The Matrix Resurrections is a big snooze fest that fails to capture the essence of the original trilogy.
A return to a franchise that ended almost 20 years ago, The Matrix Resurrections is a meta sequel, that really likes to quote its predecessors and forgets to tell its own story with substance. Lana Wachowski returns to the director chair without her sister Lilly and you feel that. The film lacks, simply said, a vision and a story worth telling. And I haven’t even started with the lackluster action and its sledgehammer-over-the-head meta approach.
The film continuously winks at the camera asking, “You remember that?” or “You see what we did there?”. It becomes obnoxious. At one point even Warner Bros studio itself is mentioned in the narrative. Where you could think that it’s a commentary on Hollywood’s remake/reboot/sequel culture, it completely drops the ball with the fact that this film couldn’t even exist without doing exactly what it criticizes.
The first half of the film is all about meta observations, before it finally remembers that it has to tell its own story. And where the original was a genre-bending masterpiece, The Matrix Resurrections is a love story, that just didn’t have to be told.
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We see the return of Keanu Reeves’ Neo and Carrie Anne-Moss’ Trinity, who have to find each other again. And because that wouldn’t be a good film on its own, they threw in some completely interchangeable action sequences and a TON of exposition dumping. Where the action in the original film couldn’t be more iconic, the action sequences in The Matrix Resurrections are lackluster with no stakes and are poorly filmed. The camera is always too close to the characters and every punch is hidden in the editing. It hasn’t anything in common with the exciting choreography of the original films.
Yahya Abdul Mateen II’s Morpheus is completely wasted and has nothing to do after the first half of the film. Just like the rest of the new characters, such as Jessica Henwicks’s Bugs, they are just there to throw exposition at the audience. The Matrix‘s new rules don’t make any sense if you think about them and although we get to know a bit more about what happened after The Matrix Revolutions, it has no effect on the plot of Resurrections whatsoever.
There isn’t a lot that I liked about the film, other than some very solid cinematography in the non-action sequences and the new route composers Tom Tykwer and Johnny Klimek took for the score. It feels more epic and grand compared to the original trilogy’s more futuristic, yet kind of retro approach.
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The Matrix Resurrections is a snooze fest. It fails to tell its commentary in a meaningful way, as well as provide audiences with a real reason to return to this once intriguing world. It also doesn’t help that it completely butchered the franchise’s once iconic action sequences.
2/5
The Matrix Resurrections Synopsis
In “The Matrix Resurrections,” return to a world of two realities: one, everyday life; the other, what lies behind it. To find out if his reality is a physical or mental construct, to truly know himself, Mr. Anderson will have to choose to follow the white rabbit once more. And if Thomas…Neo…has learned anything, it’s that choice, while an illusion, is still the only way out of—or into— the Matrix. Of course, Neo already knows what he has to do. But what he doesn’t yet know is the Matrix is stronger, more secure and more dangerous than ever before. Déjà vu (Warner Bros. Pictures)
The Matrix Resurrections is written and directed by Lana Wachowski and stars: Keanu Reeves, Carrie Anne-Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff and Neil Patrick Harris. It’s available in theaters and on HBO Max now. What do you all think? Are you planning to watch it? Have you seen it already, if so how did you like it? Let’s discuss everything in the comments down below and on our Twitter.
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