The Matrix Resurrections [2021]

 The Matrix and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, as I’ve maintained for long, were two films that provided such tremendous step changes to SFX in cinema – and so flamboyantly and organically too – that action movies thereafter have managed to only either mimic or rehash them despite significant technological advancements since then, but without even being able to equal their brilliance, let alone better. Further, with the ‘The Matrix Trilogy’ the Wachowski sisters had created a terrific cyberpunk pop-culture too. Hence, resurrecting the blockbuster franchise nearly 2 decades later came with its share of trappings (proclivity for wallowing in nostalgia, and the innate difficulty in doing anything new or fresh out of something as popular as this), and a few opportunities too (satirizing the franchise, and in turn Hollywood’s gluttonous love for vapid remakes and consumerism). But then, as Lana Wachowski cheekily quipped in The Matrix Resurrections – she went solo this time as director, without her sister Lily – Warner Bros. intended to have this made with or without them, and hence she might as well do it instead of someone else. Consequently, while it was an intriguing and impishly self-aware work, it was also a rather pointless exercise at times – especially once it descended into its been-there-done-that climactic sequences – that didn’t really provide any new filip to the series. Set 60 years later, it revolved around the dramatic reunion of Thomas Anderson / Neo (Keanu Reeves), whose memories have been reprogrammed and he’s now a successful but disoriented “blue pill” popping video game developer, and Tiffany / Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), who’s now a placid married woman with three kids, haunted by recurring dreams and with a continued love for motorcycles.

 

 

 

 

 

Director: Lana Wachowski

Genre: Action/Sci-Fi

Language: English

Country: US