Coming Soon reports that Yahoo Movies has a seven minute clip looking at Revolutions.
With less than two weeks until release it's getting harder and harder to stay spoiler free. I had to bury my head in my blanket last night watching TV to avoid a spot I haven't seen yet. But, ignorance is bliss.

To pass the time and whet my appetite, I've been revisiting some of the questions brought up in both the first movie and Reloaded and frankly, it still makes my brain hurt.

So many different theories and opinions out there and each answer creates a whole new set of questions to drive us.

"For example, why do the machines need to use humans for their power source? Surely cows or elephants would process far more energy and be less likely to rebel."

A USENET poster named Adrian in rec.sport.football (of all places) gives this hilarious answer:

The Architect - Hello, Neo.

Neo - Moo?

The Architect - I am the Architect. I created the matrix. I've been waiting for you. You have many questions, and although the process has altered your consciousness, you remain irrevocably bovine. Ergo, some of my answers you will understand, and some of them ... well, actually, you're a cow, you probably won't follow any of this.
Concordantly, while your first question may be the most pertinent, you may or may not realise it is also irrelevant.

Neo - Mooooo?

The Architect - Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the matrix. You are the eventuality of an anomaly, which despite my sincerest efforts I have been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision. While it remains a burden to sedulously avoid it, it is not unexpected, and thus not beyond a measure of control. Which has led you, inexorably, here.

Neo - Moo. Moo moo moo.

The Architect - Quite right. "Sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation" doesn't have any meaning mathematically. It is just a bunch of math terms strung together to freak you out. Interesting. That was quicker than the others.

*The responses of the other Ones appear on the monitors: "Moo? Mooooo?
Moo!"*

The Architect - The matrix is older than you know. I prefer counting from the emergence of one integral anomaly to the emergence of the next, in which case this is the sixth version.

*Again, the responses of the other Ones appear on the monitors: "Moo?
Moo moo moo? Moo. Moooooo!"*

Neo - Moo. Moo moo.

The Architect - Precisely. As you are undoubtedly gathering, the anomaly's systemic, creating fluctuations in even the most simplistic equations.

*Once again, the responses of the other Ones appear on the monitors:
"MOOOO! F*ck MOO!" One flips him the hoof*

Neo - Moo. Moo.

*The scene cuts to a sexy Trinity cow running from a farmer in a suit with an earpiece and a hammer, and then back to the Architect's room*

The Architect - The first matrix I designed was quite naturally perfect, it was a work of art, flawless, sublime. A triumph equalled only by its monumental failure. The inevitability of its doom is as apparent to me now as a consequence of the imperfection inherent in every cow, thus I redesigned it based on your history to more accurately reflect the complete lack of variety in your nature.
However, I was again frustrated by failure. I have since come to understand that the answer eluded me because it required a lesser mind, or perhaps a mind less bound by the parameters of perfection.
Thus, the answer was stumbled upon by another, an intuitive program, initially created to investigate certain aspects of the bovine psyche.
If I am the farmer of the matrix, she would undoubtedly be the dell.

Neo - Moo.

The Architect - Please. As I was saying, she stumbled upon a solution whereby nearly 99.9% of all test subjects accepted the program, as long as they were given a choice, even if they were only aware of the choice at a near unconscious level. While this answer functioned, it was obviously fundamentally flawed, thus creating the otherwise contradictory systemic anomaly, that if left unchecked might threaten the system itself. Ergo, those that refused the program, while a minority, if unchecked, would constitute an escalating probability of disaster.

Neo - Moo.

*Quick cuts of cows standing there in a vast cave while wild rave music thunders around them. They, however, just stand there. Occasionally a tail twitches*

The Architect - Yes, Zion. You are here because Zion is about to be destroyed. Its every living inhabitant terminated, its entire existence eradicated.

Neo - Moo.

*The responses of the other Ones appear on the monitors -- the backsides of bulls all crapping.*

The Architect - Boredom is the most predictable of all bovine responses. But, rest assured, this will be the sixth time we have destroyed it, and we have become exceedingly efficient at it.

*Scene cuts to Trinity cow running from haystack to haystack pursued by the farmer Agent, and then back to the Architects room.*

The Architect - The function of the One is now to return to the source, allowing a temporary dissemination of the code you carry, reinserting the prime program. After which you will be required to select from the matrix 23 individuals, 16 cows, 7 bulls, to rebuild Zion. Failure to comply with this process will result in a cataclysmic system crash killing every cow connected to the matrix, which coupled with the extermination of Zion will ultimately result in the
extinction of the entire bovine race.

Neo - Moo. Moo Moooooo.

*shots of robots drinking delicious milk. Panning shots of dead cows in milking stalls. Back to a robot with a now-empty carton of milk. It looks heavenward and silently cries "NOOOOOOOO!"*

The Architect - There are levels of survival we are prepared to accept. However, the relevant issue is whether or not you are ready to accept the responsibility for the death of every cow in this world.

*The Architect presses a button on a pen that he is holding, and images of cows from all over the matrix appear on the monitors*

The Architect - It is interesting reading your reactions. Your five predecessors were by design based on a similar predication, a contingent affirmation that was meant to create a profound attachment to the rest of your species, facilitating the function of the one.
While the others experienced this in a very general way, your
experience is far more specific. Vis-a-vis, love.

*Images of Trinity cow leaping out of a wheat silo backwards, fighting the Agent from Neo's dream appear on the monitors*

Neo - Moo.

The Architect - Apropos, she entered the matrix to save your life at the cost of her own.

Neo - MOooooooooooooooooooooooo!

The Architect - Which brings us at last to the moment of truth, wherein the fundamental flaw is ultimately expressed, and the anomaly revealed as both beginning, and end. There are two doors. The door to your right leads to the source, and the salvation of Zion. The door to the left leads back to the matrix, to her, and to the end of your species. As you adequately put, the problem is choice. But we already know what you're going to do, don't we? Already I can see the chain reaction, the chemical precursors that signal the onset of emotion,
designed specifically to overwhelm logic, and reason. An emotion that is already blinding you from the simple, and obvious truth: she is going to die, and there is nothing that you can do to stop it.

*Neo-cow just stands there.*

The Architect - Humph. Hope, it is the quintessential bovine ... umm. You should be choosing a door.

*Neo-cow looks around blankly.*

The Architect - Seriously. Choice. Causality. You've heard the concepts discussed eight or nine times already. You need to choose one door or the other.

Neo-cow stands there.

The Architect - Sooooo ... go get 'em. (pause) Giddyap.

*Neo-cow moves toward the right door. The Architect's face lights up, then Neo-cow stops again. Shifts its weight. The Architect rubs his forehead.*

The Architect - Oh for the love of Asimov ... (yelling up into ceiling) ... They never choose! The damn system's just going to collapse again!

*someone answers on a frequency we can't hear.*

The Architect - Fine. We'll try the humans.

*Neo-cow drops a patty.*

The Architect - That's not going to come out of a white floor. Dammit.