History YMMV / TheMatrixRevolutions

*** Smith laughs because in that moment he [[spoiler: sees the future and sees his victory. He is genuinely, triumphantly happy.]]

*** That said, this could be justified due to Smith's lack of imagination meaning he can't think creatively enough to use his abilities that way and Neo not wanting to give Smith ideas when he's having enough trouble just beating Smith up.

* VindicatedByHistory: Having been reappraised in the intervening years toward the release of ''[[Film/TheMatrixResurrections Resurrections]]'', opinions have warmed to ''Revolutions'' as being thematically deeper and consistent with the previous ''Matrix'' films than initially appraised, as pointed out by [[https://youtu.be/ZvyCyyFRpfE this video]] from Just Write.

* VindicatedByHistory: Much like ''Reloaded'', TheNewTens and the Wachowskis coming out as trans saw a majority of the vitriol against the film die down. Having been reappraised in the intervening years toward the release of ''[[Film/TheMatrixResurrections Resurrections]]'', opinions have warmed to ''Revolutions'' as being thematically deeper and consistent with the previous ''Matrix'' films than initially appraised, as pointed out by [[https://youtu.be/ZvyCyyFRpfE this video]] from Just Write. Some now consider ''Revolutions'' to not only be a great sequel, but the best in the trilogy by far, with the contemporary negative reviews the film received now seen as retroactive transphobia and part of the post-9/11 backlash against intellectualism.

* SugarWiki/DevelopmentHeaven: Many of the "raindrops" in the final fight between Neo and Smith are actually single lines of Matrix code, similar to those on displays seen in the "real world" throughout the trilogy. This subtle effect was added to imply that the Matrix was beginning to destabilize.

* HilariousInHindsight: At the end of the film, [[spoiler: the Matrix is reset at thanks to [[HeroicSacrifice Neo's sacrifice]]. Sati asks the Oracle if they'll ever see Neo again, to which she replies, "I'm sure we will someday."]] This line is now oddly prophetic as it retroactively [[spoiler: foreshadows Neo being resurrected in the ''Film/TheMatrixResurrections'']].

* MemeticMutation: Smith's laugh [[spoiler: after duplicating from the Oracle]]. Also "Why do you persist!?" and "...Because I choose to."

%%* MoralEventHorizon: For Smith:
%%** "[[WouldHurtAChild I'm not]] ''[[WouldHurtAChild so]]'' [[WouldHurtAChild bad once you get to know me...]]"
%%** "Cookies need love like everything does" was even more pants-shittingly evil.

* NightmareRetardant: Smith's EvilLaugh after the aforementioned MoralEventHorizon-crossing. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfrWchX5rAU It's just goofy.]]

* EsotericHappyEnding: The film ends on a happy note with Neo achieving a truce between Zion and the Machines, and the Architect promising the Oracle that humans who want out of the Matrix will be freed. However, as the Headscratchers page and [[http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/10-minutes-after-end-the-matrix-trilogy/?wa_user1=1&wa_user2=Movies+%26+TV&wa_user3=quickfix&wa_user4=feature_module this Cracked article]] detail, there's still a lot of problems. For one thing, the real world is still a CrapsackWorld and there's no hope of rebuilding civilization because the sky is still blacked out so the biosphere cannot recover; and for another thing, any humans freed from the Matrix will go through physical and psychological trauma (as shown by Neo in the first film) in exchange for their freedom to live in Zion, which is an underground cave where humans live like impoverished refugees and it's implied resources are already stretched tight. Further, there's no guarantee that the Machines will uphold the truce for very long and they still have the full capacity to crush Zion whenever they want, ​the Matrix is going to keep running because they need it to sustain their quality of life, ''and'' there will certainly be tensions and suspicions between Zion and the Machines for years to come and the Machines are probably not going to be very forthcoming helping Zion with its problems. All in all, anyone who is freed from the Matrix will likely end up regretting their decision, Zion is still going to live in fear of the Machines exterminating them at any time, and it's rather unlikely that life will improve for anyone, human, program, or machine. ''Resurrections'' [[AuthorsSavingThrow actually addresses this]] by revealing that, while the peace predictably didn't last forever and Zion was eventually destroyed, humans formed an alliance with some of the machines and are actually working toward making the world a better place, with IO, the successor to Zion, having a much higher standard of living as a result.

