The Matrix: Resurrections - Movie Review (4/10)

If you were to ask me to list my favourite sci-fi movies, Dune (2021) would definitely make a runner up, and so might Ex Machina. But the one that would stand above both is a little-known flick that most of you probably haven’t heard of: THE motherfucking MATRIX (the preamble was sarcastic, if you didn’t pick up on that). I saw it when I was a child, and the interrogation sequence was etched deep into my mind as one of the most horrifying things I’d ever seen. And when I grew up and rewatched it, I was afraid it wouldn’t hold up to what I thought it was like but nope – it was still one of the coolest, stylish, and unique movies that have ever been put on the screen. The sequels, however, I really don’t hold up to the same level. That might be because though the original is definitely a high-concept story requiring a barrage of expositions, its still simple at its core – the alienation you feel working a corporate 9-5 as you tell yourself that there has to be something more to life than this? Yeah, that’s true. You’re stuck in a simulation and need to wake up to a true reality (I also know the film serves as Trans allegory and though that reading wasn’t the reason I initially liked this movie, its definitely made it stronger and I welcome it). And the ending reenforces the idea so well that the sequels actually diminish and worsen the initial concept, in my opinion. I say all this because I want to clarify the parts of the series that I like and the parts that I don’t. So, which one does Resurrections fit into? Both, actually. But that isn’t really a good thing.

The first hour of the movie is a meta commentary on unnecessary sequels. After an initial scene, we open up on Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves), a video game developer popular for making the Matrix trilogy of games. This initial spark was a really interesting set-up that immediately had me hooked. Did this mean the initial series was just a reality within a reality? Was anything from the past real? Thomas is also someone who suffers from mental health issues, and as such the soundness of his reality is a major part of the initial confusion of the plot. And it really works. I didn’t know which side to believe, that everything is real or that everything is fake. And the meta-commentary rolls in when the in-universe Warner Bros. ask Thomas to create a sequel game. What was the take-away people had from the Matrix? Is this sequel really something necessary or something the studio mandated? The boredom of group pitched writing where everyone has their own interpretation they want to highlight. It was all really awesome. But then something happens to the plot that though visually really interesting, resets the story from interesting and intriguing to boring and pointless where we must now engage in a rescue mission punctuated sometimes by kinda cool but meaningless action. I was so happy that the critics that had disliked the movie were wrong and that I was actually going to get something really worthwhile, but after this switch, my happiness slowly faded as I realized the interesting stuff will never be touched on again.

The romance between Neo and Trinity, though indeed a focus of the original trilogy, has never been the reason why I rewatch the first film. Its for the concept – the idea that the mundanity of the working world is so repetitive and soul crushing that it must be a false reality that we need to escape from and find our own purpose. To wake up to reality. And the first hour of the movie does that again brilliant and I was so onboard with that idea. I was even with it when it was starting to become clear that we were simply coming back to the world we had known before. And that’s what makes the second half a boring slog. Its so mundane and long and pointless. What, are we now going to get more movies, beginning another trilogy? Because the powerful conclusion yet potential continuation offered by the ending of the original movie is lost here to a concept so riddled with details and exposition that it makes a chore to understand where people’s powers are actually coming from.

Touching briefly on the technical stuff, the cinematography, acting, and direction were actually quite solid honestly. The use of color was still prevalent to highlight the standing of characters (blue being used for those still asleep and red for those awake) but I did miss the green tinted look of the Matrix that highlights its existence as a simulation. The action nice and stylish, owing to Lana Wachowski’s love for Kung Fu movies, but the raw and visceral hand to hand combat disappears in the climax for long drawn out gun fights with hordes of enemies and a constant “bullet stop” power by Neo that gets tiring after its already been used 12 times in the last 10 minutes.

Saying all this, though I was still sure I didn’t like the picture that much, I wasn’t soured on it. But the thing that DID sour me is so petty but so unforgivable for me. Because a thing you may not known about me is that I am a huge fan of Rage Against the Machine. And their song, Wake Up, is featured at the end of the original film and perfectly captures the theme of the movie. I love that movie and I love the song. Perfect harmony. This movie features this song at the end as well. But. It’s. A. Fucking. Cover. I am very particular on who I am fine with replacing the voice of Zack De La Rocha, and this cover was not one of them. And though I admit it is petty as hell, one of the main reasons I didn’t like Resurrections is because it involves a bad cover of Wake Up by Rage Against the Machine. Deal with it. I give The Matrix: Resurrections a 4/10.