I still couldn’t quite believe it, even as the green-hued Warner Brothers logo lit up the screen, paired with the iconic Don Davis score: we have another Matrix movie. The fourth installment in the Wachowski siblings’ techo-sci-fi-action series, The Matrix Resurrections carries similar baggage that plagued the other sequels to the 1999 original: how do you follow the unreachable, ground-breaking standard set by The Matrix? At its core, Resurrections strangely echoes those earlier sequels: its clearly full of ambitious ideas and concepts, but is unable to fully execute them. The difference between this film and 2003’s often-maligned The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions is that Resurrections is having much more tongue-in-cheek fun.
Resurrections is directed by Lana Wachowsi (who co-directed the previous films with her sister, Lilly), from a screenplay by Lana, David Mitchell, and Aleksander Hemon. Resurrections revisits the world and key characters established in the 1999 original—a story that arguably received a definitive ending at the conclusion of the third film. After closing the book so thoroughly with the trilogy, much of Resurrection‘s mystery is how exactly Lana would reintroduce this world and these beloved characters. That reintroduction is interesting, if not brilliant, relying heavily on a meta self-awareness. An entire montage in the film features shallow creatives talking openly about making a fourth Matrix, even directly calling out “our parent company, Warner Brothers” for threatening to move ahead on a fourth entry “with or without us” (which happened). It was the kind of weirdness I was hoping for when they announced this movie. My only complaint is that the movie loses this offbeat weirdness as it continues to hit more familiar story beats.
The metatextual quality may turn off some viewers, but the film is more interesting with the behind-the-scenes context. While the movie critiques studios and the demand to mine beloved IP, Lana’s solo return to the franchise is less cynical. The recent death of her parents (to whom the film is dedicated) spurred her desire to revisit these characters and this world. It’s also interesting that when production on the film was shut down in spring 2020 due to COVID-19, Lana toyed with the idea of canning the movie altogether until the cast implored her to resume filming. Lana’s complicated relationship with the film gives it an entirely different color. It’s far from a cheap money grab as Lana clearly has things she wants to say about our world. Where The Matrix spoke to our early relationship with the internet and the coming technology trends of the early 2000s, Resurrections updates that commentary for the social media age. It is much more self-referential and satirical in how it communicates that message than the straight-faced original trilogy. Lana sacrifices all subtly, but considering how many ideas of The Matrix have been co-opted by some actors directly at odds with the storytellers, it’s no wonder that she might feel the need to directly state her message.
The fatal flaw of Resurrections is that it doesn’t quite land the story. It has a very intriguing and promising set-up that it continues to build on in interesting ways in the second act—but it never establishes clear enough stakes for the climax to have much weight. The pacing of the last 30 minutes is also jarring, rushing through key emotional moments that needed more marinating. It’s entirely unfair to compare this movie to The Matrix (it’s unfair to compare most movies to The Matrix), but I couldn’t help using it as a measurement of why the ending didn’t work for me. The finale was missing escalating tension and urgency. The result is a final stretch that feels muddled and unfocused, negating the brilliance promised in the first two acts.
Other elements of the production felt undercooked. It makes sense to update the aesthetics of this story after 20 years, but Resurrections simply does not look as good as the earlier films. Much of this has to do with Lana and cinematographers Daniele Massaccesi and John Toll choosing to shoot on digital instead of film. While this does complement the story at times (the updated Matrix should have a sleeker, glossy quality to it) it ultimately dilutes the crisp, visceral visuals. The music is also underwhelming: composers Johnny Klimek and Tom Tykwer rely on Don Davis’ music cues from the original trilogy, but fail to innovate or bring anything memorable to the film.
Perhaps the most bizarre production choice is the film’s action. There’s been a lot of debate on why exactly the action is so subpar. Some think it’s intentional—another subversion of what we’ve come to expect from a Matrix film. Others think it’s unintentional; perhaps Lana was never interested in investing energy into inventive action (apparently her directing style was very loose on this film, in stark contrast to the meticulously-storyboarded first film, which might explain less-precise action sequences). Regardless of the reason, the action is mostly flat and unengaging, with a few bright spots here or there. Too often it specifically reimagines fight sequences from the 1999 original, intentionally inviting unflattering comparisons. It’s not even just disappointing in contrast to the original trilogy, whose action sequences ranged from “thrilling but emotionally unengaging” to “revolutionizing American action altogether.” Resurrection’s fights are bland even by generic 2021 standards, opting for choppier, quick cuts and closer shots that neuter the action. I recently watched Netflix’s decently fun and forgettable Gunpowder Milkshake, which featured action that was more clever and engaging than in a Matrix movie. What a world.
Despite a sloppy finale and mediocre action, what works in every stage of the film is the emotional connection with Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss. Resurrections benefits from building on three prior films spent with these two; the pair has genuine chemistry and we are squarely invested in their story together, keeping the film afloat during rough patches. For the better part of a decade, Keanu has been universally America’s sweetheart, starting with his revival in 2014’s John Wick. He’s again perfectly cast as Neo and given more to work with in this film. He’s not the stoic messiah of the Matrix sequels, and is one of the best actors to emphasize ennui and confused awe. He and Moss are always fun to watch (even if Moss could have used more screen time through the middle portion of the movie), and having seen them age in the intervening decades adds more emotional weight to their scenes together. They are rounded out by a satisfying supporting cast: Jonathan Groff, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Neil Patrick Harris shine when they’re given the spotlight, but the best addition to the cast is Jessica Henwick as Bugs (as in Bunny). She replaces Reeves as the audience surrogate and injects the film with energy and charisma whenever she’s on screen.
I’m unsure what the legacy of Resurrections will be. Will it get a cultural reassessment like Reloaded and Revolutions are currently having, or will it be quietly forgotten as “just a movie”? I can’t even quite land on if it was a brilliant subversion or a total mess, but that uncertainty can be more fun than squarely putting a movie in a box as the credits roll. You could read Resurrection‘s relationship to the original trilogy as somewhat hostile, but I don’t think that’s true. For one, it feels like Lana Wachowski has great affection for these characters and this story. And while it revisits story beats of the first Matrix, sometimes with winking twists, Resurrections rarely feels beholden to that movie in the way some legacy sequels do; in fact, it seems intentionally built to challenge that nostalgia. It directly calls out the elephant in the room to the audience, to interesting and entertaining effect. While some legacy sequels feel unable or unwilling to escape the shadow of nostalgia (Jurassic World, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Resurrections instead recalls superior lega-sequels that better balance paying homage while naturally moving the story forward (Creed, Blade Runner 2049). And while Resurrections fails more than succeeds at its attempts, with the Wachowskis sometimes you just have to appreciate the swing.
The Matrix Resurrections is currently playing in theaters and streaming on HBO Max. It runs 148 minutes and is rated R for violence and some language.
