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If it lacks the original's bracingly original craft, The Matrix Resurrections revisits the world of the franchise with wit, a timely perspective, and heart. Read critic reviews
The Matrix Resurrections falls short compared to the original, but doesn't skimp on the action or cool visual effects. Read audience reviews
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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.
Rating: R (Violence and Some Language)
Genre: Sci-fi, Action
Original Language: English
Director: Lana Wachowski
Producer: James McTeigue, Lana Wachowski, Grant Hill
Writer: Lana Wachowski, David Mitchell, Aleksandar Hemon
Release Date (Theaters): wide
Release Date (Streaming):
Box Office (Gross USA): $37.7M
Runtime:
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures
Sound Mix: Dolby Atmos
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)
Honestly I'm still processing this movie, and it may take several more viewings for me to come to my ultimate conclusion about it. As it stands now, it's pretty good. Not great, but it has some great ideas. The nostalgia fueled meta nature of the opening hour and the questions of reality and sanity itself are intriguing as all hell. However, when it has to be a Matrix movie, it's not the best Matrix movie. The world building questions they answer aren't enough to satisfy me, and while the action is okay there isn't any scene that blew me away like the other films. That said the performances here are better than any of the other films, and it looks great. If there had to be a Matrix 4, this is a solid enough one.
Better than it has any right to be. A gorgeous epic that has actual things to say and does so with more creativity than a lot of these decades late sequels. I think the problem people have is that the movie functions as more of an epilogue than a definitive continuation of the original trilogy. Also, if the meta commentary and "fan service" bothers you here I wonder if that is true in all cases or just this movie?
It is hard to overstate how influential The Matrix was upon its release in 1999. It rewrote the science fiction and action genres for Hollywood and introduced American audiences to many of the filmmaking techniques of Eastern cinema. It was exciting, philosophical, challenging, and made an instant brand out of the Wachowskis, the writing/directing siblings who had previously only directed one indie movie. The 2003 sequels were filmed back-to-back and released to great anticipatory fanfare and then, later, derision. The Matrix sequels, Reloaded and Revolutions, became a shorthand joke for bloated artistic miscalculation. They were talky, draggy, and just not what fans were hoping for jacking back into this strange world, and years later I think they're worth a critical re-evaluation. Flash forward to 2021, and Lana Wachowski has resurrected The Matrix, and with the original actors for Neo and Trinity, both of whom died in Revolutions. Why go back? I think part of this was the declining career of the Wachowskis as directors. I personally loved 2012's Cloud Atlas but it was an expensive and messy money-loser, the same as 2008's Speed Racer and 2015's Jupiter Ascending, a cosmically bad movie. So now it's back to The Matrix with an older Neo, and older Trinity, and more of the same by design. The Matrix Resurrections just made me sad. It's a movie that feels resentful for its own inception. Thomas Anderson/Neo (Reeves) is living out his life as an award-winning game designer. His company and business partner, Smith (Jonathan Groff), are looking for their next big hit, and they're looking backwards at Anderson's biggest success… the "Matrix trilogy." It was a virtual reality program that skewered the difference between reality and fiction. Mr. Anderson might have even based the role of Trinity on Tiffany (Carrie Anne-Moss), a woman he has grown infatuated with over time at a coffee shop. Except Mr. Anderson is having trouble determining what is real and what is only in his head. That's because a new, younger Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is telling him that he's Neo, that he's destined for greater things, and that he's been kept in an unorthodox prison to keep him out of the action. Everyone seems interested in reactivating Neo, but for what purpose, and what has happened in the ensuing decades since the end of the war with the machines? Part of my struggle with Resurrections is that it too is struggling with its own existence, and not in a meta-textual sort of identity crisis, more like a reason to carry on 18 years later. Fair warning, this movie is far, far more meta than you are anticipating. The entire first hour of the movie features characters justifying rebooting "The Matrix," the game. It's a movie where characters glibly talk about parent companies going forward with the IP with or without the involvement of the original creators, so better to be the one trying to staunch the bleeding I suppose. A character literally says Warner Brothers wants a new Matrix and they will not stop until they get one. There are characters that sit around a table and try and break down what made the original Matrix (the game) so cutting-edge, and every person has a different brand slogan. "It was edgy." "It blew your mind." "It was a thinking man's action story." This prolonged section of Resurrections feels entirely like Wachowski speaking directly to her audience and saying, "Look, I had no reason to be back here. They forced my hand, and I want you to know that I'm not happy about it." There are literal moments from the 1999 film that are presented as if the characters in the matrix are watching The Matrix to recreate scenes like avid cosplayers. There is one part where a character just starts screaming the word "reboot" with profane intention, promising to get their own spinoff as a threat. The entertainment industry satire