Matrix Revolutions Decoded, The

This is the Matrix sequel that I've always wanted. I doubt I will ever bother to watch Reloaded or Revolutions again. What an achievement!

OK! So, I absolutely love the first Matrix. A great tale that merges eastern religion (zen Buddhism, mostly, but a little Hinduism for good measure), philosophy (what is real and how can we tell), and cyberpunk mentality (conspiracies and those in power trying to keep the truth hidden) into a really fun action movie that actually gave you more to talk about than some dramas... even with Kenau Reeves' cardboard performance.

Then enter the second and *shudder* third movies and all that was gone... I never understood how to utterly craptastic movies could follow such gold. Well, that's a lie. I actually never saw the abortion that was Revolutions... Reloaded was so bad I swore off the entire atrocity. After a friend told me it was the worst, I never felt compelled to try again.

Well, this edit upends ....some... of that criticism. In fact, cutting down Reloaded actually let me see the serious philosophy that had gotten hidden beneath the crap (free will vs determinism) and I found I really liked the first half of this edit. Everything moved smoothly, and I didn't feel like I was missing anything (even though I kinda remembered scenes that weren't there, I didn't miss them). I was totally pumped at this point and seriously thinking that this may be the best fanedit I had seen.

Then we got to the Revolutions half, and everything fell apart. Suddenly there was just a lot of action, and I was lost. When Trinity and co get picked up by the other ship, I thought that was the only ship left and Zion had already fallen (remember I hadn't seen the original of this one) especially because of the captain's description of things. Then the two groups split and I find out they are going to Zion because its almost time for the final battle? And then Neo is blind? There was so much WTF going on I actually backed the movie up and watched about 30 minutes of it again and was still confused. Again, I felt like this was the original movie's fault as much as the editor, as I was still kinda confused as to what was happening after reading the Wikipedia summaries later.

Kudos to the editor for keeping Trinity alive... I almost bought it, but something about the sequence felt weird enough that I had to pause the movie and look up a synopsis on Wikipedia to learn that she was supposed to die. Armed with that knowledge, the rest of the movie was well done with respect to her, and it all felt plausible. Jerrick, you are a great editor, because it all seemed very believable that she survived the crash, and the footage you used for her at the end (even cheering for him during the final fight!) was epic. Loved it. A little weird right at the crash, but that could have been my general confusion at this point.

My final point is also probably with the original material, not the edit, as the plot summaries are confusing on this plot point. I have no idea why the baby-faced machine god needed Neo's help with Smith to begin with. If you get a computer virus in the real world (which is exactly what Smith was behaving like), you disconnect the infected computer from the network so it can't spread and re-install a clean OS, not have a DBZ style fight in the rain. I mean crap. You were about to rewrite the Matrix anyway! He is software. Turn off the computer he inhabits and he's done! In what way does flying around in the rain punching faces fix it? And what makes it different when Neo is absorbed that kills them all? What a crappy finish.

The one bit of editing that I really disliked (and not knowing the original material, it may still be better than it originally was :D) was the scene with the Oracle and Smith? WTF? How did they find her? Why was that sequence so obviously copy-pasted together? Where was that bodyguard of hers? It felt like something was obviously trying to be smoothed over or fixed, but I actually didn't see the relevance of the scene anyway.

All in all, this edit was about as good as could be hoped for given the source material, but some things can't be taken away. Jerrick does an amazing job of fixing what can be fixed, unfortunately glitter on poo doesn't actually make poo any better to look at. And despite all the failings of the story, I have to say that I still recommend this edit, because it is light years better than what we had before, and if you have to acknowledge that the trilogy exists, this is probably still the best way to watch it.

Edit: I realized that I must have moused over the ratings at some point before I submitted the review. I Also reworded a few things to make it clearer that it was the source material and not the editor that I took objection to. Thanks!

This edit is AWESOME!!! For a while, the "Hacked" edits and "2.0" were both satisfying enough for my Matrix sequel needs, but this one is definitely the best one. The genius way shots and scenes were moved around to fit this new take on the same narrative work beautifully. It was so much fun to see new shots appear at different parts of the film after previously asking myself "Wait, why would this be cut?", then later on say "Oh!! So it could be used here. Wow!! This works perfectly!!".

