“The Matrix: Resurrections”: The Anti-Blockbuster Blockbuster for the Modern Blockbuster

Source: Vox

Will Teare
December 29, 2021

Director: Lana Wachowski

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Carrie Anne-Moss, Jessica Henwick, Yahya Abdul Mateen II, with Jonathan Groff and Neil Patrick Harris

Release Date: Dec 22, 2021

Rating: 3.5/5

“Woah.” I gave this movie 3.5/5, but the conversion around it makes it one of the most interesting films made in the last few years.

First, a little history. In 1999, The Wachowskis revolutionized the action genre, the blockbuster, and the way movies were made forever. The Matrix has been hailed as a modern masterpiece and a milestone in cinema history (rightfully so). The Matrix is one of those movies that will be considered essential viewing for anyone who even remotely enjoys film for a very, very long time. Since then, we’ve gotten an ok sequel (I’m a defender of that one, though) and a very messy third entry (I can’t really defend that one). But, as Lilly Wachowski has said of the film and the franchise, “…art is never static.”

Disregarding its impact on cinema, it has ironically bled into the real world with negative results. Being “red-pilled” isn’t an allegory for taking estrogen and becoming your true self. Now, it’s been taken by right-wing extremists as waking up to the lies being fed to them through the media. It’s less of a trans empowerment story and significant commentary on the modern world and more warped right-wing text. Without her sister, Lana Wachowski was determined to take her story back, and take it back she did.

Thomas A. Anderson (Keanu Reeves) is a game developer of the hit “The Matrix” series based on what he thinks is just an idea he had. But after hallucinations, thoughts that the world he lives in is fake, and meeting a woman he’s strangely attached to, he begins to think the game he created isn’t just a make-believe story. Much to the disappointment of his therapist (Neil Patrick Harris) and his boss (Jonathan Groff), Neo is beginning to believe…again.

The way they tackle the story here is fascinating. Frankly, I’m kind of obsessed. First of all, the movie is remarkably meta for a film of its kind. Jonathan Groff’s character literally says, “Things have changed, the market’s tough. I’m sure you can understand why our beloved parent company, Warner Brothers, has decided to make a sequel to the trilogy…They informed me they will do it with or without us.” That’s the level of metatextual commentary Wachowski is going for, and it’s simply fascinating. Lana can throw jabs at the industry being focused entirely on IP while the film is a major IP-filled blockbuster. Bonkers.

It also played with nostalgia in fun ways. Wachowski utilizes lots of footage from the trilogy to varying results bordering and sometimes even crossing the line into pandering to the audience a little much. But when it works — when they violate our pre-established notions of where the film is heading, not delivering on giving the audience what they want in favor of a bold change in the story — it’s something we haven’t seen in blockbusters in a very long time. This movie, much like the original Matrix, is a film that shouldn’t have worked and should’ve been bogged down by too many choices and overwritten plot. Yet, The Matrix: Resurrections stands tall as quality filmmaking…but goes a little into being a bit of a mess.

The end of the third film was a lot. It was a little open-ended, and we have no clue how Zion and the humans survived after the war. Those questions were answered to the best of Wachowski’s abilities. Still, there was a lot of new information and changes I wasn’t sure I enjoyed. Without spoiling, Yahya Abdul Mateen II’s character is a version of a previous character, and he was good in the movie. Still, I felt like they simply could’ve…brought back the original character? Or with how the machines are handled in the new one, how some blur the line of good and evil… didn’t sit well with me. I’m all for some classic good vs. evil dilution and finding the gray area in between, but The Matrix is not a story that ever needed it. I love that the machines and the programs in the Matrix are an absolute force of nature that humans need to struggle to survive. Giving some machines a little personality and making some of the “good” takes away the almost cosmic terror that the machines have over humans in the original trilogy.

Additionally, for a franchise where action and hand-to-hand combat is a major draw to the film and its most impressive feat, the action scenes we’re a little weak. This is a ludicrously high bar, but it never even touches the heights of the original trilogy in terms of thrilling setpieces and stunning wirework. Not bringing back fight choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping (The Matrix, Kill Bill, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) on for the fights was an unbelievable misstep. They even got a cameo from Chad Stahelski, former body double for Reeves in the trilogy and director of the John Wick films. Famous for incredible fight scenes and reinvigorating modern action movie choreography, he was already on set. Couldn’t he help out a bit?

Putting it all together, we have ourselves a film I could write a 12-page scholarly paper if I could talk about the spoilers and the film’s themes if given the opportunity. But what exists is a messy passion, and I mean PASSION project. Wachowski’s love for her characters, story, and personal connection to the franchise is palpable. The commentary is, at times, extremely blunt and quite subtle. It’s a bit of a beautiful mess, but that’s what I love about The Wachowski’s work. From Bound to Speed Racer to The Matrix: Resurrections, each one is crafted with love, passion, and pure creative intent. Lana Wachowski has her characters back, and I, for one, cannot be happier for her.

Follow @WillyTeare
Follow @Q30Entertain

(P.S. Want some opinions on some spoilers? Follow the white rabbit…)