To find out if his reality is a physical or mental construct, Mr. Anderson, aka Neo, will have to choose to follow the white rabbit once more. If he's learned anything, it's that choice, while an illusion, is still the only way out of -- or into -- the Matrix. Neo already knows what he has to do, but what he doesn't yet know is that the Matrix is stronger, more secure and far more dangerous than ever before.
Director: Lana Wachowski
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Jada Pinkett Smith, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Christina Ricci
Release Date:
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi
Rated R for violence and some language
Runtime: 2h 28m
Review:
The first two sequels to the Matrix were a prime example of the law of diminishing returns. Each entry became more entrenched in philosophical musings and mythology that ultimately weighed them down. Eighteen years later Lana Wachowski revives the franchise with a more meta approach, echoing what Wes Craven did with Freddy Kruger in 1994's A New Nightmare, in the first half of her film. It's a fun and fascinating take that sure to set a lot of fans off kilter initially. This approach gives the story and franchise a spark of life it desperately needed in order to warrant another sequel. There are plenty of story threads that could have been explored from that vantage point but Wachowski just can't pull the trigger before falling into what the previous sequels did before them. The film hits some very familiar beats from the original film before moving into more standard sci-fi fare which isn't nearly as engaging. The action is plentiful if rather uninspired mainly due to the fact that the film turns into a slog due to it's unnecessarily long runtime. The back half of the film is a pseudo love story between the franchises main two characters. It's undeniably fun to see Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss slip back into their iconic roles especially when they do it with such ease. Reeves, deservedly, gets the lion share of the screen time but Moss and her inherent strength and ferocity shine through in her limited screen time. The newcomers to the franchise are a mixed bag with Jessica Henwick making the best impression. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is solid as Morpheus 2.0 but he can't quite capture Fishburn's sage cyber sensei the same way. Jonathan Groff does the best he can as the new Agent Smith but like Abdul-Mateen II he doesn't bring the same energy of his predecessor. Neil Patrick Harris and Jada Pinkett Smith, in some embarrassingly terrible old people make up, are shockingly bad with their turns leaving you wonder if they were in a different movie all together. The Matrix Resurrections had the chance to trying something riskier and more engaging but it ultimately falls back on it's safety net which isn't terribly innovative and groundbreaking.
C+
