‘The Matrix Resurrections’ Review: An Amusingly Meta First Half Couldn’t Help Me Forget Why This Is A Glitch In The Franchise
I never thought I’d be reviewing a Matrix sequel and Emily In Paris Season 2 in the same day, much less find something in common between them. But as the return of both Neo and Trinity in The Matrix Resurrections after they were believed to be dead in The Matrix Revolutions is any indication, anything can happen. Never say never! It’s a risky gamble to ‘awaken’ a beloved legacy franchise that’s been put to sleep with a perfect ending because you might shit the bed with it. But director Lana Wachowski manages to not only have Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss return for this one, but also make a sequel that is hilariously meta as it subverts franchise tropes. And here’s where the common thread lies. Much like the heavily criticised Netflix series sequel that releases this week, The Matrix Resurrections also doesn’t care much for what critics think. It just wants to have fun.
The result? A film that offers oodles of fan service, nods and callbacks to the trilogy, with clever quips about resurrecting big franchises at the behest of bigger Hollywood studios. All the things we lip-smackingly love. But at the same time, also a sequel that kind of trivialises the high stakes of the trilogy, has barely the innovativeness of the original’s action (we needed a new bullet time. It’s an inside joke), and relies solely on the nostalgia factor to do its thing. If you think the Internet is full of divisive opinions about The Matrix Resurrections, wait till you read this internally divisive one. Literally divisive. Like, I just want one half of this movie. But more on that in a bit.
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The Matrix Resurrections brings back Reeves and Moss and their corny but beautiful love story, which contrary to some clueless folk, remains the heart of the Matrix movies. Also returning are Lambert Wilson as The Merovingian and Jada Pinkett Smith as Niobe. And we get some older characters in new avatars, with a cast that includes Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Christina Ricci. So fair warning, if you haven’t seen the trilogy in a while, please brush up on your Neo-logy because otherwise, it might be hard to, shall I say, follow the white rabbit.
To give you a synopsis, the film is set some two decades after the events of Revolutions, in a whole new iteration of the Matrix. And it begins with a sequence that, coupled with the all too familiar opening sequence of glittering green code, loads the nostalgia program into your psyche. In this new world, Neo (Keanu Reeves) is yet again controlled by machines and believes he is Thomas Anderson, a world-renowned, award-winning game designer who built a game called—wait for it—The Matrix. Oh, the game has two sequels as well, and the business guys are gunning for a fourth one (wink wink). So basically, The Machines have flipped Neo’s entire life into a game that Anderson designed, and when he starts getting glimpses of his real memories, they let him think his obsession with the game is a work hazard that has driven him a tad insane. Tom consults with a therapist (Neil Patrick Harris) who has him doped up on pills (you know what colour) to keep him from having further ‘episodes’, something Tom’s business partner Smith (Jonathan Groff) really wants him to avoid having.
But love, the all-powerful love, pierces even the thickest veil. Tom can’t help but notice Tiffany (Carrie-Anne Moss) at the coffee shop and think of the Trinity in his game. And she too, can’t stop wondering if her life, with her husband, the “handsome Chad,” and her kids, is all there is. Or does her obsession with bikes, like Trinity in the game, allude to something else? Enter Bugs (Jessica Henwick) with her white rabbit tattoo and her crew, who’ve been searching for Neo a while. They manage to not only bring forth a new Morpheus (Yahya Abdul Mateen II) but also free Neo’s mind and make him aware of the simulation that he has been living in. Now Neo wants Trinity to join the party too, but not before trouble comes a-knocking in the form of Agents, a very familiar foe, and a not-so-familiar-but-utterly-confusing foe.
The entire first half of The Matrix Resurrections really had me convinced that this resurrection was a good idea. Writers Lana Wachowski and David Mitchell really woke up and chose to go meta with the whole “‘The Matrix’ movies are actually a game,” and “Now there’s a Matrix 4 coming so we need a ‘new bullet time’!” It’s a bold move to be this self-aware, self-referencing and self-deprecating (with all the jibes at Warner Bros) on occasion, and I thought it really made for an interesting welcome back present for the fans. I think my favourite had to be the sequence where we see Keanu Reeves as Tom trying to figure what is real and what is his psychosis, while people (including our very own Purab Kohli is a nice little cameo) around him talk about his life like it’s all a game that needs an upgrade. Even his interactions with Tiffany, the longing, the whole Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind of it all, is bittersweet but beautiful.
