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The Matrix: Resurrections
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This seems to be the time for nostalgia and memberberries. I’m honestly wondering if I’m just waking up to the phenomenon, or whether it has been this prevalent for years. We’re watching film makers go back to the “glory days” en masse, pulling from the past wins in order to infuse new life into modern day films. We saw it with things like X-Men: Days of Future Past, then with The Force Awakens, and now it seems to be picking up steam as movies like Spiderman: No Way Home does the same thing, and now 15+ years later we get another Matrix. Well, at least something that sort of half way, kinda, in a round about way features characters we knew from The Matrix, and with only half of the creative powers behind the original trilogy.
Let me say this first. I consider The Matrix to be one of the most influential movies of the 21st century (well, technically the last year of the 20th, but whatever). It has influenced sci-fi and action movies in such a powerful way that the cinematic landscape was never the same. Something as simple as bullet time was copied, re-copied, and homaged in dozens of films over the years, and the influence of mind and machine together in a dystopian digital world has trickled down even 22 years later. It was also a film that was perfectly self contained and could stand on it’s own two feet. However, the duo tried to strike gold once more with Reloaded, and while it expanded the world of the The Matrix and Zion a bit further, was considered a mild disappointment. Then the 3rd film was even less critically acclaimed, although I actually liked that one more than Reloaded. It wasn’t as ambitious, but it was a fun climax to the saga of man vs. machine.
Now, 18 years later, Lana Wachowski decided to resurrect the franchise (and most likely part of the reason for the name of this movie) and it is by far one of the most bizarre creations I’ve ever seen. We open up with a character by the name of Bugs (Jessica Henwick) watching a re-enactment of the Trinity vs. Agents scene from the very opening of The Matrix. Puzzlingly enough, things don’t go exactly as we remember it, causing Bugs to realize that something is VERY wrong. Turns out that this is what the movie calls a “modal”, otherwise known as a simulation within the NEW matrix where programs can be tested and adjusted before going out into the real world. As the plot unfolds we find one Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves), no longer remembering that he is really Neo, an aging video game designer. He’s made three video games known as “The Matrix Trilogy” that revolutionized the world, but he suffers from psychotic episodes where he believes that he was PART of those video games.
Yeah, you guessed it. Neo is back in the matrix once more (or to be precise, the NEW matrix after the end of Revolutions) and his memory is being held in check in a different way. Instead of allowing humanity to live their lives, and Neo in particular, he’s being treated like a psych patient under the care of his psychiatrist (Neil Patrick Harris) and made to believe that the memories that they couldn’t erase was just his mind playing tricks on him. A curse of an eccentric artist if you will. Well It seems that his subconscious has encoded new characters, old friends, and is actually adjusting the code of the Matrix itself. But once Bugs and Morpheus (played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) who is just a computer program that Mr. Anderson created (the real morpheus is dead decades ago) bring Neo back to the real world. A world that has moved on from the War of Zion vs. the Machines, and created a new city where factions of the machines and humans live in peace. But there is one caveat to this whole peaceful extraction of Neo. Trinity is also back there in the new Matrix, and Neo is NOT about to let her stay there.
The same can be said for the characters as well. Supposedly Lawrence Fishbourne wasn’t even approached to make a come back, which is kind of weird, and Hugo Weaving had too much on his plate to return as Agent Smith. The sad result is something that feels like a knockoff. And this has nothing to do with the acting ability of Yahya Abdul Mateen II or Jonathon Groff (who plays the new Smith). It has more to do with the fact that Hugo Weaving is absolutely incredible and replacing him as Smith is just undoable. What he could do with a word, a smile, or a raise of the eyebrow just feels impossible with new actors. The same thing with faux machine Morpheus (which was hilariously bad from a story perspective). It’s just not that great.
Then there comes the massive spoiler moment. Trinity and Neo themselves. Keanu and Carrie Ann have great chemistry on screen and it’s really REALLY nice to see them back in the saddle. Unfortunately it seemed like both actors really winced getting through there lines, and for good reason. The dialog is absolutely cringe worthy. Especially when it’s revealed through a convoluted loop of events that Neo isn’t really the one here, but rather he and Trinity TOGETHER are “the one”. Something which is almost a parody of itself in the end scene with both of them flying around in leather trench coats. Which brings me to my last sad note. That being the fight choreography. The lack of Yuen-Woo Ping is a HUGE blow, as he was such an incredible fight director that basically molded the style of fighting in the original trilogy. Whoever did the choreography here fell far short, as not a single fight in the entire movie felt anything less than a generic movie fight for a DTV film.
Part of me really wants to like the movie. The Matrix was such an indelible part of my teenage and early adult years, and still is one of my favorite movies of all time. I don’t mean to be mean to Lana Wachowski, but I think Lilly Wachowski was right for not coming back and stating that the intellectual property needed to stay buried. On a real world note, their mother died recently and Lana has gone on record saying (and I quote)
“My brain has always reached into my imagination. And one night, I was just crying and couldn’t sleep. Suddenly, my brain exploded this whole story and I couldn’t have my mom and dad. I couldn’t talk to my mom and yet, suddenly, I had Neo and Trinity — arguably the two most important characters in my life — and it was immediately comforting to have these two characters alive again.”
So to put it bluntly. The Matrix Resurrections is a therapy session for a grieving person who lost her parents, and is desperately trying to feel safe and relive the past with something that comforts her. In this case, it’s a return to The Matrix, even though the effort falls flat on its face.
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Rated R for violence and some language
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The Matrix: Resurrections is one of the most disappointing feature films of 2021. The movie had some good ideas, and some interesting takes on a new matrix, but the execution makes Matrix: Reloaded look like a masterpiece. Nothing about the production feels anything connected to the old movies at all (in tone, feel, or visual aesthetics) and while they setup the film for a possible 5th movie, I’m BEGGING Warner Brothers and Lana to let the series die with what little dignity it has left. The original trilogy was decent to GREAT (for the first one), but this just hurt to watch in many way. Partially because I so desperately wished this would at least be GOOD, even if it couldn’t be great.
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Starring: Keanu Reeves, Carrie Ann Moss, Jonothan Groff, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Neil Patrick Harris, Jessica Henwick, Jada Pinkett Smith
Directed by: Lana Wachowski
Written by: Lana Wachowski, David Mitchell, Aleksander Hemon
Aspect Ratio: 2.39
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Studio: Warner
Rated: R
Runtime: 149 Minutes
Digital Release Date: December 22nd, 2021
Recommendation: Disappointing
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