* WhatAnIdiot: Bane is onboard the ''Hammer''. He is possessed by Smith and is acting suspiciously. The crew (correctly) suspect that he is responsible for an EMP blast that led to the deaths of several other rebels.\\
'''You'd Expect''': That Captain Roland restrain him or station security in the room with him.\\
'''Instead''': He leaves him alone in a room with a woman half his size\\
'''Result''': He kills her, escapes and gets aboard the ''Logos'', where he almost kills Neo and Trinity.
** Then Bane holds a blade to Trinity's neck and holds her hostage to force Neo to put down the plasma rifle he has and walk away from it. \\
'''You'd Expect''': Bane slits Trinity's throat and makes a dive for the rifle. \\
'''Instead''': Bane pushes Trinity down the hatch into the power room and ''then'' makes a dive for the rifle. \\
'''Result''': Trinity flips a circuit breaker and cuts power to the room above, giving Neo a chance to fight back before Bane can shoot him. The only justification is that Smith has a tight grasp on the VillainBall and wants to savor Trinity's death in his own time, but that doesn't excuse his idiocy.

* EsotericHappyEnding: The film ends on a happy note with Neo achieving a truce between Zion and the Machines, and the Architect promising the Oracle that humans who want out of the Matrix will be freed. However, as the Headscratchers page and [[http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/10-minutes-after-end-the-matrix-trilogy/?wa_user1=1&wa_user2=Movies+%26+TV&wa_user3=quickfix&wa_user4=feature_module this Cracked article]] detail, there's still a lot of problems. For one thing, the real world is still a CrapsackWorld and there's no hope of rebuilding civilization because the sky is still blacked out so the biosphere cannot recover; and for another thing, any humans freed from the Matrix will go through physical and psychological trauma (as shown by Neo in the first film) in exchange for their freedom to live in Zion, which is an underground cave where humans live like impoverished refugees and it's implied resources are already stretched tight. Further, there's no guarantee that the Machines will uphold the truce for very long and they still have the full capacity to crush Zion whenever they want, ​the Matrix is going to keep running because they need it to sustain their quality of life, ''and'' there will certainly be tensions and suspicions between Zion and the Machines for years to come and the Machines are probably not going to be very forthcoming helping Zion with its problems. All in all, anyone who is freed from the Matrix will likely end up regretting their decision, Zion is still going to live in fear of the Machines exterminating them at any time, and it's rather unlikely that life will improve for anyone, human, program, or machine. ''Resurrections'' [[AuthorsSavingThrow actually addresses this]] by revealing that, while the peace predictably didn't last forever and Xion was eventually destroyed, humans formed an alliance with some of the machines and are actually working toward making the world a better place, with IO, the successor to Xion, having a much higher standard of living as a result.

* EsotericHappyEnding: The film ends on a happy note with Neo achieving a truce between Zion and the Machines, and the Architect promising the Oracle that humans who want out of the Matrix will be freed. However, as the Headscratchers page and [[http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/10-minutes-after-end-the-matrix-trilogy/?wa_user1=1&wa_user2=Movies+%26+TV&wa_user3=quickfix&wa_user4=feature_module this Cracked article]] detail, there's still a lot of problems. For one thing, the real world is still a CrapsackWorld and there's no hope of rebuilding civilization because the sky is still blacked out so the biosphere cannot recover; and for another thing, any humans freed from the Matrix will go through physical and psychological trauma (as shown by Neo in the first film) in exchange for their freedom to live in Zion, which is an underground cave where humans live like impoverished refugees and it's implied resources are already stretched tight. Further, there's no guarantee that the Machines will uphold the truce for very long and they still have the full capacity to crush Zion whenever they want, ​the Matrix is going to keep running because they need it to sustain their quality of life, ''and'' there will certainly be tensions and suspicions between Zion and the Machines for years to come and the Machines are probably not going to be very forthcoming helping Zion with its problems. All in all, anyone who is freed from the Matrix will likely end up regretting their decision, Zion is still going to live in fear of the Machines exterminating them at any time, and it's rather unlikely that life will improve for anyone, human, program, or machine.

* MemeticMutation: Smith's laugh [[spoiler: after duplicating from the Oracle]].

* VindicatedByHistory: Much like ''Reloaded'', TheNewTens and the Wachowskis coming out as trans saw a majority of the vitriol against the film die down. Having been reappraised in the intervening years toward the release of ''[[Film/TheMatrixResurrections Resurrections]]'', opinions have warmed to ''Revolutions'' as being thematically deeper and consistent with the previous ''Matrix'' films than initially appraised, as pointed out by [[https://youtu.be/ZvyCyyFRpfE this video]] from Just Write. Much like ''Reloaded'', many now blame the contemporary negative reviews the film received on retroactive transphobia and the post-9/11 backlash against intellectualism.

** The film completely ignores how ''[[Film/TheMatrixReloaded Reloaded]]'' ended with the strong implication that the supposed real world was just another computer program to keep anyone who happened to wake up from the Matrix under control. However, the Wachowskis never planned that at all. [[http://www.matrixresolutions.com/index.html?page=debunked_previous_smith_viruses This twist would actually make the entire story pointless and raise more criticisms,]] like why the other Matrix involves a war against the machines.

