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THE MATRIX: RESURRECTIONS (2021)
The Matrix Resurrections poster

CAST
KEANU REEVES
YAHYA ABDUL-MATEEN II
ANDREW LEWIS CALDWELL
JONATHAN GROFF
NEIL PATRICK HARRIS
JESSICA HENWICK
PRIYANKA CHOPRA JONAS
CARRIE-ANNE MOSS
TOBY ONWUMERE
MAX RIEMELT
CHRISTINA RICCI
BRIAN J. SMITH
JADA PINKETT SMITH

BASED ON CHARACTERS CREATED BY
LANA WACHOWSKI
LILLY WACHOWSKI

SCREENPLAY BY
ALEKSANDAR HEMON
DAVID MITCHELL
LANA WACHOWSKI

CINEMATOGRAPHY BY
DANIELE MASSACCESI
JOHN TOLL

EDITED BY
JOSEPH JETT SALLY

MUSIC BY
JOHNNY KLIMEK
TOM TYKWER

PRODUCED BY
GRANT HILL
GRANT McTEIGUE
LANA WACHOWSKI

DIRECTED BY
LANA WACHOWSKI

GENRE
ACTION
ADVENTURE
SCIENCE FICTION

RATED
AUS:M
UK:15
USA:R

RUNTIME
148 MIN

 

 

 

 

 

 


The Matrix Resurrections image

While there is a certain joy in watching Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss reunite on screen, The Matrix: Resurrections proves to be a laborious and often frustrating fourth entry in a franchise that had its day over 20 years ago.

Looking back there was a simplicity to the first Matrix movie that made its thinking man’s action movie formula all that more appealing. By the time The Matrix: Revolutions had come and went, so convoluted and complicated had this franchise become that the idea of returning to it was a non-starter.

Clearly director Lana Wachowski and studio Warner Media did not get the message, with The Matrix: Resurrections back to take part in that superhero movie moolah, of which The Matrix was a precursor to. As feared this 148-minute fourth entry further mars the legacy of the 1999 original, offering more murky plot development not to mention a sacrifice of its thrilling wire-fighting martial arts style to appease todays choppy shaky-cam action sensibilities.

The Matrix: Resurrection marks the return of Keanu Reeves as Neo/Thomas Anderson, the Superman saviour figure of the original trilogy who is once again slave to the Matrix simulated reality, where he is given the identity of a game developer whose masterwork is The Matrix trilogy. It is a clever move by Wachowski and screenwriters Aleksander Hemon (Love Island) and David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas) with which all of our criticisms of corporate sell-out regarding this fourth chapter are acknowledged. Afterall, if any franchise deserves to go ‘meta’, it’s The Matrix.

As the existential cloud handing over Neo grows more ominous, he is rescued from his enslavement by a new group of hacker pirates led by Bugs (Jessica Henwick). With Neo returned, they now set their sights on saving the equally important Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss.)

Although released 18 years after the maligned Matrix: Revolutions, The Matrix: Resurrections still has the same old problems and a batch of new ones to go with it. Exactly why Wachowski thought it was a good idea to replace the fluid yet impactful wirework choreography with Bourne-esque shaky-close-cam theatrics is anyone’s guess, yet it is a creative misstep that robs the film of its visual identity as a once-upon-a-time revolutionary action franchise.

Equally chaotic is the films writing.  Wachowski’s inability to create a coherent story worth investing in continues to sabotage the potential highs the Matrix franchise could have reached, a franchise that continues to be stuck in murky techno-drabble of its mythology. Even the films dialogue, at times too wordy, too complicated, and delivered way too fast, speaks to how Wachowski simply cannot project ideas into storytelling.

The saviours of The Matrix: Resurrections is, of course, its two stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss. The chemistry between the two is simply electric, and although almost 20 years older than they when they last played Neo and Trinity, they take to their roles with ease. It is just a shame that The Matrix: Resurrections cannot match what its stars bring to the table. Four films in, this franchise is officially broken.

**1/2

 

 

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Created and Edited by Matthew Pejkovic / Contact: mattsm@mattsmoviereviews.net
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