I Watch Films: The Matrix Resurrections

The Matrix Resurrections

What is The Matrix? I’m old enough to remember that was the teaser campaign, back in 1999, for the film The Matrix. In that film Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) tells Neo (Keanu Reeves) that no one can be told what The Matrix is, you have to see it for yourself*. (The Oracle (Gloria Foster) notes that Neo is “Not too bright,” so perhaps Morpheus is exaggerating to spare Neo’s feelings). Anyway, that question was answered by the original Matrix trilogy, and so people have been arguing about it ever since.

This film has Bugs (Jessica Henwick) hacking into the opening of the film The Matrix, releasing a program version of Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). It turns out that Neo survived the ending of the trilogy and now lives as a video game designer who designed a trilogy of games called The Matrix. Bugs was inside a bit of old code, running in a loop, Neo again and again meeting Trinity (Carrie-Ann Moss). Now 20 years on the parent company (Warner Brothers) wants to make a fourth Matrix game.

There’s a bit of meta-commentary on the Matrix films which I mention in case you don’t get it after the film hits you on the head with a hammer about it.

Then Bugs and her crew break out Neo. In the real world there’s various shenanigans, and they go back in to break out Trinity. It turns out Neo’s boss was a refurbished Agent Smith (Jonathan Groff) and this version of The Matrix is run by Neo’s therapist, The Analyst (Neil Patrick Harris).

Anyway, SPOILERS what makes this version of The Matrix work is the unrequited love between Neo and Trinity, in the real world their pods were opposite each other in a tower with chasm between them, the metaphor is literalised. And so Lana Warchowski gets to tell us what she thinks The Matrix is; a love story.

Watch This: A Matrix film that successfully extends the story and ideas of the series
Don’t Watch This: The Matrix was complete in itself; every sequel is increasingly superfluous elaboration

* SPOILERS: The Matrix is a virtual reality that the people living in believe is the real world; it is also a 1999 cyberpunk action thriller, very influential on the genres it inhabits.