The Matrix Resurrections Review

 

        It’s been 18 years since The Matrix popped into the public conscience. During that span, The Wachowskis had a roller coaster of a filmography. Most of the films they’d directed were bombs and disappointments. They were adamant not to touch the franchise that put them on the map, since Warner Bros. wanted to make more without the duo. Inevitably, one of the Wachowskis, Lana, returns along with Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss in the new chapter. And if you really waited a decade for more Matrix, well, here’s what I think.  

1. Why Did We Need Another Matrix Movie?

        With all that out of the way, did audiences really need another entry? I’m serious, it makes as much sense as making a Zoolander movie years after the first film. Or making a Blues Brothers movie 20 years after the original. This is kind of perplexing since I never understand why a studio would make a sequel years later. I can understand that it could be a passing of a torch film like Creed, but it must be done right. 

        So what’s the film about, well to make it easier for you, remember those moments of Neo thinking he was a human and then meeting a group of characters telling him that he’s just a battery for machines? Well it’s that, but with a new character named Bugs. She’s been tasked to get Neo, who’s now a video game developer, to help her stop the machines. With help of an actor who doesn’t look like Morpheus. Who’s now an Agent, but he isn’t. It’s confusing and I really could care less.

        And it’s from there that something seems off about the whole thing. Just tracking the entire story is a challenge. It’s inferred that it’s been decades since we last saw Neo saving the Matrix. Only this time the machines brought him back, hence the subtitle of the movie. And the machines are friendly, and like a lot of stuff that could’ve been explored but it’s just relegated to background. Such as the Architect looking like Neal Patrick Harris.

        Part of the movie is just a retread of what I’ve seen prior. But the twist is that it’s mostly commentary of what’s expected. It’s called being “meta”, meaning that the film is self-aware and makes commentary of what’s happening. I’ll elaborate more on the subject, but I feel that the main problem with the film is that it’s the same movie story wise. Having Neo now back to where he was as unaware that he’s in a simulation. Meets a mysterious sunglasses wearing man giving him the choice to pick the red pill or enjoy living life.

2. The Meta Aspect

        The main part of the movie is that it utilizes Meta as a storytelling device and as nostalgia for the fans. One point where it’s utilized is when we follow Neo as a game developer. We have a montage of a focus group of fans talking about how great and “complex” The Matrix was. Not the movies, in the film the whole series is referenced as a video game. 

        It doesn’t work since it went about it the wrong way. The opening is meta in a sense where it gives the viewers a “Psyche” moment where it plays out like the first movie. Then we follow Neo as a developer being prescribed blue pills. The whole film would’ve been better had it been done with a whole new cast. Like, we have new versions of Morpheus, Agent Smith, and the Architect. But they aren’t as memorable since they don’t have the uniqueness and mystery thing about them. Different actors portray them, but they just don’t have the same charisma as we’ve seen them in the prior films. 

        Just watching the whole movie makes me want to rewatch the original. The fights, setting, everything about it was easily watchable since we follow a regular guy descend into a rabbit hole of life altering events. Here though, it’s the same thing, but rescuing an important character. Even the combat isn’t that good, which is ironic since the choreographer David Leitch appears in the film. And for those who don’t know his work, he’s responsible for the John Wick series. 

 

3. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” Did It Better

        It’s a bit of a stretch that I’m bringing a completely different film, but they did come close to release and share some aspects. Such as bringing back an original hero and having moments of nostalgia. The only reason why Spider-Man did it better was that it didn’t feel forced. It took it’s time and introduced the prior Spider-Men to help the current Spidey. In this movie, various clips are shown to Neo as a refresher to what has happened. 

        Even moments that are literally from the first film appear in this film. I hate to sound like a broken record since it just doesn’t work. Since there aren’t any stakes whatsoever for Neo to comeback and be the one. No saving of the resistance or stopping Agent Smith, who looks different, from wreaking vengeance. It’s just boring to watch since I’ve seen the film happen plot wise, and none of the characters aren’t interesting in the least bit. 

4. I’m Done

        This franchise needs to be retired before Warner Bros. has any idea to make more sequels and just ruin an already battered film series. It’s just unfortunate that the movie could’ve had a different cast and have Neo pop up as an old guide to pass the torch to the next hero. Instead, it’s a story that is just all over the place. Like, it’s interconnected as a highway and any viewer can get lost. 

        I did read that there aren’t any sequels being planned. Since of course the movie bombed because nobody cares about The Matrix. The reason why Spider-Man grossed a billion is that it’s an escapist film that did the impossible and bring in the prior heroes. Matrix Resurrections is a film that is too dated plot wise and it doesn’t do anything differently, in spite of everything being different.

