The Matrix Revolutions attempts to get with the program

The Matrix Revolutions is fittingly described as a complex equation. It has its negatives, its positives and its undefined variables. And the ending is like a non-repeating decimal, trailing off into infinity so that you never exactly get it. Thankfully, Revolutions is of greater value than the The Matrix Reloaded, which just didn't add up. Mathematically put, The Matrix Reloaded < The Matrix Revolutions < The Matrix.

Just as with any math problem, a formula must be followed. So the Wachowski brothers adhere to the Rule of Trilogies: They exponentially up the action to the point where the first film seems downright uneventful. So there are explosions. Big ones.

Less so inside the Matrix itself, however, which is the carefully calculated equation that simulates the world around us. Instead, the Wachowskis zoom out to fully explore Zion, the last human city in the real world not dominated by machines. When the machines attack, it's an all out war between flesh and metal with little hope and even less plot. The battle rumbles on for about an hour as sparks fly, robots fry and people die in very un-Matrix-like ways. While the Matrix is a computer program with a bendable reality, (allowing Neo to dodge bullets defy gravity), the actual world proves brutally real as soldiers are killed under fire and crushed by falling masses.

Seeing the war from this perspective is exciting enough, as the Wachowskis plug those darker factors into the equation. But with this new angle comes a tangent, and they go off on one that leaves the original Matrix characters far, far behind. Neo (Keanu Reeves) becomes a faded, mystical, Christ-like character that has more of a cameo than a role. Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) almost loses her bad-girl bravado in exchange for the helplessly passionate cliché that is the Hollywood love interest. Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne) merely fades into the background. The ones that get the most screen time are actually the robot sentinels, flying insect machines that squash the humans like bugs.

Revolutions fully dedicates only the first few scenes to the original characters, and they're not that great. There's little reintroduction, some dry dialogue, a worn, torn gunfight faintly echoing the incredible lobby scene in the first Matrix and an almost-action scene at a rave dance. The Wachowskis must like their party shots; the first twenty minutes of each Matrix movie has a techno groove of some sort. But for those of you who want to see Revolutions yet still gag at the Zion freak-dance/sex scene in Reloaded, no worries: There is no spooning.

Every Matrix also has an Agent Smith brawl, and the Revolutions version might just take the cake. Smith (Hugo Weaving), who hasn't become a fraction less cool throughout the trilogy, comes back as a million-man menace, outdoing himselves in evilness. But he fights Neo one on one as the other Smiths stand by, engaging in an all out slam bam superhero/supervillain showdown that, in terms of explosiveness, is the first ever Agent Smith fight cubed. The Wachowskis go all out, giving us an aerial, three-dimensional power punch'n'kickathon that knows no bounds. The excitement is there, but not quite up to par with the one in The Matrix. The Wachowskis can't really expect our hearts to pump at the climax when Neo and Smith are barely there for the buildup.

The saga concludes, unfortunately, with a few loose ends dangling in the air. Some important events simply go unexplained, and the Wachowskis either leave them up to interpretation or don't address them at all. There is no concrete answer at the end or even definite explanation as to how we got to the end in the first place. The Matrix Revolutions comes to the solution without ever really solving for why.