about reboots and cash-grab sequels is funny but misplaced and coming from a perspective of defiance. If this was all the movie was then it would have been a fascinating example of an artist burning the bridge to their most successful franchise out of willful spite. However, if we had our own little focus group and asked what made the original Matrix so enjoyable, I doubt anyone would list, "entertainment industry satire and meta humor." The Matrix movies are well known for being a smarter, more ambitious viewing experience ("A thinking man's action story"), blending philosophy and mysticism into anime-style action and kung-fu fights. There's an intentional repetition here, built upon delivering something familiar and safe to audiences but with a "next gen" feel. We have a new Morpheus and a new Mr. Smith here, but did we require either? When they go through the motions of patterning themselves on characters of old, it feels strained, it feels gassed, and it's another instance where Wachowski telegraphing to her audience, "Look, the studio demanded I bring back these characters, but I'll be damned if I know what to do with them." Morpheus has a little more story leverage as a catalyst for bringing Neo back to his path of enlightenment. Truth be told, I don't really know half of what was happening in this movie, which lacked the elegant connectivity of the best action movies, linking cause and effect (the Merovingian would be proud of me) and pushing the movie forward to its inevitable conclusion. Even the prior movies felt more like the creators knew what was going on, even if the audience was lagging behind. With Resurrections, it feels like Wachowski and her screenwriters, novelist Dave Mitchell (Cloud Atlas) and Aleksandar Hermon (Sense 8 finale), have just given up trying to make sense of it all. Another disappointment is the lack of any signature or memorable action sequences or, in the words of the Matrix round table, moments that "blew your mind." The use of phones as transport in and out of the matrix has been replaced with mirror portals and doorways, which initially got my hopes up. There are such playful visual possibilities incorporating portals into action (see: Doctor Strange, even Matrix Reloaded), and I felt that Wachowski was up to the imaginative challenge. It too feels like another element that barely registers. The movie takes the anyone-can-become-an-Agent threat of the original trilogy and says, "What if instead of facing deadly Agents, it was just dumb zombies?" The new machines decide to rely upon a hive-mind system of grabbing whatever humans are in the vicinity and taking control of them into mindless foot soldiers. Let's explore what a downgrade this is. The Agents were dangerous because they had powers that ordinary humans could not hope for, like the bullet dodging. In this movie, ordinary people are easily foiled and often a pathetic excuse for super-powered adversaries. The final act involves an escalation in numbers of the hive mind, but we've already been here with the multiple Agents Smiths of the sequels. There is one disturbing change-up where the machines realize how humans can just serve as canon fodder that is dark but a more effective attack. Even the requisite martial arts battles and gravity-defying wire work are humdrum this round. If there is one thing that Resurrections does well it's staking its identity out as a romance. Much of the second half prioritizes the relationship between Neo and Trinity, which was always taken for granted in the sequels. It was a romance of more utilitarian purpose, providing Neo with a love interest to motivate him to be saved in times of great peril. With Resurrections, the movie actually takes time to devote to Neo and Trinity as people with desires and what they would find appealing about the other. He's not the savior of mankind, and she's not his gateway to knowledge and empowerment. They're portrayed as people, somewhat unhappy in their lives, and just hoping they might have another chance meeting at their shared coffee shop for one more electrifying conversation. The evolution of the movie places even more importance on this human connection, so I'm glad time has finally been given to exploring what it is that connects Trinity and Neo, especially if their love story is going to play as prominent a resolution to Resurrections. If you have never cared about Trinity and Neo as a couple, then you'll likely be in for a disappointing second half. From a technical standpoint, Resurrections is still a feast for the senses. The photography is moody and atmospheric. The musical score is pumping. The special effects are state-of-the-art. There are a lot of talented people working on this sequel. So why then does the movie feel so perfunctory? In some regard each Matrix sequel has felt this way, adding extraneous pieces onto an already perfect standalone film. Having re-watched both Reloaded and Revolutions again, I can affirmatively declare Resurrections to be the weakest Matrix entry yet. We were all a bit too harsh on the prior two Matrix movies, which fall short of capturing the original's magic alchemy but bring the goods when it comes to memorable set pieces, eye-popping visuals, and narrative zigs instead of zags (It was undercutting audience expectations before it was cool). They are still a bit too stuffy and talk in circles, but there are definite Major Ideas percolating underneath. In contrast, Resurrections feels more powered by resentment, by Wachowski coming back to this world against her better wishes and judgements. Maybe we should have left things alone. Nate's Grade: C
It took me a while before I was fully understanding what was happening, but despite that, I enjoyed it from start to finish. Definitely referential in a good way, but it really picks up in the latter half of the movie when it goes into newer, unknown territory
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