To find out if his reality is a physical or mental construct, Mr. Anderson, aka Neo, will have to choose to follow the white rabbit once more. If he’s learned anything, it’s that choice, while an illusion, is still the only way out of — or into — the Matrix. Neo already knows what he has to do, but what he doesn’t yet know is that the Matrix is stronger, more secure and far more dangerous than ever before.
Remember the Matrix from 1999? Remember its moments? Its iconic dialogues, Hugo Weaving as agent Smith, Morpheus , Trinity….. of course you do!! In fact this film banks on it and forcefully reminds you of all the iconic moments, scenes, dialogues from the first Matrix movie by literally having footage from the 1999 flick.
Matrix Resurrections
It starts out pretty interesting with its meta self aware plot, where we learn what Neo has been upto and the where Trinity has been. Its self awareness is perhaps a bit too on the nose but intriguing nonetheless. Its probably the best part of the film because it abandons all that to settle back into the older Matrix questions and ideas.
There are lot of great ideas particularly in the first 30 minutes, less so in the rest of the film, the execution however is questionable. One of the greatest shocks that this film delivers is its disappointing action!
Its ironic that the franchise known for staging some of the most revolutionary action set pieces of all time has now delivered some of the most forgettable ones in modern cinema. The film looks and feels like any other modern generic sci-fi show and is devoid of any artistic personality that made its pre-deccesors stand out.
The tone switches from comedic self-aware to intense and super serious, which leads to some really bad techno babble which is pretty hard to understand or care about. It at times feels like a parody of the Matrix but then there are some really intense moments that force you to take it seriously and those two things don’t mesh with each other well.
Keanu Reeves, Jessica Henwick and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
There are still cool things and sci-fi concepts being displayed but in meagre numbers, the editing is sloppy and pacing haphazard. They are quick to remind us of the original Matrix by playing the original footage over and over in many of the scenes to literally feed us nostalgia. The plot gets increasingly convoluted and quite needlessly dumb if you stop to think about it.
Keanu Reeves and Carrie Ann Moss are on point but the film just doesn’t stick with them for most parts, the other new characters are forgettable and aren’t that interesting to begin with. We get Niobe back and a revisit to Zion which looks interesting but are only there briefly so it isn’t much valuable.
Keanu Reeves and Carrie Ann Moss
The third act should be simple to understand but certain changes and character growths are so seemingly drastic that you are left with more questions than answers. Ultimately this sequel pretty much kills any desires of any more sequels or spin-offs that we might have expected or wanted , in fact there seems to be a general intent from Lana Wachowski to bash on this whole idea of franchises which she has subtly conveyed through the films first 30 minutes or so and also with an end credit scene.
Is this an Anti-Sequel? Are we supposed to enjoy the trashing of the Matrix franchise by its own Sequel??Is it romance?? Meta Commentary??? all of it ?? Lana Wachowski doesn’t stick to one thing but adds all of it in one film that results in yet another messy Matrix sequel. For many fans this could be the worst one…….and will probably leave them with no desire to rewatch it anytime soon for this one for whatever reasons feels the most heartless and passionless.
Or maybe I am looking at it from the wrong perspective?? Maybe ……maybe not….time will tell but for now The Matrix Resurrections is another messy sequel that fails to capture the hearts or the imagination that the 1999 one did so brilliantly.
