tl;dr: If you’ve watched the first three movies more than a year ago, and enjoyed not just the action scenes but also the intellectual ponderings, you’ll enjoy The Matrix Resurrections. Otherwise, you’ll probably be missing a significant chunk of what’ll make it enjoyable.
- Callbacks, lots of callbacks to the first three movies.
- Excellent writing, story & world building.
You shouldn’t watch it if you’re a little too woke and have been spoiled by various appropriations of the red pill/blue pill allegory in various pockets of the internet. This is not a movie to think too deeply about, more “switch your brain off a little and enjoy the ride”.
Disclaimer: As always, these posts are liable for tainting your opinion hence the tl;dr at the top. The next section will comment on aspects of the trailer, with spoiler content at the bottom. As always, if you’re easily affected by one’s opinions & perspectives, best to steer clear!
Let’s face it, in this current age of movies where the Marvel (or DC?) Universe continues to be (painstakingly) extended to the point where the amount of required watching to keep up with the story line starts to feel asinine, and every major movie company and their mother seem to want to make reboots of movies more than 20 years old, it’s very easy to think that The Matrix Resurrections is just another cash grab sequel.
Even if it was, though, in my opinion it’s actually a good cash grab sequel that strikes exactly at the nostalgia that fans of the original three movies (well, maybe just the first) enjoyed about them but also gave them a bit more with additional icing on top.
In essence this is the reason that I generally recommend a significant gap of time between having watched the first three and watching this one. I honestly could not recommend watching all four in close succession with each other.
Seeing (naturally) aged Keanu Reeves and Carrie Anne Moss is one of those things that can make some people wonder “Well, they’re obviously no younger youthful, so is the story going to be a bit out of place with respect to that?” Thankfully (and I must admit I marveled at the creativity of the story) things ‘just’ make sense.
Spoiler Territory
Things I liked:
Writing, Story & World Building
Thankfully there have been pretty egregious examples of bad writing as of late (Game of Thrones final season anyone? Not that I’ve watched it.) that I imagine people might be now more sensitive to how writing affects a movie.
However the sheer amount of callbacks and references to the first three movies were done in an smooth way that made me chuckle, and it never felt like any particular reference was particularly contrived or pigeonholed in. Perhaps the humour and meta-commentary distracted from those.
One part I particularly liked was Sati coming back from a very minor role in The Matrix Reloaded to a much more significant role in this movie. I don’t know much about writing in terms of having minor characters in a story, but this is one of those things that in my opinion, experienced writers ‘know’ how to leave pieces behind in an earlier story that they can later build on (if not planned entirely from the beginning).
Additionally the story/world building also felt smooth, for lack of a better descriptor. Given the time skip, the progression in various areas and civilisation made sense. Also very interesting was the overall idea of people & machines working together to improve their overall landscape.
Meta-Commentary on Current Events
The first three Matrix movies explored and asked questions that someone going through (or has gone through) their philosophical phase could identify with, in terms of questioning reality. When it surfaced later that the Wachowski sisters wrote it as a trans allegory (noting that they publicly transitioned after the three movies were released), several elements of the movie begun to make much more sense.
This movie is a bit more on-the-nose in terms of describing the current state of society and stating realisations that informed people like me were already aware of (but possibly not so much the general audience), but also put forward the message that (some semblance of) working together is vital to the betterment of society.
Neil Patrick Harris as the “villain”?!
The curse of actors being typecast is pretty prominent and it’s interesting to see what they do about it. Some just lean into it fully (e.g. Jason Statham & Bruce Willis as bald angry white action movie men, Sean William Scott as the high school sex-obsessed pervert), others try but fail, and then you have those who genuinely disappear into their roles (Gary Oldman is the easy one for me here).
Neil Patrick Harris in my opinion did a pretty solid job of assimilating into his role as The Analyst. At the start of the movie it was very easy to think ‘Oh he’s just a quirky therapist’, but as the story evolved it really gave him the space to ‘disappear into’ the villainous nature of his character. The slight aging plus his lack of exaggeration (like in his “How I Met Your Mother” sitcom style role) really helped deliver his role and overall I was very pleasantly surprised at his performance. I look forward to seeing him play different roles/personalities distinct from his past roles and how well he achieves it.
Things I wasn’t sure about:
Is the Matrix a trans film? Revising the Wachowskis through a trans lens – The Conversation
Frankly there isn’t much from my end, but after discussing the movie with some friends, one commented on how the side characters in this movie (e.g. other people on the ship) didn’t feel as significant, and in some sense I sort of understand both sides. This being a one-off movie and trying to cram an entire meaningful story (noting that the movie itself was under 3 hours) but also address many various plot points and threads, no doubt there would be things that were not so well developed.
Extra Interesting Reading
Is The Matrix a trans film? Revisiting the Wachowskis through a trans lens – The Conversation
Political Psychology of “The Matrix Resurrections” – Psychology Today
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