The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
“I still know Kung Fu.” – Neo.
The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
Directed by: Lana Wachowski
Written by: Lana Wachowski, David Mitchell, Aleksandar Hemon
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathon Groff, Neil Patrick Harris
So…I finally did it. I finally forced myself to watch The Matrix Resurrections.
And I wish I hadn’t.
When the first trailers for this film dropped 4 months ago, I made a video outlining my two biggest fears:
1. The Colour Palette. The grungy, green-tinged Matrix of the original trilogy was gone, replaced with a colourful and vibrant videogame world.
2. A CGI replica. It seemed to be copying the original Matrix movie shot-for-shot, but wide-frame action set pieces were replaced with quick-cut glossy CGI sequences.
To my surprise, these ended up being only minor issues. The CGI wasn’t as horrible as I feared, and the colourful new Matrix world was…I hate to admit it…a cool way to symbolise the evolution of modern technology. The acting was also…fine…for the most part, with newcomers Abdul-Mateen II, Henwick, Groff and Harris doing their best with the limited material they were given.
However, this leads me to the biggest problem with this film – no one asked for a Matrix 4.
When Matrix Resurrections was first announced, most people were excited, but also admittedly surprised. The original trilogy went out with a whimper in 2003, as The Matrix Revolutions was so disappointing it almost ruined the franchise’s now incredible legacy. It was still very profitable, but the metaphysical commentary of the films had seemingly run their course, destined to be discussed and dissected for the next 20+ years. Then boom, Resurrections was announced in 2019, with renaissance man Keanu Reeves back as Neo, Carrie-Anne Moss back as Trinity, and Lana Wachowski back to direct.
But why? Neo and Trinity both essentially ‘died’ at the conclusion of Revolutions, so how are they back in Resurrections? Well, I don’t think the 3 (another red flag) writers of this film really knew either, as their solution was so shoehorned and convoluted it undid any of the character development from the first three.
Focussing more on the meta than the metaphysical, the script came off as more of a victory lap for characters created twenty years ago than anything new or noteworthy. Entire scenes were lifted straight from the first film, colossal changes to the world were underexplained, the incentives of our main protagonists were weak at best, and the action was an absolute trainwreck. Instead of impressively choreographed fight scenes, one-liners and breathtaking bullet-time, the action was reduced to CGI explosions and Neo’s ever-growing list of superpowers. To be fair, there was ONE good combat sequence in the middle, but Reeves and Moss are now unfortunately too old to look fluid in long-shots, so the action instead reverted back to generic quick-cut fighting.
The film also made the massive mistake of include snippets of the first three films as ‘flashbacks’ for Neo, but all this really did was remind you that you’re watching a far inferior movie. And this brings me back to my initial fears – I thought the worst-case scenario was a very safe modernised carbon copy of The Matrix. Boring, uninspired, but hey, much like the Disney live-action adaptations, it’s a winning recipe. Instead we got a confusing, messy, LONG story that seemed to undermine the original source material and any connection we had made with the characters.
As a final aside, it’s worth noting that Lana Wachowski conceived of this story after the passing of her parents and a close friend. Therefore the return of Trinity and Neo was created as a way to process her grief. While I appreciate the sentiment, it did not translate to a cerebral, self-reflective work of art, and instead came across as a generic self-aggrandising Hollywood cash-grab.
As franchises continue to dominate the Box Office, The Matrix Resurrections colossal failure serves as reminder that quality remains just as important as name-value.
Rating: 5/10