Matrix 1: Freedom
Matrix 2: Purpose
If they get it right, then Matrix 3 will be about Destiny.
They nailed it!
Matrix Revolutions is everything it was supposed to be.
Period.
This is a film about destiny.
(Spoilers throughout) The thing about destiny is...well…it sucks. I think the two reasons why people are trashing the flick are very obvious:
1. Trinity dies.
2. Neo dies.
Those two alone break the Lucas/Spielberg golden rule of trilogy filmmaking: THE GOOD GUYS LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER. Would we really cherish Star Wars so much if Luke had gotten killed and only Leia and Han survived?
But that ain't the reality of destiny, y'all. In each of our own individual destinies, there are places where only we alone can go to do the extraordinary. And to make that journey can cost us some of the dearest and most precious things in our lives...like the ones we love...like our lives.
In my personal journey, I have been blessed. I'm still in purpose-mode but the answers are coming. I have been blessed to celebrate 3 years of marriage to the lovely Mrs. Utz on November 4 (the day before Matrix Rev came out). I have a Bachelors Degree. I have acted, written and directed many plays. I have been able to share my love for film with practically everyone whom I meet. I've had a good life.
But there's one person who will never see any of this: my father. My father got killed when I was 12 years old. He will never discuss this movie with me. He will never see Mrs. Utz or his grandchildren. He didn't see me graduate from high school or college. Whatever life holds for me and my destiny, my dad will never see it
Deeper than that, unless God deems us to die together in a plane crash or car accident, the reality is that as part of our destiny, one of us is gonna have to bury the other. Either I will go before Ilayna or she will go before me. And I can’t stop that.
That's destiny. We've got to do what we must do and some of those who we love dearly will die along the way.
Trinity’s purpose was to help Neo along his journey all the way to the machine world. When her ultimate assignment was done, she perished. So sad and so sorry to see Trinity go...but I understand. At least she lived up to her purpose.
Regarding Neo: Matrix Reloaded was about Neo's search for his purpose..."WHAT MUST I DO?"
In Matrix Revolutions he knew what he had to do...even if it cost his life. That was his purpose...he came to die.
That's Messiah 101 folks: the One is the one who will give up his life to save humanity. Let us remember that the framework for the Matrix films was that Morpheus and others had been spending all their lives searching for the One who will save Zion and stop the war between humans and the machines. That's what happened. Morpheus finds Neo. Neo fulfilled the prophecy. Zion was freed. It didn't happen the way
we WANTED it to happen, but it happened. If that ain't a Jesus Christ parallel, I don't know what is!
Now Smith also had a purpose: TO DIE. Reloaded stated that after his defeat in Matrix 1, he was scheduled to be deleted. But he didn’t
want that. His death was just as inevitable as Neo’s. He just couldn’t accept that. So what did he do? He spread a virus of himself in both the Matrix and the real world as a feeble attempt to secure his own invincibility. Didn’t work, huh?
I think it makes sense in the long run that Morpheus’ role got pushed to the background. Keeping in the themes of the film, he fulfilled his purpose. Morpheus basically had 1 job: to find and train The One. When Neo resurrected at the end of Matrix 1, his job was pretty much complete.
The Oracle is the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit's job description is to lead us into all truth. In all 3 films, that’s what the Oracle did. She didn’t give Neo and everyone else all the
answers. She just guided them into all truth. In the words of Morpheus in Matrix 1: “The Oracle told you what exactly you needed to hear. Neo, soon you will learn as I have that there is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path. The Oracle knew everyone’s path…but she allowed and encouraged them to WALK their own path.
Why are the reviews bad?
1. Blatant Christ-like imagery (to borrow a phrase from Gandalf). It’s SO obvious that this film is pointing toward the direction of Christ. All the enemy can do is try to turn the hearts of the people away from this message.
2. This is the age of "McMovies". No thought process...no reasoning...no encouragement to draw one's own conclusions. Movies nowadays are the equivalent of how babies eat. The parents have to grind and dice and even chew the food up so that the babies can digest it. It's like how Paul explained that he wished that the church was ready for solid food... instead they could only handle milk because of the limitedness of their understanding.
Everything that has a beginning does indeed have an end. The Hebrew Scriptures explains it like this:
Ecclesiastes 3
A Time for Everything
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
All in all, this trilogy turned out to be all about faith. Those of us who have our faith radars tuned up very high will see more in these films than those who's radars are tuned very low or turned off outright. The films have been heavy laden with faith concepts and principles. Some folks will only see Sci-Fi Fantasy. And that's okay. Some folks will see psychological mumbo-jumbo
talk. That's okay. Others like us see these films as the visual manifestation of where we are in our various stages and struggles with faith & God. Our faith allows us to see past the surface of these films... and this world... to see something deeper, greater and powerful. I wish everyone could See like us.
