The Matrix Resurrections
Summary
It ’s been nearly two years sinceThe Matrix Resurrectionscame along and torpedo the franchise ’s canon , and the unnecessary sequel ’s most glaring flaws really stand out on a rewatch . Directed and co - written by Lana Wachowski , The Matrix Resurrectionspicks up 60 twelvemonth after the event of the original trilogy with Thomas Anderson back in the Matrix , working on a video game based on his experiences as Neo ( which he ’s been convinced are all fake ) . This write up buried the franchise in several layers of meta as Anderson begrudgingly create a sequel toThe Matrixtrilogy at the behest of Warner Bros.
When it arrive in theaters in 2021,The Matrix Resurrectionsbombed at the box office and received assorted revaluation from critics . But in bitchiness of that unsuccessful person , Warner Bros. is still determined to earn more net profit fromThe Matrixfranchise , soThe Matrix 5is in development . The Matrix 5will have to do a quite a little of heavy lifting to get this series out of the kettle of fish create byThe Matrix Resurrections . From its rephrasing of icons to its lackluster action successiveness , The Matrix Resurrections ’ braggy problem are sorely apparent on a dusty - brightness level - of - day rewatch .
10The Matrix Resurrections Openly Admits To Being A Corporate Cash Grab
Lana Wachowski famously only agreed to make a fourthMatrixmovie because Warner Bros. menace to make one without her amour if she didn’t . The Matrix Resurrectionsdoesn’t exist because a new history needed to be evidence ; it survive strictly because Warner Bros. executive director desire to squeeze a few extra dollar mark out of one of their most popular I.P.s . And Wachowski is very upfront about that within the movie itself .
betimes in the moving-picture show , Thomas Anderson is call into his Bos ’ office and tell , “ Our darling parent company , Warner Bros. , has decided to make a sequel to the trilogy . ” When Anderson dissent the idea , his boss tell him , “ They ’re gon na do it with or without us . ” So , Wachowski begrudgingly made a John Cash - grabMatrix 4for Warner Bros. about a Almighty begrudgingly making a cash - grabMatrix 4for Warner Bros.
9The Matrix Resurrections' Storytelling Feels Aimless & Undercooked
Despite having the authors ofCloud AtlasandThe Lazarus Projecton its scriptwriting squad , The Matrix Resurrectionshas really aimless plotting . It follows Neo in and out of the real world – and in and out of mirror portals within the Matrix – like the bored and/or baffled player of an open - earth video game with too much open space and not enough tale . It ’s more like a accumulation of disparate concept than an actual story .
This movie has a passel of interesting ideas up in the air . In the Matrix , Thomas Anderson has been convert thatThe Matrixtrilogy was his own introduction and none of it really happened . In the actual earth , the human race and the machines have miraculously start out work on together against a common enemy . But there ’s nothing pulling these threads together in a cohesive path .
8No One Can Replace Hugo Weaving As Agent Smith
Jonathan Groff is undeniably a ok actor – he proved that with his captivating turn as Holden Ford in Netflix ’s grisly crime dramaMindhunterand any number of acclaimed Broadway performances – buthe ’s no lucifer for Hugo Weavingin the part of Agent Smith . Groff ’s Smith is twice as smarmy as Weaving ’s without any of the sly charm . Weaving cope to imbue this hateable , humdrum character with enough personality to make him endlessly watchable .
Part of the problem is that Groff ’s Smith is n’t at once introduced as Smith . He ’s introduce as a corporate courting answering to Warner Bros. executives , and when he ’s revealed to be Smith , Groff has to reconcile those two different characters . But the gravid take with this character is simply that someone else was cast to play a role that is intrinsically tied to its original actor .
7The Matrix Resurrections' Action Scenes Are Really Underwhelming
One of the most disappointing thing aboutThe Matrix Resurrectionsis that its action sequence are really lackluster . WhileThe Matrix ReloadedandThe Matrix Revolutionscertainly have their fair share of flaw , they could both be count on for some awesome action mechanism successiveness . The Matrix Reloadedhas its mellow - octane freeway chase , with Trinity zipping in and out of speeding automobile on a bike , andThe Matrix Revolutionshas Neo battle an ground forces of Agent Smiths in the pouring rain .
The originalMatrixmovie is one of the greatest natural action films ever made . Its unparalleled portmanteau word of “ gas pedal fu ” with programmable superpowers was genuinely rotatory . The pressure group shootout and the helicopter crash still make up as two of the most mind - swash action fit ever filmed . By comparison , The Matrix Resurrections ’ natural process is a huge let - down .
