'Matrix Revolutions' FX Guru On Final Ending

“We almost enter animated movie mode at the end of Revolutions. A lot of material in those sequences is 100% computer-generated images (CGI), rather than integrated or virtual stuff,” confirms Gaeta. Nor is he trying to make those scenes look like they were shot conventionally. “We like to do effects that don’t look real. That’s one of the reasons we look at Japanese anime so often, because it’s so stylised and they do stuff purely for visual impact.”

So far ahead are Gaeta and his team that the rest of Hollywood is still trying to learn how to re-create the effects from the original Matrix. “It will take other people years to catch up because it’s so difficult to do and it costs so much money,” boasts Gaeta. He should know, as he’s been working on the sequels for over two years both in Australia and the States. “It’s exhausting and you have to pace yourself in an entirely different way. It’s like a mental marathon.”

For the cast, which includes the survivors of the first film: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss, as well as newcomers like Italian actress Monica Bellucci and Marvin Gaye’s daughter Nona, it’s been more like running a marathon. Much of the Wachowskis’ inspiration for The Matrix comes from martial arts movies and all the actors have been trained by Woo-ping Yuen, who choreographed the fights in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and directed Jackie Chan’s early films.