{"id":2139,"date":"2024-08-06T21:21:46","date_gmt":"2024-08-06T21:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=2139"},"modified":"2024-10-13T19:29:53","modified_gmt":"2024-10-13T23:29:53","slug":"the-matrix-resurrections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/08\/06\/the-matrix-resurrections\/","title":{"rendered":"The Matrix Resurrections"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The Matrix Resurrections<\/strong> (2021)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Warner Bros.\/Sci-Fi-Action\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 148 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (violence, some language)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Lana Wachowski\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Lana Wachowski, David Mitchell and Aleksandar Hemon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Johnny Klimek and Tom Tykwer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Daniele Massaccesi and John Toll\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: December 22, 2021 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Jada Pinkett Smith, Christina Ricci, Lambert Wilson, Erendira Ibarra, Max Riemelt, Brian J. Smith, Toby Onwumere, Telma Hopkins, Chad Stahelski.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $40.5M (US)\/$159.2M (World)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: * \u00bd<\/p>\n

\u00a0Sometimes it\u2019s best to leave sleeping dogs lie. Such is the case with The Matrix Resurrections<\/strong>, a disappointing sequel that miraculously manages to make the previous installment Revelations look good (by comparison ONLY). What is it with Warner Bros. and reviving old properties? Earlier this year, they subjected us to Space Jam: A New Legacy, a sequel to one of the last movies that required a follow-up. Now we get The Matrix Resurrections<\/strong>. Why? In the 18 years since the last one, I have NEVER heard anybody say they wanted another Matrix movie. I have a theory as to why both films exist, but I\u2019ll hold off for now. There are more pressing matters to discuss first.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Directed by Lana Wachowski (formerly Larry), The Matrix Resurrections<\/strong> is a long, dull, convoluted mess that confounds right out of the gate. Well, close to it anyway. It starts with the rebirth of Morpheus in a new, updated version of the Matrix, a simulated reality created by a new creator whose identity isn\u2019t the most closely guarded secret in the universe. It\u2019s fairly easy to pick out this person. In any event, Morpheus has apparently been updated as well. He\u2019s no longer played by Laurence Fishburne. He\u2019s now played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II from this year\u2019s Candyman reboot. His purpose in the plot isn\u2019t clear, but neither is much else in this muddle of a movie.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Neo (Reeves, John Wick) has somehow come back to life and returned to the Matrix as his previous self Thomas Anderson, now a successful video game designer who works for a company owned by Warner Bros. His business partner Smith (Groff, Glee), speaking on behalf of the company execs, wants him to make a sequel to his popular trilogy of games based on his experiences inside the Matrix. He\u2019s convinced that everything that happened to him in the past\/future was a psychotic episode. He still has brief flashbacks. He regularly sees an analyst (Harris, Doogie Howser MD) who keeps him grounded in \u201creality\u201d with a combination of psychobabble and an unlimited supply of blue pills. He frequents a coffee shop where he encounters Trinity (Moss, Memento), now a soccer mom named Tiffany. She has no recollection of the events of the past\/future.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Just when Anderson thought he was out, they pull him back in…. so to speak. He\u2019s first contacted by Bugs (Henwick, Iron Fist), a blue-haired bad ass with a tattoo of a white rabbit. She\u2019s the one that explains it all to him again for the first time. He doesn\u2019t want to believe her at first, but he eventually takes the red pill and returns to the real reality in which sixty years have passed since Neo was last seen. Now everybody lives in a place called Io overseen by an aged Niobe (Smith, Gotham) who isn\u2019t exactly thrilled to see Neo. His goal now is to reunite with his one true love, Trinity. To do that, he\u2019ll need to get her out of the Matrix. Of course, it\u2019s in the creator\u2019s best interest to keep them apart as they make too-powerful a couple.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I knew going in that The Matrix Resurrections<\/strong> wouldn\u2019t even come close to equaling the first movie. The original 1999 was an original, intelligent sci-fi actioner with innovative special effects (e.g. bullet-time) and weighty philosophical themes. It was the perfect blend of intellectualism and kick-ass action. The series went downhill from there. The latest movie is recycled material wrapped in shiny paper. It has some decent visuals, but there\u2019s nothing in it we haven\u2019t seen before. If anything, it lacks what made The Matrix so special. Remember the great martial arts scenes orchestrated by Yuen Wo Ping (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)? GONE! Wachowski tries to recreate the dojo scene with Neo and Morpheus to no avail. The action scenes are okay, but none of them stand out like the freeway scene in Reloaded. If had to pick out the best ones, I\u2019d say the scene on the train and the motorcycle finale which brings to mind the popular Weather Girls song \u201cIt\u2019s Raining Men\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00a0As for the intellectual aspect, The Matrix Resurrections<\/strong> is about as deep as a puddle. Any and all attempts at intellectualism come off as pseudo-philosophical mumbo-jumbo. A middle schooler could see right through it. In addition to being shallow, it\u2019s also TOO DAMN LONG at two-and-a-half hours. The first hour or so drags. It takes a while for something to happen. The acting isn\u2019t all that noteworthy except for Henwick whose character is the only one that shows any enthusiasm. Actually, NPH isn\u2019t too bad either. I can\u2019t say any more than that without dropping a major spoiler. Moss gets too little screen time. Mateen does a decent imitation of his predecessor, but his character is pixelated for most of the movie. As for Reeves, he looks like he doesn\u2019t give a crap because he still has John Wick to fall back on. BTW, what\u2019s with the rubber ducky on Anderson\u2019s head while he takes a bath?<\/p>\n

\u00a0Now for my theory regarding the mere existence of The Matrix Resurrections<\/strong>. It\u2019s my guess that the studio execs that green-lighted it grew up with the original movie. Think about it, if they were 18 in \u201999, they\u2019d be about forty now. It\u2019s a piece of their youth they want to relive. That could also explain Space Jam 2. The problem is the writers didn\u2019t come up with anything fresh or interesting. They basically copied every action movie from the past 20 years and packaged it as the next step in Matrix evolution. That\u2019s a blatant case of false advertising. There\u2019s really no need to see The Matrix Resurrections<\/strong>. This is why what\u2019s dead should stay dead.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Matrix Resurrections (2021)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Warner Bros.\/Sci-Fi-Action\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 148 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (violence, some language)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Lana Wachowski\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Lana Wachowski, David Mitchell and Aleksandar Hemon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Johnny Klimek and Tom Tykwer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Daniele Massaccesi and John Toll\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: December 22, 2021 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-action-adventure","category-sci-fi-fantasy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/The-Matrix-Resurrections-PI.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2139"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2989,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2139\/revisions\/2989"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}