The Matrix Resurrections – Movie Review
148 Minutes, Rated R
Written by and David Mitchell and Aleksandar Hemon (based on characters created by Lana Wachowski)
Directed by Lana Wachowski
**NOTE: this post will be updated with audio once we actually have the chance to talk about it. Until then, enjoy this look at my thoughts. Stay tuned.**
Synopsis:
Return to a world of two realities: one, everyday life; the other, what lies behind it. To find out if his reality is a construct, to truly know himself, Mr. Anderson will have to choose to follow the white rabbit once more.
The fourth installment of the venerated Matrix franchise is coming, and whether you want to watch it or not–in theaters or at home–is up to you, but let me tell you what I saw last night.
Remember, I can only offer you the choice. You have to make it.
[Obviously, we will be going into even more depth than this when we talk, but this should give you an idea of where I’m at… heck, Ryan might even disagree with everything you’re about to read. Who knows?]
My chief concern going into the film was whether or not Lana Wachowski would create something a worthwhile follow-up to the groundbreaking originals (such as Ghostbusters: Afterlife or Spider-man: No Way Home) or simply create a lazy, derivative, pointless mess of fan-service (a la The Rise of Skywalker).
As the film opens, I literally found myself saying out loud: “are they really going to re-do the opening scene?”
The answer to that question came fairly quickly, and it was “yes and no.”
Pretty much sets the tone for the remainder of the film.
Shortly after “Trinity” escapes (but doesn’t) from that original hotel room, we are actually treated to the line, “why use old code to make something new?”
Why, indeed?
During the remainder of the 2-hour 28-minute runtime, we are subjected to image after image and situation after situation which seem all-too-familiar, but which just aren’t.
What’s that meme? “When you order your Matrix from Wish.”
Yeah.
The Matrix Resurrections manages to take all of the depth and creativity of the original film (which had been waning dramatically by the time Revolutions rolled around) and replaces them with big booms and recycled imagery and dialogue. Literally recycled.
And I don’t mean that in a “history repeats itself” kind of recycled; I mean in a “there was no other way to do this?” kind of way.
The incredible fight visuals of the original Matrix, with the advent of “bullet-time” (which becomes a bit of a running joke throughout the film) and the influence of Eastern choreography, with sweepingly wide shots of beautiful movement, here become claustrophobic, poorly lit, clunky-looking bits of messy wirework.
There is an entire fight on a train early on that is shot in almost all close-ups, which renders any actual fighting to the margins or out of the frame all-together.
Even “Morpheus 2.0” can’t seem to fight worth a damn in the simulation (when he’s not appearing as a 3D model rendered as ball bearings in the “real world”… yes, that’s a thing), instead looking like someone (something?) who wants to be Morpheus, but clearly lacks everything that made Morpheus, well… Morpheus.
The (re-) introduction of some of Neo’s “old friends” (by, yes: Agent Smith 2.0), are a group of “exiles” lead by the Merovingian (now a “Robin William escapes from Jumanji-looking homeless person”), hell-bent on revenge for having his old life ruined by Neo.
Exiles, by the way, which WE’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE.
“Old friends,” my butt.
And the sputtering, spitting, incoherent ranting of “Merv” is pretty indicative of not just that entire sequence. In fact, that entire sequence devolves quickly into a mess of more badly choreographed and executed fights, peppered with slow-motion set breakage and hyperfast punch-throwing, alongside a million more pointless gunshots.
Sad to watch.
Perhaps the one bright spot in the film is Neil Patrick Harris as “The Analyst,” guiding Thomas Anderson through his mental issues for the first half of the film, where he is known far and wide as the creator of the greatest video game trilogy of all time: The Matrix.
What game company, you ask? Deus Machina.
Yes. The first three films are now the basis for the structure of this “new Matrix” in which Neo finds himself taking blue pill after blue pill to stave off his anxiety and hallucinations that his game may have actually happened.
And he is now suffering from a resurgence (resurrection?) of those anxieties/hallucinations when he is forced to create a sequel to that trilogy by “the parent company.”
It is painfully obvious early on as to Harris’ actual role, by the way, as interesting an approach as it is… or could be.
I don’t feel bad telling you that Jada Pinkett Smith appears as Niobi, who still doesn’t believe in The One, but is forced to yada yada yada (a line literally uttered by Morpheus 2.0, by the way).
Look, in the end, The Matrix Resurrections is simply lazy writing and execution, banking on fans of the original trilogy to swallow up this momma-bird material being regurgitated into their gaping maws.
It’s slow when it needs to be quick, and all-to-quick when it needs to be deliberate. The nuanced philosophy of the original concept is replaced here by pseudo-tech-babble and quasi-new-age-psychology buzzwords.
The Matrix Resurrections is, quite simply, not good, and in many cases it’s downright terrible. Aside from Keanu’s always earnest portrayal of Neo (and the aforementioned Neil Patrick Harris), the rest of the performances are sub-par, and even Trinity feels like a washed-out version of herself (even more so than you might expect for someone in her position), up to and including her eventual evolution into, if not THE One, but A One.
[As a quick aside, this is your periodic reminder that the name for the “Visually Stunning Movie Podcast” was actually inspired by a Wachowski film. True story: Jupiter Ascending.
Saw a trailer for it in the theater and it opened with a bunch of critical blurbs, the very first one of which was “Visually stunning!” Yep.
At that moment, I knew that Jupiter Ascending was going to be a terrible film. Why?
Because “if the best thing about a movie is that it’s Visually Stunning, then they’ve done something wrong.” And here, as in Jupiter Ascending, they did a lot wrong.]
The Matrix Resurrections will hit theaters and HBO Max on December 22, 2021.
The Matrix Resurrections stars Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jonathan Groff, Jessica Henwick, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Jada Pinkett Smith…and countless others.
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tags: movies, movie review, Matrix Resurrections, Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jonathan Groff, Jessica Henwick, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Jada Pinkett Smith, sci-fi, science fiction, warner brothers, wb, philosophy, David Mitchell, Aleksandar Hemon, Lana Wachowski
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