5. Overall

        Just watch the first film.

The Matrix Revolutions Review

 

        It’s a real shame for a franchise to, at that time, end in a thud. The Matrix was a lightning caught in a bottle, nobody had ever seen action like that before. And it even included bits of philosophy and introduced a world that seemed liked ours, but was being run by the machines. The sequel expanded more, but the philosophical aspect was amped to 11, but at the detriment to keeping the stakes high. Then the third one happened. Here’s what I think. 

1. Everything

        Where do I even start with this turkey of a film? So let me break it down to where it all went wrong. I feel that the whole story could’ve been tweaked. Since it literally picked up after Reloaded left off. With Smith taking over a human’s body. Except the character in the prior movie didn’t really do much and audiences didn’t really get to know him. And the twist not eliciting the “Oh Shit!” from the audience. 

        So with a chunk of time Neo is stuck in a subway station which is appropriately called Mobil Ave. If you were to rearrange the letters, I mean you probably know what it means. I’ll talk about the two battles later but I feel that the story is where the movie mostly fails. 

        I feel that the Wachowskis had no idea where to take the story. It made sense to split the movie, but I feel that there should’ve been more to elaborate on Agent Smith. Here he just devolves into the standard bad guy. Complete with evil laughter when he takes over the Oracle. Like, a sequel should be the one where the whole team loses and the resistance has to regroup. It didn’t happen with Reloaded, which makes everything that happened with this movie feels anti climatic. Which I’ll get into.

        Other than the philosophical overload moments, the imagery involving Neo is just too on the nose. I understand that the movie tries to make him into a Christ like character. One who inspires a newfound hope against a threat. It’s very heavy handed, especially near the end with what happens to Neo. 

        If there’s one thing where I will say that the movie did easily, it’s to make me not care about the whole thing. As great a concept as the Matrix and having the humans vs robots storyline, the filmmakers really dropped the ball big time. None of the characters that were interesting in the first movie made me like them. Especially one where just breathing the last breath, I just wanted that character to get it over with. 

        One last thing is that it just feels dated. As I mentioned when I talked about Reloaded, every action film took notes from The Matrix and applied how it did action into their own films. The gun fights and the wire-fu fights just doesn't carry the same sense of awe. Even the rave where Morpheus, Trinity, and Seraph goes to feels like it's a relic of the 90s. And I get that it created this world, but at the same token feels just dated. 

2. Confusing Battles

        So two battles occur during the film, the resistance fighting against the machines. And Neo and Agent Smith’s final fight within the Matrix. They’re bad, anti-climactic even but, I’ll elaborate more on just how much of an egg that this movie laid. First let’s talk about the resistance in Zion attempting to stop the machines from killing and destroying the city. It should’ve been like an exciting and engaging sequence. With Morpheus and Trinity helping and piloting a mech suit. While Neo is plugged in fighting Smith for one last time. 

        Obviously, it doesn’t happen like that and I feel that it could’ve been paced to make it more exciting. It’s just loud and there’s not one character where I’m worried about of getting killed or just making it out alive. Meanwhile, Trinity and Neo are going to where the machines are. We see that the Machines are intelligent enough and manage to help Neo stop Smith. The last fight evokes a memory when I used to watch Dragon Ball Z. But, it could’ve been better. And I think it’s ironic that when the video game spin off had the directors in a cameo, they said that a giant version of Smith was better than what was presented in the movie. Either it’s them being sarcastic or just trolling the player, it would’ve been interesting seeing Neo fight Smith in an even more over the top way. 

        And it’s such a shame that it was the end of the franchise. Again, it was anti-climactic where Neo had to sacrifice himself instead of winning triumphantly. It just represents the entire franchise. The possibilities were endless with what the story was going to lead. Although the one thing that killed it was the lack of character development and just caring with what was happening. That’s why the first one will always be the best one, while the other ones will be over shadowed with just how much it leaned with the philosophy that it bogs down the movie.  

3. Overall

        One would think that the trilogy was just a relic of the 2000s, but no. There’s another one. Did this film warrant a follow up? Nope. 

The Matrix Reloaded Review

 

        After the success of The Matrix, every bit of media copied what made the movie great. For a while, black leather was in. As seen in either X-Men or Blade for starters with the suits having a leather look to it. Even the action was parodied in any sort of action movie or comedy. To say that The Matrix was an influence is an understatement. It only seemed inevitable that Warner Bros. gave the Wachowskis the go ahead to make the obligatory sequel. 2003 was considered the Matrix year, two sequels were released back-to-back. A video game was made to capitalize on the success. Even an animated anthology film was made to expand more of the world. With all that, here’s what I think of The Matrix Reloaded. 

