So I have finally seen The Matrix Resurrections, and after being extremely excited to see this
new entry, I must say that I'm really disappointed.
It's a film that has some great ideas and concepts going for it but when it
comes to its execution and its highly 'bash-you-over-the-head' meta approach, It left me asking, what was
the point of this new entry.
In this video, I'm going to be giving you my spoiler-free review for The Matrix Resurrections,
discussing why I didn't exactly love this new film, but I will try to balance it out
with some positives that I took away from it too.
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But without further ado, let's dive into my spoiler-free review for The Matrix Resurrections.
So nearly 20 years since the last Matrix film released, we have been plugged back into the
franchise with The Matrix Resurrections.
The original film had groundbreaking filmmaking with
its technology and techniques, aided by introducing mainstream movie-going audiences into concepts
they hadn’t seen tackled previously in a large-scale R-rated action film.
The traditional action film was renowned as being
quite conventional and quick cut, but while the Matrix did give us entertaining fast action,
it also pushed forward a new generation of filmmaking through the way it was filmed,
with longer takes and higher concepts that we don't really associate with this kind of
feature.
We got a film which reveals that the humans are more machinelike than they think, that
the machines have human qualities as well and there's also the choice presented between
fate and free will, perfectly symbolised with the
red and blue pill sequence.
It primarily explored the inner workings between the body, brain, and mind, and how that connection
can all change when the world turns out to be an
illusion.
While the sequels didn't quite reach the heights of the original film, I did like everything
they were going for, and the unlimited depth that this on-screen world could
bring was fully on display through memorable sequences in both of those subsequent films.
But it was further the love story of Neo and Trinity that was at the heart of this groundbreaking
series.
And now with The Matrix 4, we get a film that is aimed at tapping into more of that love
but it ends up being a film that doesn't fully capitalise on this approach nor even reach
the mark of the sequels.
It's one that lacks creativity, a film directing you at the past and becoming overly meta in
a laughably bad way.
Lana Wachowski has returned to the franchise with The Matrix Resurrections, a film that
for sure, is hugely ambitious when it comes to the world of rogue programs, slow-motion,
kung-fu action and sci-fi exploration.
Its philosophical ideas are all still there, but
its main themes get lost under bad filmmaking, scriptwriting and storytelling, ultimately
becoming a picture that, unlike the previous entries, is not very rewatchable.
It must be said that the Wachowskis are very creative and you can tell that Lana in the
case of this new film wants to make something entirely different.
The original Matrix and some of their other work is extremely ambitious
in the ideas they present and they want to ever so cleanly merge the line between blockbuster
and art.
But the inspiration and dreams that one can have don't always equal to something
that is stable or watchable.
This is the case of Resurrections, where we get a good sense that the filmmaker is trying
to say something about the landscape of films and the plethora
of reboots, sequels and controlling studios, but when it comes to diverting that into a
new idea, the fresh direction doesn't get the
justice it could have gotten.
Sure, there's a real sharpness to the film that does set it apart from other franchise
relaunches but it becomes so on the nose that it almost threatens
to take you out with it.
Everyone is going to mention this in their review but this film is so meta, meta in a
way that it conveys a filmmaker's frustrations with Hollywood studios
and corporations in the sense that they keep putting out the same old product on loops,
even when it's titled as something supposedly new.
There's an early scene in this film which literally involves Thomas Anderson being brought
into an office and told that Warner Bros, the company behind The Matrix films as well
as his Matrix video games in this film, wants a
sequel, along with that there are virtually no other ways for storytelling to exist now.
Instantly, you get a sense of the irritation when it comes to reboots and sequels, and
it only gets deeper from here.
I do get this and as a fan of film, I also feel this frustration and it's something that
I've not particularly loved about the direction of the industry.
But here, Lana is stuck in her own version of The Matrix, she cannot escape that structure
and ultimately the film just feels so un-Matrix, almost fan-created at times that it leads
me right back to that fantastic original set of films.
In The Matrix Resurrections, just as the title indicates, the old is used as the new.
The plot involves a soldier named Bugs, played by Jessica Henwick, who is already freed from
the Matrix, noticing some old code repeating itself.
Morpheus is also back, but this time portrayed by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and a new version
of that same character.
We discover that Thomas Anderson, played by Keanu Reeves, is
alive and living a tired existence inside The Matrix, and it's from here where things
go into extreme meta and self-awareness.
