Review By: “The Watchman”
“The Matrix: Resurrections” is a genuine, thoughtful attempt to reboot “The Matrix” trilogy in a way that doesn’t feel like simply another tired rehash of a once interesting story for a quick corporate payout like we see so often today in creatively bankrupt Hollywood. This is quite a monumental task when faced with the challenge of adding on to a trilogy with as much history and love as “The Matrix”, but, for the most part, I’d say the writer’s attempt at creating something interesting and new is successful. “The Matrix: Resurrections” is in no way on the same level as the original “The Matrix” movie, but I’m not sure that it even intends to be. The writers of “Resurrections” seemed to be genuinely concerned about the effect of adding on to the closed loop of their original trilogy. They tried their best to capture as much of the original magic of the first three films as they could, but also made sure to tell a new story that stands soundly on its own merits, not as a faded Xerox copy of the original movies, but as something unique and new, albeit something which is more than a little bit flawed at times.
After finishing “The Matrix: Resurrections”, I have to say, overall, that some of my least favorite parts of the entire movie were the times they seemed to be trying too hard to callback characters and scenes from the original Matrix movies (including the first 20 minutes which felt very rough), whereas I thoroughly enjoyed a lot of the new characters and concepts introduced in their place, with the antagonist of the movie being one of my all-time favorites in the entire film (behind Keanu Reeves, of course).
Like the original “Matrix”, the film does its best to keep you guessing for a while about the nature of what is really going on in the film – what is real and what is not – and how can you even know? What is the difference between facts and fiction, where is in the line between them? Are memories facts or fiction? Can they be both? What really happened in the span of time between “Revolutions” and “Resurrections”? Did the events of the original three movies as we know them even happen at all?
Even once things begin to gain a certain degree of clarity, I found it hard to ever figure out what was going to happen next in the movie, or even how major scenes were going to play out. For 2 1/2 hours, the film had my full attention, as I genuinely watched each and every minute to see how the story would go, wanting more and more to see the unpredictable ending that it was building up to. (I say this, but my mind may have honestly drifted a little during the action sequences, although I’m not the biggest action guy, so that’s not saying much. Still, even to me, they did seem like a notch down from the action in the original Matrix. How can action scenes be both over-the-top, yet also bland? Some of the action scenes in this movie were exactly that. Sorry, action lovers.)
Like with the original “Matrix”, I feel compelled to watch the movie again in order to really understand it. Will it grow on me with each successive view like the original? Or will it lose its luster over time like with “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”? Can the interesting premise started in this new (possibly?) trilogy of movies be continued with the same originality and sparkle as “Resurrections”, or is this the Star Wars sequel trilogy all over again? Only time will tell. For the moment, I cannot be certain.
What I can say is, as a fan of the original “Matrix” trilogy, I found this movie genuinely enjoyable and will likely watch it again before it leaves HBO Max. If you liked the original movies, I would highly recommend that you give it a try, especially if you have HBO Max. Make sure you are willing to watch at least 30 minutes of it, however, as I feel like the first few scenes of “Resurrections” are some of the weakest in the entire film and are very lacking in any emotional value until you’ve gotten later into the movie and know the characters shown in those scenes. Once you see Neo again, however… I dare you to give up and walk away without a fight. Overall, this movie isn’t “The One” like the first “Matrix”, but it is, at the very least, a Decent One.
Overall Score: 7.5/10
~The Watchman