As others have said, even at over 2 hours it doesn't drag. Gotta be honest, after the big highway chase, I began to think "Welp, this is where the movie's gonna slow down since there isn't really any inside the matrix action left". But to my surprise, I found myself enjoying the real world war battle and Niobe chase sequence just as much as the rest. I think adding in the other Niobe/Locke scenes was a great idea because I like how it fleshes them out so much more. It makes the characters feel more "complete". Something we don't get in the theatrical versions. Now some may say that it's odd to spend so much of the opening focusing on these new characters instead of Neo and co. but the way I see it, these characters are already established.

There are little nitpicks that've already been mentioned, so no point in repeating them. Me personally I enjoy this edit so much that I completely look past them. TBH, I haven't even watched the theatrical versions of either films in about 10 years, so whenever I watch a new edit of these films (and at this point I've seen nearly all of them), it really is like getting a new experience. Like I'm watching these movies for the first time again, since I've forgotten most of the boring fluff anyway.

My only nitpick is the trimming of the fight scenes. For me they're the highlights of these movies. I understand pacing, and it DOES work, but for me, I'll never forget seeing "Reloaded" in the theater with my friends at the midnight showing the night before the release and barely being able to stay in my seat during the burly brawl. So yeah seeing the fight scenes get trimmed even if just slightly is my only real nitpick.

Great job dude. You're a real talent. Like the editors on the other 2, you've also saved this franchise (for me). I hope someday the cast and crew hear about it (assuming they're good sports about what we do here, of course lol).

I've searched a long time for a good Matrix sequel edit that combines the two sequels into a single film, as I believe they always should have been. I've found varying degrees of satisfaction with different edits here and there. Now Jerick's first version, Reprogrammed, was very, very good, but suffered a bit from keeping too much bloat from Reloaded.

Enter Decoded.

All the fat has been trimmed from these movies now. It moves along at quite a clip. The Nebuchadnezzar crew never goes to Zion until the end of the movie (Neo and Trinity never go there in this version), and I didn't realize how unnecessary those scenes were until I saw Decoded.

The rave is now gone (well, mostly). The Neo-as-a-messiah stuff, which I never had any issue with, is gone - and I don't miss it. The added Locke/Niobe Enter the Matrix scenes that felt superfluous in Reprogrammed now serve a purpose and don't feel superfluous anymore. Locke is less of an asshole - now, he's a desperate military commander who doesn't understand the "prophecy" business and doesn't have time for it. His priority is defending Zion from the machines, and damn it if I didn't sympathize with him this time.

I especially liked the way the transition between Reloaded and Revolutions was handled. Removing the fighting surrounding the Architect scenes helps make it feel like the middle of a movie instead of an ending. While I like that Trinity's whole "falling" business is gone, it IS a bit odd that she stays out of the Matrix for all of this, but there wasn't really a good way around that. Frankly, she doesn't have a whole lot to do in "Decoded," but at least she's not a damsel in distress making stupid decisions all the time like in the theatrical releases. Obviously, like in "Reprogrammed," almost all of the first chunk of Revolutions is gone - no train station, no return to the Merovingian - and again it works beautifully.

I was a bit disheartened at the loss of Bane, as I actually like the idea, but I do have to concede that the character was handled poorly in the original version of the films, and this edit plays out much better without him. The blinding of Neo - while necessary due to his blindfold when heading to the Source - feels a little out of left field in "Decoded," but again, there isn't much that can be done about that. But as Jerick has rightly pointed out, this edit simply wouldn't work if Bane was left in.

I don't want to spoil the ending too much, but it's a unique solution that I mostly liked (and I never did like the Architect/Oracle "park scene" ending). I'm not quite sold on the way this new ending is presented, but the "music montage" idea probably wouldn't work so well if it were played any other way, and I don't think this edit would work as well otherwise. Still, it felt odd to me. That's probably because I wasn't expecting it at all, though. It probably will feel more "right" on a rewatch. And again, it's much better than the "real" ending.