1. The Action Isn’t Special

        I got to say that after seeing the sequel, I didn’t really have high expectations. From what I saw that it was a somewhat successful movie that made money and had a good audience response. With all that, the action in the movie was just okay. We get a neat sequence in the beginning involving Trinity. Although, it’s a premonition that Neo sees since he witnesses that she dies from the Agents. 

        After that, we see that Neo and Trinity are in love. It’s odd, since there wasn’t much to her in the first movie. Like we don’t really know who she is as a person and she’s just a badass in leather. The romance just felt force since it wasn’t evolved naturally. Albeit, can you blame Neo for having the hots for Trinity?

        Anyways what was I going on about? The action is amped to eleven. It only seemed fitting that it tried to top the first movie. Since we see Neo really holding his own and being the One. Not only does he have action sequences, but the rest of the Nebuchadnezzar crew. Between Neo’s fight with Agent Smith and the Car Chase, I might as well talk about each one since they’re the highlights in the film. 

        Neo’s fight with Agent Smith is now ratcheted up. After a hard to follow conversation with the Oracle on Neo’s dream, Smith appears. This time he manages to take over other people’s bodies and make copies of himself. It’s never really explored how exactly it happened and I feel that Agent Smith doesn’t have much depth as he did in the prior film. Anyways, the fight between the Smiths and Neo is good, until it isn’t. 

        The CG between Neo and the Smiths doesn’t hold up nowadays. When Smith orders more copies, the whole scene looks like a video game since it starts to lean towards silly. Even the moment where Neo grabs a Smith and toss him to a group of copies comes with a bowling pin sound. Like, I had to rewind that part just to be sure I heard that right. 

        But the car chase is the best action scene in the movie. In fact, the directors actually built a highway just to film this scene. Since I can only imagine that filming in a California highway would be a massive pain for logistical reasons. It’s really cool to see a mix of a car chase, gun battles and martial arts. Just the idea of it would be convoluted but somehow it naturally involves with each combat style. 

2. Philosophical Overload 

        Obviously, the biggest complaint and the main failing point with the entire series is the philosophical moments. Now the whole point of the moments of basic philosophy is that it’s to comment on this idea of control and faith. For context, the humans are plugged into a VR world that is run by the machines. The ones that we follow manage to free themselves and see that everything that they know is a lie. 

        Naturally, talks about whether Neo is the savior does come up, as well as if the humans are slaves to the machines or do they really control what they can control. It sounds convoluted when I’m typing it right now, but I feel that it’s just talk. Nothing to really spur a discussion since it’s just a movie. A movie is supposed to entertain, not educate, or ponder an existential question to ask if we live in a simulation or what have you. 

        I feel that the studio really wanted the directors to explore more of the philosophical talking points or the Wachowskis really want to delve more into the ideas of The Matrix. But what gets lost in the shuffle is character development. We see moments where Neo starts to question himself. Honestly second guessing if he is a chosen one to stop the machines. Which mostly goes nowhere since there’s a scene that just ruins the franchise. But before I talk about that scene, the characters that we followed in the last movie are mostly in the backburner. 

        Morpheus and Trinity are basically there. And Zion, the city that was mentioned was kind of underwhelming. We don’t really see the main characters grow since it’s Neo who basically the focus. As I mentioned before, Agent Smith doesn’t have that much depth since there was a moment in the last movie where we see what he really wants. Smith wants to get out of The Matrix, to be alive when he tells Morpheus. But does that idea get brought up in this movie? Nope. 

3. How to Ruin a Franchise in One Scene

        This one scene is what killed the franchise. It’s after the trio manage to rescue a keymaker, who’s literal name is Keymaker. Creating a key to unlock a special door for Neo to find a way to stop the machines. Neo then meets The Architect in a white room that is covered with TV screens. He begins to tell Neo that he is sixth version of the program. And that he has two options, either enter a door to save Zion from the machines. Or save Trinity from certain Death. 

        So let me break down how this one scene ruins everything. Up to this point we understand that Neo was just an ordinary guy that manages to unlock his hidden potential within The Matrix. Besting the Agents and becoming a hero among the resistance. All that is thrown aside since we know that he’s just a glitch in the program. Like it was supposed to happen. This basically is a retcon of the first movie. Because what made Neo interesting was that he was an everyman that got into a situation that was bigger than him. 

