As I left the movie theater today after seeing the Matrix, I felt much the same as I do leaving church on Good Friday. It's rather like leaving after a funeral. Except that you have the added guilt of knowing that it's your fault, and the fault of countless generations before you that Christ had to die on the cross. (Catholics really get into the guilt factor on Good Friday). On Good Friday, I know that Easter is coming just a few days away. But I always ask myself, was it worth it?
I had predicted before the movie started that Neo was going to be a Christ figure and have to die to save the human race. But I was rather hoping that I was wrong. I know that it was necessary, and that Neo will probably be reborn in the Matrix, but I still feel the loss. The Wachowski brothers were able to create incredibly real, likeable characters, and they brought us into their world. They could have made a stirring movie in which, despite all odds, all the major characters survived. But it wouldn't have been believeable. Matrix Revolution was about a war, and people die in wars. People we can't afford to lose. It also asks us the question, "Why do we keep living? Why do we fight to survive?" So while part of me desperately wanted a happier ending, with Neo and Trinity there looking at the sunset, I find greater value in the ending, where Trinity and Neo sacrificed themselves for the rest of humanity. The Wachowski brothers dared to go beyond entertainment to give us something to think about. More power to them. Their trilogy is a great, powerfully, masterfully told story, and I wouldn't have them change it for all the money in the world. It has a depth that goes far beyond what Star Wars tries to achieve.
I don't expect to change anyone's opinion of the Matrix Revolution with this blog. I'm just stating my own. Form your own opinion.