As far as technical issues go, dialogue is occasionally drowned out by new music or SFX, though I was hearing a 5.1 track downmixed to 2.0, so that may change after I watch this on a 5.1 system at some point. Video editing is seamless throughout - as I said, Neo's blinding is a little awkward, but I don't think it can be done any better without Bane.

"Decoded" is probably as close to the "definitive" Matrix 2 as these movies can get. I found myself enjoying the movie the whole way through - I never got bored, I never thought "This should've been cut" the way I have with every other Matrix edit, and the solutions Jerick found to many of the problems that plague these films are inspired.

So, in short, I highly recommend this edit to anyone who loves the first Matrix, especially if you haven't been completely satisfied with other sequel fan edits in the past. This one's good, guys - REALLY good.

This edits put all the players in their roles without being distracted. For the first time I have felt an actual consistent theme to arise from the films. Mainly from the editors original ideas to dramatically change what Neo and Trinity do and where they end up. It felt exciting to get a sense at the end that the Matrix finally has a real sequel.


First Matrix:

Humans should be free vs Humans should be controlled.

But what do you do after you remove the wool from your eyes? You try to figure out your purpose, this is what the sequels tried to do but failed.

Matrix Sequels:

The sequels reveal that humans can't just be constantly forced to act, so two levels of controls were created to maintain the Matrix.

1. Humans make choices - Morpheus and the Oracle. If people feel they have a degree of choice, most just go along.

2. Just do your duty - Locke and the Architect. For those that the first level wasn't enough (the One's), their duty to save their race is presented as overpowering enough to get even them to go along.

These two levels proved insufficient for three main characters: Merovingian, Agent Smith, and Neo.

There is no purpose - Merovingian and Agent Smith

While the Merovingian wasn't a threat because he kept himself distracted enough with games and pleasure. Smith has angry enough to want to destroy everything, which the Machines' levels of controls couldn't handle.

What is Trinity's role? Beauty. In the Platonic sense of "insight into the greatest transcendent good."

By putting her in less direct danger, Neo's motive seems to be more about Trinity as an ideal. It was less "I love YOU so much, so I will save YOU" and more "I have known what it means to love, therefore I will fight for everyone". That insight was enough to spread to the Machines and create peace, having the first shared value.

The theme of the Matrix films: It is wrong to start by valuing people as a faceless crowd and just caring about the "common good", instead start by seeing the objective worth of each individual and expound that to everyone.

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The original films just kept repeating:
Neo - "Don't do anything dangerous Trinity because I have to protect you, I'm so worried, hurr."
Trinity - "Looks like I have to put myself in danger again because I want to help out, durr."

And then tried to backpedal and make Neo a messiah in the last 15 minutes.

This fanedit keeps Neo's journey to truth going from the end of the first film without derailing like the original films did.

It keeps the orgasmo cake (still a stupid explosion effect IMO) and the Architect speech which many don't like but with the improved pacing, I wasn't as annoyed. The cake gives the Merovingian more time to make his point about causality, shows that he ended up a hedonist, and shows that his wife is more upset.

Without cutting away to Trinity falling and making the choice about saving Trinity 'right NOW', the pacing in the Architect room is better. Also Neo makes the choice to leave and fight to save Trinity and everyone else who he thinks would just die in Zion being purged and reset.

This edit also made Niobe and her crew a much more memorable part of the story. The transmission, Locke, and calling a meeting in the Matrix all made more sense in this edit as well as where all the ships were in relation to each other. 1. Machine army is found. 2. Ships are ordered to withdraw and defend choke points except Morpheus disobeys. 3. Two ships sent to look for him. 4. Two out of three are destroyed. 5. Hammer is only surviving ship from defense and is trying to get back to Zion.

The fight sound volume is low in many areas to help with the editing. I get that it is needed but it was distracting, especially in the very first Neo vs Agents fight. I watched the streaming version but other than that the editing felt fine.

The added scenes from Enter the Matrix didn't feel out of place.

No Bane - thank God.

The edits for the Fight for Zion are seamless and really change it into a tense situation.

This has replaced the sequels for me and anyone I introduce the films to in the future.