I didn't bother to review anything yesterday, but I instead did watch two films. One of which I had placed aside and ignored for a few months after its release just out of general disinterest. That film was The Matrix Resurrections. A reboot and sequel to a rather loved trilogy, as is the case of Hollywood these days; though I couldn't help but feel that this reboot of a beloved franchise was met with audiences seeing the fatigue and laziness of such films, failing to grasp any interest in it and pushing it into the area of nostalgia bait successes. The Matrix Resurrections was, truthfully, atrocious. A film that did not need to be made, and one that disappointed me the most out of all films I have seen as of late. And I've been watching some very low budget films!
I knew though, that as I was watching this film, that I would find myself writing about it eventually. Incapable of letting this seemingly self-aware film slip through the cracks as it already appears to have been forgotten by the general public. The Matrix 4? Oh yeah, that happened. But what happened in it, again? This I'm sure is the question much of its audience will have once reminded of its existence, only to shrug it off and never watch it or even think about it again. Much like the traditional outcome of films: the first is the best, and each sequel loses more and more of the original magic that made the initial introduction so effective. This remains true here, with The Matrix Resurrections, where it seems almost unrecognisable to its original title, NK matter how much it attempts to carry from its name. Even going as far as just using footage from it to fill itself with something. Anything to justify its own existence.
Even as I write this, I still fail to really understand what I had seen. I still don't quite get what it all meant. And this is in the worst way; where there is no substance to the narrative, and it doesn't try to even provide some.
The Matrix Resurrections
You may have noticed that I called the film self-aware in the introduction. To give you an idea of how lost The Matrix Resurrections really is; the film contains a piece of dialogue that breaks behind the fictional wall and straight-up tells us that Warner Brothers planned on making a reboot of the franchise with them or without them. Can they do that? A character asks, and yes, yes they can, they are told. This is done under the guise of the film's incredibly lazy narrative that has our protagonist Thomas Anderson supposedly being a highly successful videogame designer of, you guessed it, The Matrix. Though the film clearly isn't referring to the film's narrative; it's very much a direct warning to us: beware, this film will be terrible, and incredibly safe as to get it done with, because Warner Bros. would've done it and butchered it without us, otherwise. Much of the film feels like it is giving you warnings to not waste your time, that you shouldn't bother watching it. But if you stick around, there is a very basic and somewhat connected narrative to The Matrix and its characters.
With our Thomas Anderson being stuck within the matrix again, now as an aging videogame designer, he's having psychotic breaks that have him feeling like nothing is real. Heavily medicated and often struggling to tell what is real and what isn't, the story tries to quickly get this over and done with, not really giving context as to how and why this is all happening. Added with a few actors that just do not fit in this universe, the film roams around a bit lost for the first three quarters of its runtime. Introducing some backup characters that are supporting Neo, but don't really have any depth to themselves that explain who they are and why we should care for them. For the most part they're just modern people and huge fans of Neo. That's about it.
Much of the film just copies the originals, with the film annoyingly and constantly displaying footage from the prior films. Televisions or projectors screening scenes in front of the characters just made no sense. Instead it felt like it was trying to add to the runtime and show the nostalgic events people had while not offering anything new. Ultimately saying: hey, go watch this instead! What're you doing here trying to relive your past?
I found it strange that it was done this way. Both distracting and causing eye-rolling with its laziness. Not to forget the modern issues of special effects just being cheap and terrible. The film roams throughout blatantly nonexistent locations that don't add to the idea of the matrix at all. It's clearly just cheapness to avoid building sets or shooting in real locations. All green screened in a warehouse somewhere instead. This includes one of the scenes where it copies a location from the prior films, while also airing those prior scenes on a television in a white, empty room. We can actually see the reflection of the studio in the eyes of the actors, and even a glimpse of the camera. I paused the film for a moment to make sure I wasn't just seeing things, only to see the light setups and the darkness of the room outside of the white studio set.
This cheapness wasn't just found in the visuals, but also the narrative and choreography which people have grown to love from the films. We get scenes that copy the scenes from the prior films in typical remake/reboot laziness, but done with less creativity. Neo spends much of his time just casually blocking bullets, and then there's very little action in the film to begin with, and certainly very little coming from its now aged and most interesting cast. Rather than giving us well choreographed fighting sequences, we get fast-paced editing that blurs movements and gives the implication of speed. An excuse made for the most part that the matrix is one that controls the characters; they don't have much power here. Reality: the cast is old and can't be bothered anymore.
This made the film feel so lackluster. With very little action and none of that expected matrix choreography being handed down to the newer generation that also just didn't get much screen time and depth themselves. They sort of just get ignored towards the end to the point where we don't really know what happens to anyone. Perhaps an intentional lack of ties to stop Hollywood from wanting to give it a sequel; which is ultimately how the whole film films. Just boring, lacking, and no judtifcation to take things beyond having found a way to very quickly tie things up and make its two most loved characters impossible to touch again.
The positives
While intentional sabotage is ultimately my assumption here with this film, it still had a few moments that did feel good. Though while these moments were sparse, they were cool. I liked the more cyberpunk moments that gave colour and composition to the plugs; one of the film's biggest strengths are the brief body horror references. All the many plugs that jack people into the matrix and keep them under control. These were effective in the original films, and still done well in this film without the use of unecessary special effects. Things felt colourful and real, and I can say I enjoyed it for that. Particularly in one of the action scenes that is heavy on the special effects. Though again the rest of the film relied far too much on nonexistent locations.
The performances were no terrible. While some of the casting just didn't work, it wasn't a result of their performances. It was just that they didn't belong in this genre or as the characters they were given. For some characters, I just think they deserved more depth. It was impossible to care for any of them due to this. But again, performances weren't bad!
I enjoyed some of the references that connected reality to the matrix for us as the audience. The idea that the devices we use everyday and the applications we use are mere distractions to keep us busy, incapable of waking up and seeing the reality of life. This felt like the only smart part of the film that found a good way to show how time had passed within the world of the matrix, while also giving us something to understand and connect to at the same time. The realisation that we are under control through mass consumption of media. What we feel is entertainment is mere enslavement.
This, alongside the warnings given, seemed a bit on the nose. A direct bit of communication from the director to us. Reminded that these productions are often just slop; that they'll keep making them to turn us into paying machines that don't think. That thrive on our emotions and nostalgia. Much like the machines in the matrix thrive on human farms. Is reality really much different? This question was briefly asked, but I'm glad it was. While forced in, it didn't feel like it was trying to push itself into the story either. Just yet another warning.
Truthfully I can't help but feel this film tried to earn us of what it really is. Aware that it doesn't need to exist, and made only to stop itself from going beyond. Perhaps speaking on the manipulation of our youth and nostalgia, telling us to wake up. All while being terrible as a film.