6The Matrix Resurrections Relies Too Heavily On Recreating Iconic Moments From The Original Movie
Rather than setting out to create its own iconic second , The Matrix Resurrectionsis content to just recreate allthe most iconic moments from the firstMatrixmovie . It has the accurate same opening conniption , with Jessica Henwick ’s Bugs taking the place of Trinity as she realizes the Matrix is running old codification in a loop-the-loop . From there , the movie fundamentally plays like a greatest - hits collage .
Thomas Anderson get a paranoia - induce call at his office and has to go on the rill . He has to select between lead the crimson pill or the blue pill . Neo jump off the roof of a skyscraper in an epic slow - movement injection . It just feel tacky and exploitative to take all the most memorable second from the first movie and replicate them in the quaternary one – especially on a rewatch .
5Keanu Reeves & Carrie-Anne Moss' Performances Are Squandered On A Weak Script
One of the promising spots inThe Matrix Resurrectionsis Keanu Reeves and Carrie - Anne Moss ’ wire on - covert chemistry . All these years later , they still partake in just as much chemistry as they did in the original trilogy . They ’re also just as attuned to their character reference , as they seamlessly slip back into those persona . Reeves brings back Neo ’s unequaled blend of messianic mystique and everyman relatability , and Moss brings back Trinity ’s nuanced badassery .
The trouble is that Reeves and Moss ’ great performances are squandered on a weak script . The Matrix Resurrectionsfocuses solely on Neo and Trinity ’s rekindled romance , solidifyingThe Matrixsaga as a making love taradiddle . But their on - screen dynamic is far more compelling than the actual cloth they ’re chip in to make for with . Their chemistry is forced to promote a by - the - turn rehash of their romance from the original films .
4The Matrix Resurrections Has No Ambiguity (So There’s No Room For Interpretation)
The genius ofThe Matrixis that it ’s just ambiguous enough to give the hearing elbow room to fill in the lacuna for themselves . The Matrixis all about the nature of reality and how easy it would be to trick the human mind into thinking something is veridical when it is n’t . The film plays on this theme beautifully , with Neo constantly question whether what ’s happening to him is really happening – or if it ’s all just a convoluted pipe dream .
But inThe Matrix Resurrections , there ’s no equivocalness whatsoever . There are so many thudding , interminable exposition deck that every single aspect of the moving-picture show ’s lore and the spread between the third and fourth picture show ends up getting overexplained . Unlike the originalMatrixmovie , there ’s no elbow room for the audience to bring their own ideas and interpretations to the table .
3No One Can Replace Laurence Fishburne As Morpheus
Just as no one can supercede Weaving in the character of Agent Smith , no one can replace Laurence Fishburne in the office of Morpheus . Yahya Abdul - Mateen II does a much better job of recapturing what the original actor brought to the role than Groff , but he ’s still no Fishburne . He has plenty of personal appeal and dignity , but he ’s not Morpheus . The story has to go to big lengths to explain why Morpheus suddenly looks different , so surely it would ’ve been easier to just bring back Fishburne .
Bringing in unexampled actors to take over these iconic roles makesThe Matrix Resurrectionsfeel more like a remake than a rightful sequel . But some of the original actors did hail back to reprize their roles , so it ’s like a weird half - remake , half - continuation . It ’s a needless distraction upon rewatch .
2The Matrix Resurrections' New Matrix Has The Same Problem As Terminator: Dark Fate
After tease the musical theme that the entire originalMatrixtrilogy is just an in - world television game , The Matrix Resurrectionseventually confirms that the first three films are all basic and the fourth one is take place in a new , rebooted version of the Matrix . Neo gave his life sentence to end the war with the machines and free the inhabitants of the Matrix inThe Matrix Revolutions , but that all became nonmeaningful when more villains emerged and immobilize everyone in a novel version of the Matrix .
This is the same issue asTerminator : Dark Fate , which revealed that after preclude the initiation of Skynet and the Terminators , a different tech troupe just create its own evil internet and its own killer robots . It make it find like there ’s no point fight back . Every time the heroes defeat the scoundrel , some new identical baddie with an monovular worldwide terror will just uprise up in their spot .
1The Matrix Resurrections Gets Way Too Meta
Nodding to the hearing with a couple of self - aware remark is one thing , butThe Matrix Resurrectionsgets way too meta . It opens with Warner Bros. forcing Thomas Anderson to makeThe Matrix 4 , and a big chunk of the movie is taken up with the ontogenesis of an in - universeMatrix 4 . There ’s a farsighted , tedious collage of a writers ’ room render to collapse the story for aMatrix 4 . They assay to determine how much fan service is too much , and whether they even need a newMatrixstory .
ego - cognisance is the hottest new trend in Hollywood , because it allows film producer to void sincerity . They make their movies parody - substantiation by making them a pasquinade of themselves . The Matrix Resurrectionsis a very earnest pic ; all the meta nods to the audience just get in the way of life of that .
Custom Image by Yeider Chacon
