Why Matrix Resurrections Was A Good Movie, And Why The Matrix Needed No Sequels
First
of all, I want to say that this isn't going to be a typical movie
review. I will speak on a few aspects of Matrix Resurrections that I
thought were good. I will speak on why The Matrix was a good enough
movie on its own that needed no sequel. I will also speak on Lana
Wachowski and the fact that I think she put the franchise back on track
with this movie.
Let's start with Lana. I am
proud of this woman, who is an inspiration to the transgender community.
I'm sure I'll upset people who would rather I not talk about this, but
Lana is such an inspiration to me and others in the trans community. The
Matrix is the movie that put her and her sister Lilly on the map.
Obviously, the fact that there could be more money to be made is a good
enough reason to return to this franchise, but I think what she did was
take the story and put it back on the right track. This was a good
movie.
While I thought the second and third
Matrix movies were visually impressive, I didn't really care for the
story being told. The Matrix itself was such a good movie, and it felt
like the premise offered up in that movie was abandoned for something
much different. I think one of the reasons why people are divided on
this franchise is because the first movie and the second and third
movies were so different. If a sequel really needed to be made, it
should have stuck closer to what was offered in the first movie. I will
return to that thought, but I want to talk about why I thought this movie was the
second best movie in the franchise.
It was good
to see Keanu Reeves and Carrie Ann Moss reprise their roles. At the
heart of The Matrix franchise is the love story between Neo and Trinity,
and I felt that they did a good job of capturing that here. The cast is
impressive. Neil Patrick Harris takes a role as the main antagonist,
and he does an exceptional job here. We see the characters of Morpheus
and Smith. Neither Lawrence Fishburne nor Hugo Weaving were cast in this
movie.
I understand Fishburne was interested,
but Weaving had another obligation. The depiction of Morpheus was fine,
and the new actor did a good job. However, the absence of Weaving in
this movie was noticeable. He did such an amazing job in the previous
three movies that he was missed in this one.
Basically, the Morpheus we
knew from the previous movies wasn't alive, so this was another version
of him. We're supposed to believe that the person on the screen calling
himself Smith is the same Smith, and the absence of Weaving doesn't help
that.
I didn't think too much about this in
the previous three movies, but something struck me during the first 50
minutes of this movie. The Matrix in this movie felt more like a world that
would keep the humans' minds occupied and mentally engaged while they were trapped in the pods.
It felt like a real world and not just a place filled with props for
Neo and the others to knock down like bowling pins.
I got sort of a
Last Action Hero vibe from this portion of the movie as there were
references to the fact that The Matrix was a franchise. In this case,
Tom Anderson (Neo) was the creator of a series of video games called The
Matrix. This was well executed in my opinion.
Another
aspect I liked about this movie was the fact that some machines and the
humans alive outside of The Matrix were aligned. I did not like the
direction the second and third movies went, but if we are to take that
at face value, there should have been at least some machines aligned
with the humans who were resisting The Matrix. I thought it was a nice
touch to have some machines helping the humans survive on the outside.
The humans on the outside have given up on Zion and created a new
homeland. Some of the machines live alongside them.
I'm
not doing an analysis of the movie itself. There's quite a bit I could
get into, but I'm just talking about aspects of this movie that helped
me enjoy it. These are reasons why I feel this was the best of the three
sequels. I like that the story of Neo and Trinity is a love story, and
the point was driven home more in this movie.
Most of us were under the
impression that Neo and Trinity were dead after the third movie, but we
find out that they are alive. It's explained why that is, and I felt that the
explanation was plausible within the confines of The Matrix universe.
The
Architect isn't going to debate with the Oracle over how the Matrix
should be run. Both are out of the picture, replaced by The
Psychiatrist, played by Neil Patrick Harris. I have to say that Neil has
had some memorable roles throughout his career, and this one ranks high
among them.
The character is basically running The Matrix now and has a
new way of doing things. Neo and Trinity figured prominently in those
plans. The alliance forged at the end of the third Matrix movie has been
done away with. That could prove to be trouble for those on the
outside, although there seems to be peace at this time.
The
movie held my attention from start to finish, and I liked the things
mentioned above. People might have been wondering how there could even
be a fourth movie after the way the third one ended, but I thought the
writing explained that pretty well. The actors for the most part did a
good job in their roles.
I felt like the story was executed well, and I
give a lot of credit to Lana as one of the writers and the director. I
know there are people being critical of this movie, but it's isn't a
terrible movie. It may not have done as well as it could have at the box office
given the time we were going through and the fact that it was also
available for streaming on HBO Max.
The main
thing I felt this movie needed to do was put the franchise back on the
right track. I don't think the second and third movies, which really
didn't need to be made, left the franchise in a good place. What this
movie did was pick up the pieces, put the story back together again and
leave it pretty much in the same place the first movie ended.
It's
almost like we have a do over here, and maybe Lana has done some
thinking. This is just speculation, but if she is planning to do any
more of these movies, I'm thinking she might have a better idea of where
to take it that might build up support once again.
This
movie was very self-aware during the first act. We had references to
the fact that The Matrix was a franchise. It's almost like a nod to the
actual impact that this franchise had on popular culture.
People talk
about being red pilled, which means being woken up to something that's
happening that is a paradigm shift. The phrase came from this movie.
Bullet time was a game change for movie special effects. That first
movie was visually stunning, but the actual story being told in the
first movie was something different that demanded attention.
What
we had with the first movie was a slow burn. I don't know if the studio
knew at the time that they had a hit on their hands, but people started
to get on board. I don't really care what was said, I don't believe
that there were sequels planned when the first movie was being made.
You
can look at the way the first movie ended, and the story was pretty
much over. However, if a sequel needed to be made, we didn't get what we
should have gotten. That's why ending the fourth movie the way they did
makes me feel like they have a new plan for how to go about it.
When
you look at it, Neo won his battle in the first movie and let the
machines know that he was going to wake the people up to the truth. The
second movie should have been about that effort and how things were
going. Obviously, there would have been resistance to being pulled into
the world that awaited the people outside The Matrix. There would have
been resistance from the machines.
I really don't feel like this was the
story we got in the second and third movies. It was more about whether
we have free will or not and that sort of stuff. Was Neo really "The
One" in a spiritual savior sort of way or was he just a tool to be used
by the machines to maintain control? That's the biggest reason why the
audience slowly abandoned the franchise and it took nearly 20 years to
come back to it with another movie.
While I
don't believe sequels needed to be made for The Matrix, Matrix
Resurrections justified its existence in the way the story unfolded. I
can't really say the same for the second and third movies. I'm not sure
what measuring stick this movie will be put up against to determine
whether a fifth installment will be made.
I can only say that I was
hoping this movie would put the franchise back on the right track. It
managed to accomplish the task. Therefore, I am interested in a fifth
movie and where things might go. I have a hunch that Lana will do it right
this time if they give her a chance.
