In a world of sequels, prequels, and reboots, I never thought I’d see the day where we would get another Matrix Film. The first Matrix was such a groundbreaking film that it was hard to live up to that lofty mark in its prior two sequels. Animatrix was a cool addition to the world the Wachowski Siblings created. This new film, The Matrix Resurrections, was only directed by Lana Wachowski, not both of the siblings like the previous three films in the franchise.
The story picks up as Neo/Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) is called into a meeting with his boss (Jonathan Groff). He has created a video game based on his experiences in The Matrix. He also sees a shrink about his life in and out of The Matrix as well. The shrink (Neil Patrick Harris) likes to be a little condescending towards him. He acts as if what he’s saying is in his imagination. Also, a side storyline deals with a new group of resistance fighters led by Bugs, short for Bugs Bunny (Jessica Henwick).
The cast has a lot of new and old faces in it besides the ones I mentioned. Yahya Abdul Mateen as a younger version of Morpheus, Carrie Anne Moss as Tiffany, a happily married woman with two kids and a husband and her other character Trinity, Jada Pinkett Smith as an older yet wiser Niobe, Priyanka Chopra, Christina Ricci, and L. Trey Wilson are some of the other actors who either round out the ship Henwick runs or are characters found in The Matrix. This cast of newcomers and established stars are all fantastic in this film.
Lana Wachowski, David Mitchell, and others weave together quite the adventure to bring Neo back into The Matrix. Some different subplots come together nicely to bring this entire story full circle. It pays homage to the original films while also being very fresh for an entirely new audience who may have been too young to see the other films when they originally came out in theaters. The nostalgia factor was very real, but it had a new factor that kept me interested throughout.
The original Matrix had groundbreaking visual effects. Some are still thought of today as incredible. This film has similar types of effects, but they’re also different. One example is Neo stopping a bunch of bullets with his force field power. The new city in the film called Io was beautiful to look at. There were multiple scenes of reds and blues on faces and various lighting tricks that created great backdrops for the film. The set production on the ship and in the new world within The Matrix is amazing to look at visually speaking. That’s just the tip of the iceberg for the visual effects, cinematography, and set production.
As a fan of the original film The Matrix, I had high expectations going into this new film from Warner Brothers and Lana Wachowski. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this film. It had multiple storylines that kept me interested throughout. The acting by the vets and newcomers alike was all very good. The visual effects, cinematography, and set production sucked me into this world once again because the film looked so stunning. I wish this was real-world to some extent. The entire production was very good. It’s another film right now that hits the perfect landing as far as the ending of the franchise goes.
4 stars
Dan Skip Allen
Camden Ferrell co-founder/writer EE
From the Fourth Row! 