In the latest entry of our ongoing series, Screen Rant's Ryan George reveals what (probably) happened in the The Matrix Revolutions. Released in 2003, just a few months after The Matrix Reloaded, Revolutions marked the end of a rapid decline in mood from massive anticipation for the rest of the Matrix trilogy, to massive disappointment in it.
Filmmaker siblings Lana and Lilly Wachowski returned to direct The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions back-to-back after the critical and financial success of The Matrix in 1999. Needless to say, the pressure was on to deliver an expanded mythology for the Matrix and Zion, epic battles between humans and machines, and a worthy end for hero protagonist Neo (Keanu Reeves).
The Matrix Reloaded ended with Neo in a coma, so The Matrix Revolutions begins with him hanging out in a virtual train station with two programs and their daughter (yes, programs can have children) while his friends out in the real world try to free him. Once Neo escapes from limbo, it's revealed that Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) plans to destroy both the real world and the Matrix - which isn't great news, but it does give the machines and humans a strong incentive to agree to a tentative peace so that they can destroy their mutual enemy.
The trilogy concludes with Neo allowing Agent Smith to assimilate him and the machines using his body as a conduit for a massive energy surge that destroys all the Smith clones and saves the world (both worlds, actually). In the aftermath the war between humans and machines ends, but it's implied that it's only a matter of time before the two factions start fighting again, leaving the door wide open for a sequel.
While The Matrix Revolutions was still a box office hit, it marked a significant downturn from The Matrix Reloaded both in of ticket sales and reviews, and neither of the sequels are ed nearly as well as the original movie. Fortunately, The Matrix works well enough as a standalone story that fans are free to pretend that the others don't exist.
For those who have taken that approach, however, a reminder is on the way in the form of another sequel: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss and Jada Pinkett Smith - reprising their roles. But with production put on pause as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, who knows when we'll see Neo again.