As someone who has watched Supernatural (another Warner Bros offering) do the meta referencing joke thing incredibly well for years now, all this is amusing but doesn’t really blow my mind. For an SPN fan and supporter of Team Free Will, it is just another Thursday. But is it enough to carry the expectations I have from a Matrix sequel? Yeaaaaa nope.
For starters, Neo being the Chosen One has absolutely zero value here, and through most of the film, he looks so confused and unadjusted, running around with younger folks who are huge fans, that you think he doesn’t really ‘believe’. And why would he, the two people that were crucial to this character strength of his in the trilogy—Morpheus and Trinity—aren’t there to back him up with their unshakeable faith in him. In fact, the new Morpheus is fun and stylish, but what’s he even doing here? It also feels like the stakes aren’t as high, and the entire central conflict of the film renders Neo and Trinity’s sacrifice in Revolutions kinda moot. At one point in the film, Neo even questions this and is then convinced by other characters that what he did really changed the world. And maybe he is convinced, but I am not.
A lot of what you think about Matrix Resurrections will depend on what you loved about the trilogy. If you loved the action, then you won’t find the same mind-blowing sequences here that really make you go, “Whoa” like that Keanu meme that the Internet loves. So Neo says, in another meta-joke, that he can still do kung-fu, but it is kinda sad that he doesn’t get to do it in good action sequences. If you were a sucker for the deep, philosophical debate on destiny and free will, that too goes for a toss, because ain’t no philosophical rabbit hole to go down here, my friend. If anything, after looking at Trinity’s character, you’d find yourself wondering if maybe she is happier in the simulation because she has a real family there. And does that affection for familial relations go away once she realises they are fake? We have entire movies on people forming relationships with AI and disembodied computer voices. So that’s some hard pills for thought right here. Was it all worth it? Would resting in the Matrix have been better for these two heroes?
So not enough action, no high stakes, no interesting conflict. A climax that felt kaafi anti-climatic, and an ending that felt abrupt. But once again, love saves the day. The chemistry between Keanu Reeves as Neo and Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity is really something to witness once again on the screen. There’s some spark when they’re together, and even the cheesiest of scenes make you go mush. The film also looks great, and I thought I’d miss the green tinge of the OG films!
And then, let’s talk about those performances, which, IMO, were all top-notch, starting with Keanu being Keanu and playing the lost, confused older guy surrounded by fans to the T. I mean, he does deal on a daily basis with being the Internet’s boyfriend, so this was probably him being his most natural self! Can I just say, Moss can still get it? It was nice to see a whole different side to her character, still Trinity but also Tiffany, a suburban mom who fixes bikes in her spare time. Jessica Henwick as Bugs steals the show. Watching her mouth a line by another famous pop-culture bunny was one of the highlights of this film for me.
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Yahya’s Morpheus really won me over, but it only made me pissed that there wasn’t more for him to do. The same for Smith, played by Jonathan Groff, who BTW is one of the chief reasons I came to watch this film. I think with the constant undercuts of the previous films being played, the audience is repeatedly reminded of the original actors Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving, whose performances were nothing short of iconic. It’s kind of a disservice then because both Yahya and Groff are actually doing great, but nostalgia makes you reject their versions and seek comfort in the OG ones because nothing else seems to be working.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas as Sati is as good as her small role permits her to be. Jada Pinkett Smith as Niobe is a delight to watch, and so is Lambert Wilson as the Merovingian, in another one of those hilarious jokes.
Verdict
To reference another WB show, remember when Buffy sacrifices herself in Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 5 finale ‘The Gift’, and then is pulled back from heaven by her friends because they just miss her so much? They think she’s happy to be back, but she was actually at peace because she didn’t have to shoulder the weight of being the Chosen One anymore. Once back, though, she manages to get on with it for the sake of her friends, and eventually even finds her mojo back, filling the void in her with one mission after another.
That’s exactly how I feel about The Matrix Resurrections. Neo (as well as Trinity and Morpheus, because without them, what even is he?) shouldn’t have been awoken at all. That being said, I do appreciate and laud Lana Wachowski for attempting the meta route. I may not be wholly convinced, but it’s an interesting spin that could’ve worked in a few universes, the Matrix verse being one of them, so full points for thinking out of the box on this one. The ending leaves the door open for some more new beginnings and resurrection of the entire franchise so I guess that’s a win?
Ultimately, you could pop the blue pill and not watch the film, and continue to live in the knowledge of only the trilogy. Or you could pop the red pill, and watch the film, but with all the nostalgia, might come a few things that you don’t like. But really, you call that a choice?
The Matrix Resurrections released in theatres in India on December 22, 2021.