** However, In this [[https://youtu.be/ZvyCyyFRpfE video]] Just Write points out that the movie not only is good at that, but also consistent with the previous movies subtle foreshadowing.
* VindicatedByHistory: While still being viewed as the weakest of the trilogy, a majority of the vitriol has died down a bit and many admit at least it does feel like concluding chapter that does as promised: deliver a climax to the story. A consensus for many is that the disappointment was just due to how hyped it was at the time of its release and how confusing ''Reloaded'' made things for most to really enjoy it. Now that the dust has long settled and many actually gave it a better viewing, opinion note it's flawed but not a bad cap-off.

'''You'd Expect''': That Soren restrain him or station security in the room with him.\\

* {{Padding}}: The battle of Zion, while cool looking, does not matter at all since Neo is the only one who can stop the fighting and he's somewhere else. One could argue the battle is necessary to show just how hopeless a fight it is for the humans and reinforce Neo's importance. They had to keep up the fight for as long as possible since Neo was trying to save them from being massacred. These scenes also showed that everyone isn't just sitting on their thumbs waiting for Neo, but that could have been done with a couple of shots, not over a half an hour of pointless subplots.

* EsotericHappyEnding: From a certain point of view... See the Headscratchers page for more of this. (And [[http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/10-minutes-after-end-the-matrix-trilogy/?wa_user1=1&wa_user2=Movies+%26+TV&wa_user3=quickfix&wa_user4=feature_module this]], which also offers plenty of AlternateCharacterInterpretation given the ProtagonistCenteredMorality.)
--> '''Creator/NoahAntwiler''': What's really terrible is that it doesn't seem like humanity really comes out on top at all. The machines are still an overwhelming, dominant force. Humanity is still wedged in Zion. They have more freedom than before, but they are still effectively under the total dominion of the machines. Neo really just seems to have saved humanity from one slime pit, only to cast them into another slightly less smelly one.

* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: Ian Bliss does an amazing job of copying Creator/HugoWeaving's performance as Smith, emulating his physicality and vocal inflections perfectly. It makes it very easy to hear Weaving's voice in place of Bliss' when Bane speaks.

* EsotericHappyEnding: [[http://bigdamnpictures.blogspot.com/2011/02/not-so-happy-happy-endings-part-2.html From a certain point of view...]] See the Headscratchers page for more of this. (And [[http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/10-minutes-after-end-the-matrix-trilogy/?wa_user1=1&wa_user2=Movies+%26+TV&wa_user3=quickfix&wa_user4=feature_module this]], which also offers plenty of AlternateCharacterInterpretation given the ProtagonistCenteredMorality.)

* MoralEventHorizon: For Smith:
** "[[WouldHurtAChild I'm not]] ''[[WouldHurtAChild so]]'' [[WouldHurtAChild bad once you get to know me...]]"
** "Cookies need love like everything does" was even more pants-shittingly evil.

** "Alright, let's move with a purpose." [[note]]The line is supposed to sound epic and meaningful to get the group moving when really, it just comes off sounding ''really'' silly trying to shoehorn the word "purpose" into a line where it doesn't really belong.[[/note]]

** [[spoiler:Trinity]]'s death scene would have been much more effective if it didn't feature a FinalSpeech that goes on for ''4 minutes''. [[note]]Note that the main complaint about the scene (its length) is a case of [[RealityIsUnrealistic reality being unrealistic]], since if anything she would have taken a lot ''longer'' to die in the real world, as the rods piercing her body would have plugged her wounds and slowed down her bleeding out. Even with that however, chances are she'd have been in far too much pain to give a long, dull speech.[[/note]]
* NarmCharm: Smith stating that "Cookies need love like everything does". Out of context, having him deliver this line sounds silly and kind of hilarious. ''In'' context, though, it's an IronicEcho to indicate that he just crossed the MoralEventHorizon by [[spoiler:assimilating [[WouldHurtAChild a child]]]], thus making it genuinely creepy.

* VindicatedByHistory: While still being viewed as the weakest of the trilogy. A majority of the vitriol had died down a bit and many admit at the least it does feel like concluding chapter that does as promised: deliver a climax to the story. A consensus for many is that the disappointment was just due to how hyped it was at the time of it release and how confusing ''Reloaded'' made things for most to really enjoy it. Now that the dust has long settled and many actually gave it a better viewing, opinion note it's flawed but not a bad cap off.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The ending credits song "Navras", an extended version of "Neodammerung" (the song that plays as Neo fights the final form of Smith).