        Having him be just another version of a glitch strips every single interesting thing about him. For as far as we know, Neo could’ve been the same person five times prior in The Matrix. Or it was different people imbued with special abilities that frighten the machines. It would’ve been better had he just been one person who was chosen to be the leader. Having to elaborate on something that didn’t need to just be ruined what was an interesting concept into a what I could only describe as a wet fart.

4. Overall

        With all that, I don’t hate this movie. It’s fine as a sequel that tries to expand more on the world for which the characters live in. The only failing is what the movie wanted to be. It couldn’t be one or the other, and that’s why it set itself up for failure in it’s sequel. 

The Matrix Review

 

        It’s January and you know what that means, I get to look at a film series that’s bad. Last time you may recall that I reviewed the DCEU films from the 2010s. And while those are the times that I will never get back, I’ve decided to look at another series. This time The Matrix series, and wouldn’t you know it, the new entry is already out. With all that, here’s what I think of The Matrix.

1. Neo

        It’s without a doubt one of the most famous roles that Keanu Reeves has portrayed. Aside from his other characters like Ted Logan, John Wick, and Jack Traven, Neo was the one to give Keanu a sudden spike in another popularity among action film buffs. 

        To really make a character likeable, especially in a movie like this, you need to have him be an average joe. In the real world Neo is Thomas Anderson, a run of the mill hacker who works in a dead beat job. He is interrogated by the mysterious Agent Smith, by accusing him of being in contact with other hackers, notably one named Trinity. 

        Soon, Trinity and Morpheus manage to free him and help explain that everything that he knows is a lie. What makes Neo work in this film is that he is representation of who the audience wants to be. To give an example is me bringing up Luke Skywalker. He’s just a farmboy, but unintentionally becomes part of something bigger than him. The reason why audiences like him is that people want to be him. Saving the day and getting the love interest, although Leia was his sister but you get what I’m trying to say. 

        And there’s a similarity between Star Wars and The Matrix due in part that they follow the same story but tell it different. Such as having that one moment of explaining what the force and matrix is. And the teaching moment of how to fight. Those things while similar show that this type of storytelling works and the films needed to have interesting characters worth caring about. 

        Neo learning that everything he knows is just a simulation comes as a smack in the fact to all of us. Knowing that he is used as a battery really takes him out of the world, literally. From there, Morpheus and Trinity among other resistance fighters try to stop the machines from wiping them out. This part is when our hero decides to join. It’s one of the levels that is associated with the thing called the Hero’s Journey. A series of character levels that makes our protagonist really embrace who he is and become a hero. 

2. Into The Rabbit Hole

        Even if you’ve never read Alice in Wonderland or watch the various adaptations, you know that the film takes its inspiration or just how it tells the story which mirrors the classic story. Hell, it’s even referenced in the film by a line and a visual cue. To me it works since the Wachowski’s at that time set up an interesting world where everything seemingly is real. 

        The type of genre that the film is going for is called Cyber punk. What that is a sub-genre that focuses on scientific achievements and the decay of society. Which the film is famous for due to the heroes having to fight against the machines. I might as well bring up that in the 90s, there was various movies about going into different worlds. Movies like The Lawnmower Man and Johnny Mnemonic, which had Reeves in it, didn’t do well since the internet was roughly becoming a new idea. 

3. Groundbreaking Action

        The various moments of action steal the show and offset the philosophical elements of the film. The directors were influenced by classic Hong Kong action films when shooting the gun fights and martial arts moments. The type of kung fu that is used for the action sequences is called wire-fu. Since the main characters fight feel like it’s defying gravity. Simply put they are done masterful and established itself as an action movie itself. 

        Now for the gun fights. I brought this up when I reviewed John Wick last year, but the type of gun actions scenes is called gun fu. Due in part that both Neo and Trinity use acrobatics and cool gun maneuvers to stop the agents. At that time, when Neo was fighting against the agents, the use of bullet time, when Neo dodged the incoming bullets was revolutionary for its time. It became a staple for the series and derivative for various action films and video games. 

4. Legacy

        The film was a massive success in 1999. It’s often considered one of the best years in film due to how this film among others really broke box office records and made an impact to the general audience. As you may have known, there were sequels that have came out and video games that tied into the main series. 

        The various ideas that is talked about during the film started to get a lot of academia attention. Speaking from experience, I had a philosophy class that featured sci-fi films and this one included. Mostly talking about the idea of choice and determining what is real. The whole film series sparked loads of books that really analyzed the themes and concepts of The Matrix. 

5. Overall

        The Matrix still holds up 20 years later. It was only inevitable that Warner Bros. made sequels to further elaborate on the idea of the matrix. For better and worse.