He is a game designer who created a trilogy of massively
popular games called The Matrix and he starts to see things that relate to his past, don't
add up or lead him right back down the rabbit hole.
He sees Trinity, played by Carrie-Anne Moss, now called Tiffany, at a local coffee shop
and the two seem to have a connection but he can't quite place it.
And like those original films, he senses that something with
his life is wrong, leading him to come in contact with a therapist, Neil Patrick Harris's
Analyst, who helps him not go completely crazy.
And we soon learn that Tom's boss at the gaming company goes by the name Smith, played by
Jonathan Groff, which is of course Neo's nemesis played by Hugo Weaving in the original
films.
It's not long before Morpheus shows up and he gets sucked back into a now-ancient battle
between human and machine, but as you could probably already guess, the real world has
changed quite a bit since we saw Zion in the past.
From what I gather, Resurrections is the director's attempt to deconstruct the whole concept of
what audiences expect from blockbuster films and what they are.
It's saying that now, people are comfortable in The Matrix, and
the freedom of the real world doesn't excite them as much.
But this makes the original idea of freeing minds sort of pointless, reversing
what we really loved The Matrix for.
It is mind-blowing, an interesting premise, but like I was saying it just feels unnecessary
in the grander scale of The Matrix franchise.
But not only are its ideas not fully executed or realised,
but it's also quite a standard action movie that doesn't really do anything unique or
memorable.
This is a massive issue because in a Matrix film we don't get much action and
the action we do get is badly filmed has no fluidity and appears quite traditional.
I never thought this would be the case going into it
and it's almost as if they knew these action scenes weren't great and tried to add multiple
moments of slow-mo and bullet time to make us think, oh well that's cool.
But that's the problem it's not.
It's quite stagnant and needs much more life added to it.
There was one moment though which involved lots of bodies falling from buildings and
that was pretty epic, but apart from that and a few moments of Kung
fu, I'm shocked to say that I was underwhelmed by the action in a Matrix film.
And alongside the action, this movie is clearly trying to
express its love to previous instalments, relying on way too many flashbacks to the
older movies in the middle of new scenes, both dialogue-based and action-based.
It's weird because Lana does to some degree approach
characters like Neo and Trinity with all the love you expect, but the structure of this
movie, its storytelling and overly nostalgic base does
not help the evolution of these characters or even the new ones.
They also muddle the tone of the film.
Interestingly, I said a month back that I thought this film would be about a
response to nostalgia and while it did turn out to be just that, it became this in all
the wrong ways.
But that was my spoiler-free review for The Matrix Resurrections.
As entertainment and art, this new Matrix film falls extremely short, with very little
moments leaving you impressed when it comes to its previously innovative
visuals, new characters or storytelling direction.
It feels like an unnecessary next step that tries to badly justify why it's necessary.
The one thing I can say is that because it doesn’t take itself too seriously, knowing
this you could come out of Resurrections not really wanting it to be anything more than
what it was.
You may like the meta focus because of this, especially in the first act, and overall,
it's going to be a very divisive movie for all of these listed reasons.
But for me personally, when it comes to a film with the
Matrix title, one that should personify innovative action, visuals and themes that tap into what
we all fear today, it made me wonder what direction they wanted to take here.
There was nothing innovative nor particularly stand out about this, other than the fact
that they could have crafted a much better story out of the
intriguing concepts on display.
Instead, we get a Matrix film with lacking fight scenes, cool references to the past
movies but adding nothing new, and a film that was very unoriginal.
The Cgi also lacked in certain areas and it felt like they were hiding more action because
it didn't reach the level they wanted it to.
While Jessica Henwick's Bugs and Neil Patrick Harris's Analyst were fine new additions,
this latest film also didn't really add any great new characters or arcs that felt a pleasure
to see unfold.
But like I've been suggesting, there are good ideas here, ones almost too
big for a blockbuster film to confront, and maybe with some more expansion on these concepts,
we may have gotten a stellar revisit to a film series with unlimited opportunities.
But this potential is equalled with big expectations, and The Matrix Resurrections is a huge dissapointment
when it comes to what it could have achieved.
I'm giving The Matrix Resurrections a rating of 6 out of 10.
But to those who have already seen the film what do you think of The Matrix 4, and do
you agree that it's hugely disappointing as a new entry in this
classic franchise.
Again, it's all subjective and I appreciate a range of reactions and reviews, so let me
know down below in the comments section what you personally thought towards
the film alongside things that stood out with your first impressions.
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But anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it, I've been Cortex and as always make some noise.