The Matrix Evolutions [Pilot Release By chris-kye]

Intention With This Edit: To make what I felt was a ΓÇ£TrueΓÇ¥ Matrix film as opposed to the later sequels, one that would use the concepts and philosophies of the original film .



Original Titles: The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, & Enter the Matrix

New Title: The Matrix Evolutions

Original Runtime: 280 minutes (The Matrix Reloaded = 138 minutes: The Matrix Revolutions = 129 minutes: Enter the Matrix scenes = 12 minutes)

New Runtime: 175 minutes (2 hours, 55 minutes)

Time Cut: approximately 106 minutes

Time Added: 8-9 minutes

Software Used: Sony Vegas 7 (video editing), Adobe Photoshop CS2 (image editing), Bahaus Mirage (compositing), Sony Sound Forge 8 (audio editing), Sony DVD Architect 4 (DVD authoring)



Major Edits/Changes

- numerous cuts to the various fight sequences throughout the film

- numerous cuts to remove redundant dialogue and bad writing

- Neo has a second dream sequence of TrinityΓÇÖs death (taken from TrinityΓÇÖs encounter with the Agent at the end of Reloaded)

- NeoΓÇÖs ΓÇ£powersΓÇ¥ in the Real World now serve a very real purpose to the story

- several scenes have been added from the Enter the Matrix video game (to flesh out several characters and introduce new plot elements to the story)

- the KidΓÇÖs role in the story is significantly reduced than the original version (and he does not ΓÇ£save the dayΓÇ¥)

- removed the Morpheus/Locke/Niobe love triangle (instead, the relationships between the three is left more ambiguous)

- MorpheusΓÇÖs ΓÇ£Speech to ZionΓÇ¥ and the ΓÇ£RaveΓÇ¥ sequences have been removed entirely

- the OracleΓÇÖs speech in the Park has been edited to change the nature of Programs

- Smith is not a Rogue Program: he is still a part of the System, abit much more powerful

- the NebΓÇÖs destruction and Neo & company joining the Hammer crew occurs after the Burly Brawl

- 6-7 minutes cut from the ΓÇ£FreewayΓÇ¥ sequence (to increase tension of the car chase, remove unnecessary Bullet Time effects, remove rudundant scenes with Link, and make the Agents stronger and deadlier)

- the ΓÇ£Door to the SourceΓÇ¥ no longer leads to the Source, but to the Train Station

- the ΓÇ£SatiΓÇ¥ scenes have been edited to make her less annoying and reduce her impact to the story

- the ΓÇ£battle through HelΓÇ¥ has been removed

- NeoΓÇÖs meeting with the ΓÇ£newΓÇ¥ Oracle has been heavily edited to make her appear less-helpful and harder to trust her words

- nearly half of the footage of ΓÇ£The Battle for ZionΓÇ¥ has been cut and restructured to be a much darker and ambiguous sequence.

- the ΓÇ£ArchitectΓÇ¥ scenes has been moved from the middle of the story to near the end

- features a brand-new ending to The Matrix saga



Additional notes:



Many people have that certain movie that opens their eyes to the possibility of Film: for some people it’s Star Wars, for others it’s Lord of the Rings - for me, that film was 1999’s The Matrix. The Matrix was and still is (to me, anyway) one of the most creative, original, and intellectually stimulating films to be made in the history of cinema. Like many people, I eagerly awaited the arrival of the sequels… only to come away bitterly disappointed from watching them.



Now, there were many things that ended up detracting from Reloaded and Revolutions: over-usage of CG graphics and action sequences in place of Story, poor writing and dialogue, lame secondary characters, critical references to other Matrix media that most audiences didn’t see, self-referential moments that would decend to self-parody, etc., etc….



For me, however, there was one glaring problem that I could not overlook in the sequels: the character of Neo himself. In my view, this was NOT the same character that we last saw at the end of the first film. His powers appeared to have “de-evolved”, his intelligence turned to nothing, his personality was dull and less interesting, and up until the last 1/4 of “Revolutions”, it seemed like he really didn’t give a crap about anyone other than Trinity. And then, of course, there’s the ending: where Neo chooses to sacrifice himself for the “Love & Peace” of Humanity and the Machines…



That… is complete and utter bull.



In my frustration, I returned to the first film and began studying the various subjects and works that influenced it. It was from these elements and my interpretations on ΓÇ£The MatrixΓÇ¥ that made me decide to go back and re-edit the sequels in a manner that I felt expanded on the themes of the original - an Edit that would ask the question:

“What if the Neo that we saw in Reloaded and Revolutions… wasn’t the true ONE after all?”