when I watched the movie and all I can say is that I was sadly right about my hunch. I had deliberately kept away from spoilers and reviews to see for myself but what I saw yesterday were my worst nightmares unfolded about this movie.
Were the FX extensive throughout the movie? Yes, sad but true
Had it a dark mood? Yes, but since Blade Runner continuous rain has been a highly overrated plot device in cyber-punk/sci fi.
Okay so I give, Matrix (the one and only) had extensive FX but they were used to further the plot and were NOT the plot as in Reloaded and Revolutions.
Matrix had cool one-liners: There is no spoon; We need weapons, lots of weapons; ... follow the white rabbit; Dodge this. Matrix had style. Matrix was coolness perfected.
The second and also now the third had platitudes and bad dialogue ... and I have to say bad acting. Oh Hugo Weaving was his usual self ... he was good but somehow he lost his evilness and his expressive eyebrows along the way! Gee, folks, he is the Überprogramme, he is evil - that is how it was intended anyway and it just didn't work IMHO. Plain evilness is just plain boring, folks. The subtleness makes it brilliant!!
Keanu Reeves... well to be honest we all KNOW this guy can't act even if his life depended on it ... his Cooooool in the first part was straight out of the bogus journey *lol* but hey he was cool in Matrix and the fights glossed over the fact that heis not the brightest apple in the acting bushel. But in 2 & 3 ... I think I can only think THIS much that a dazed and confused or determined pout in Keanu's face is cute, after a time it gets boring fast.
And can someone please tell me what Carrie-Ann Moss and the script writer were thinking during that godawful death scene??? And then to end it all with a stupid "S'okay" ????? HELLOOOOOOOOOOO????? Did someone skip scriptwriting and plotting 101 somewhere between 1999 and 2002????
And don't get me started on Morpheus ... he was acting like his name .. he certainly put me to sleep with his holier than thou attitude. What was Lawrence Fishburne thinking??? This guy is Mr. sizzling Super-coolness in Matrix but in 2 and 3 ... better not go there. His dialogue was convoluted and I can't remember ONE single line he had.
And why did they forget that there are BILLIONS of ppl still hooked to the Matrix??? Helloooo??? Anyone there with half a bain still working??? Folks, this was one of the main punches in Matrix. That the Matrix is not real. IMHO they got so hooked up in the FX that they totally and completely lost and forgot about their initial plot. And where is the mysticism? I'm sorry but the bull that the oracle was sprouting made me yawn. BIG time. ARGH!! I'm getting all worked up again.
Then there are the FX ... don't get me going about the trackers ... in 1999 I already thought they looked like some sanitary sink tubes, now I'm certain we will be enslaved by sanitary chrome sink tubes in the future that glow in the dark. And speaking about FX ... sigh ... give me an old Atari and I can make better FX than these ... Okay, so I probably can't with an Atari *wiggles eyebrows* but hasn't SOMEONE told those FX artists that the human eye can be fooled only this much??? If you create an FX only on one level without at least two depth levels to give the eye and brain a sense of fuzziness and depth of an image, the brain will register the scene as off or false. That is straight out of Image Rendering 101. When everything is perfect, everything is without fuzziness, the brain KNOWS it is wrong, because we don't have perfect 20/20 most of the time and we need and expect fuzziness and that kind of gradual loss of depth in seeing. If you create a complete land- or in this case cityscape on a computer you need to add noise to the background to add reality and depth to the image, if you don't you have one perfect picture or scene but it is too perfect and thus being artificial. I could go on and on ... perhaps I'm too trained on images or something but that is always my main concern when seeing computer generated images on screen be it TV or silver screen.
Anyway, Matrix Revolutions was a huge let down for me. Personally, I'd wish the Wachowski Bros would have left Matrix as is, it is in itself a completed story line and as a stand alone an outstanding and innovative movie. As part of a trilogy, it looses its flair because of the two following parts. It is sad, but true.
