The Matrix Resurrections Review
Hollywood is awash with nostalgia nowadays. From churning out live-action remakes of classic Disney animated movies to rebooting iconic film franchises with new instalments – we’re looking at you, Star Wars and Star Trek – studio executives and audiences seemingly can’t get enough of retelling stories that we’ve seen and heard before.
For two decades, The Matrix had been immune to suffering a similar fate. But, with studios keen to tap into fan nostalgia by any means necessary, the iconic and ground-breaking sci-fi film series has become the latest property to receive the reboot treatment, albeit of the ‘soft revamp’ variety.
The result is The Matrix Resurrections, an evocative and fan service-fuelled sequel to 2003’s The Matrix Revolutions that reunites us with beloved characters including Neo and Morpheus. With the original Matrix trilogy telling a complete story, however, is a fourth movie necessary? And, perhaps more importantly, given the middling-to-poor reception that the last two films received, is it actually any good?
Thankfully, The Matrix Resurrections is a satisfyingly good movie. Its evolution of The Matrix’s story, its new characters and its exploration of novel themes are married with a nostalgic re-tread of what came before. However, as a by-product of how the movie industry has moved on since the original film’s 1999 release, it isn’t the game-changing spectacle that many fans might have hoped for.
Set 20 years after The Matrix Revolutions, Resurrections finds Neo (Keanu Reeves) – who is going by his real name, Thomas Anderson, again – living a seemingly normal and mundane life as a San Francisco-based video game programmer. Neo, though, is plagued by hallucinations of his former life in the Matrix, and it’s only through a prescription of blue pills and regular visits to The Analyst (Neil Patrick Harris), a shadowy therapist, that he’s able to maintain his grip on reality.
But a chance encounter with a woman (Carrie-Anne Moss), who bears a striking resemblance to his deceased lover Trinity, causes Neo’s world to fully unravel. And, when his former mentor Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) suddenly re-enters his life, Neo is forced to confront reality: the Matrix is real, and its band of rebels need his help.
If the final part of that plot sounds familiar, it’s because it’s basically the synopsis for 1999’s The Matrix movie.
Once more, Neo and company must tackle a foe that has supposedly enslaved humanity in the Matrix – much as the machines did in the original film. Again, Neo must make a choice between learning the truth about the Matrix (take the red pill), or going back to his life as a video game programmer (take the blue pill). And, as in the series’ first movie, he must unlock his powers and help to overthrow the Matrix’s current Machiavellian overlord.
So
The Matrix Resurrections isn’t shy about reminding us of what came
before – and not only through its main plot points, but also from a
visual perspective.
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