Synopsis:

Freedom fighters continue to lead the revolt against the Machine Army, unleashing their arsenal of extraordinary skills and weaponry against the systematic forces of repression and exploitation. In their quest to save the human race from extinction, they gain greater insight into the construct of The Matrix and Neo's pivotal role in the fate of mankind.

Intentions:

I absolutely abhor the trend of sequels being split into second and third installments - it's a poor excuse to avoid script edits and allow for indulgence. Scrounging all the Matrix source materials I could get my grubby paws on, along with some other films in Keanu Reeves' filmography, my hope is to create a revised, single sequel to the original Matrix film. The final edit begins with The Last Transmission of the Osiris and follows with a narrative that maintains the beats of Reloaded and Revolutions, albeit streamlined to maintain a clear plot, and an exciting experience.

Change List:

(This is a revised cut list and may not 100% accurately reflect the changes made in the latest edition of the edit) Began the film with "Last Flight of the Osiris" from The Animatrix Cut numerous moments from the entire segment where 3D characters featured onscreen. I kept some establishing shots of main players like Thaddeus and the group at large since these shots were developed enough to sell realism in the early 2000s. Trimmed the narrative to feature less on individual crew meeting their demise once one gunner's demise is established. Focus then shifts on Thaddeus. Added the scene from Reloaded where the machines first drill into Zion This cuts into Matrix Reloaded, when the group of Zion crews discuss the last message from the Osiris until Morpheus arrives with Neo and Trinity. Shortened the shot of Neo pausing midair when he first flies to remove how rubbery the cgi looks Cut Mifune's underling ordering Morpheus to speak to Lock Cut much of the discussion between the Kid and the Zion crew during the discussion between Morpheus and Locke to hasten pace Removed the horny elevator makeout sesh between Trinity and Neo to highlight his spiritual plight and minimizing his physical struggles Trimmed Link asking where is "Puss-hey" is Placed Neo's dream of Trinity from the opening of Reloaded after Morpheus's speech to Zion, leading into Neo's talk with Hann. This eliminates the rave scene. Cut some redundant dialogue between Neo and Councilman Hann leading to and down in the engineering level Limited scenes where Bane cut his hand - one cut is enough to get the point across Eliminated Seraph stating he protects what matters most, to keep his origin more mysterious Cleaned up dialogue indulgence in the conversation between Neo and the Oracle Remove Oracle's direct mention of a doorway made of light when divining Neo's future, in addition to removing numerous lines from this exchange to help make the point of their conversation more sensical Cut some of Smith's heady dialog to Neo to help hasten the pace to their first brawl Eliminated the line "Me, me, me - Me, too!" Smith doesn't stomp on tomatoes - this feels like a Marx Brothers shot Eliminated the egregious CGI of Neo fighting with the pole in the burly brawl No bowling with Agents during the burly brawl Back at Zion when the council meet, 5rimmed down numerous lines of ancillary dialogue and started the scene midway through. The Merovingian's building is not wired with explosives - this never comes into play Removed the Merovingian's reference to ass wiping, orgasmic cakes, and the causality of drinking too much wine and having to piss Cut Neo's obvious line, "Well that didn't go so well," after their meeting with the Merovingian didn't go well Excised the whole kissing scene between Neo and Persephone Removed Morpheus flinching at gunfire - this is uncharacteristic of his faith in the real Eliminated the slow mo shot of the cop cars crashing into barrels Cut reaction shot of dumb truck driver after Trinity jumps a bike off his truck Cut down on Trinity's bike chase to hasten the film's pace Removed Morpheus flipping after an Agent catches his kick, along with the disruptively fake CGI shot of his face afterwards Link doesn't say, "She's good," after Niobe catches Morpheus Shortened the final sequence when Neo flies Morpheus and The Keymaker to safety to hide the ragdoll CGI effects No more scene of Mifune first discovering Zion being drilled into - we know this information already and nothing valuable is learned in this scene Eliminated Niobe questioning why the Keymaker knows what must be done for Neo to open the door, along with his vague response Reduced much of Morpheus's on-the-nose speech on destiny. Excised Smith from the hallway scene before Neo meets the Architect Limited the Architect's ancillary and indulgently heady dialogue, including many cases of Ergo and Apropos Added some other scenes from Keanu Reeves in Constantine to depict the first two failed Matrices, along with footage from the original Matrix film to depict the third Felt like I had to pick between Neo pulling the bullet from Trinity or restarting her heart in order to make the even more significant - decided to keep the bullet removal to avoid cheesy melodrama Rearranged scenes so that as soon as Neo saves Trinity, Squids hone in on their location in the real world, demonstrating the consequence of Neo's choice. Removed Neo's purgatory in the train station and the Club Hel sequence. He collapses after stopping the sentinels, and once the Oracle calls once they're rescued, I cut to his meeting with the new Oracle instead of Morpheus and Trinity meeting with her to rescue Neo. Cut Neo imagining the Machines at the train station Cut the new Oracle's painful allusion to candy Excised the Oracle telling Neo that Smith is him, his opposite, because this exchange is confusing, and the characters' relationships will be examined later on during their battle Removed the other crew discovering Bane's antics and explanation for not intervening in his takeover of Neo and Trinity's ship Here's a big note, I've removed EVERY THING that makes the war between Zion and the machines a slog: Zee plays no role, period. This cuts out oodles of time for an otherwise inconsequential sequence The Kid's sequence is also shortened to reduce cheesiness and a lag on narrative Cut the cliched lines, "You did it - No, we did it" Limited the painfully cliched moments in Trinity and Neo's last jaunt to the machine city Removed Deus Ex Machina's childish outburst when after Neo offers his help to stop Smith Smith's final, repetitive monologue always felt like Dr. Seuss to me, IDK why, but I tried to clean up his final dialogue. Removed the slo mo of Neo punching Smith - this was impressive in 2004, but not 2023 I was always thrown off by the scene of the Oracle found remaining within the Neo/Smith battleground. Almost 20 years ago on a DVD quality transfer, I thought this was Neo, ready to be rescued by Zion. Anyway, I cut the scene Reduced the Kid's jubilation after Neo ended the war Moved Morpheus's final line to the end of the film to help solidify his impact on the overall narrative Moved the Zion rave to the end of the film as the credits roll