The Matrix: Resurrections wants to be clever - and yet is just clumsy

Luca Fontana

22.12.2021

Translation: machine translated

Twenty-one years ago, "The Matrix" hit theaters. The Matrix: Resurrections", the third sequel, reminds us almost non-stop - and thus digs its own grave.

One thing first: You won 't read any spoilers in this movie review. You'll only read information that is known from the trailers that have already been released.

My gaze wanders outside through the window. Clouds darken the sky. Rain splashes against the window. Dozens of tiny drops roll down. I almost think I see it in there, the green code. Like I'm dreaming, even though I'm awake. What if everything around me is just an illusion? A world that isn't real?

The Matrix?

"No one can tell you what the Matrix is. You have to have seen it," Morpheus once said in the movie of the same name that made science fiction history. Not because of the Asian-tinged combat interludes or the groundbreaking computer effects. Rather, it was those mind games, intriguingly woven into perfectly written dialogue. Even today, fans recite them like holy scriptures from the Bible.

17 years after the trilogy was thought to be finished, the fourth part is now due. Why? "Warner Bros. wants a sequel. They're going to make it with or without you," says one character in the film to another. It's so deliciously meta that the usually quiet film critics at the press screening at Zurich's Abaton cinema laugh out loud. Me too. Humor: one of many things that bother me about "The Matrix: Resurrections."

That's what "Resurrections" is about.

Mr. Anderson aka Neo (Keanu Reeves) is back at square one. Is what's happening actually happening or is he just losing his mind? The white rabbit might know the answer if he decides to follow the tattoo. Or has he not already decided to do so? After all, real choice is an illusion.

Isn't it? Are those even his thoughts running around in his head? Maybe he's playing the biggest prank of all on himself. Only one thing is certain: the way out of the Matrix is hard to find, if the Matrix even exists. Because it's evolved. Stronger. More dangerous. And unlike anything Neo could have imagined in his wildest dreams.

Or were they memories?

Clever at first, but then just... clumsy.

"The Matrix: Resurrection" works if you go to the movies as ignorant as can be. That's why I wrote the above synopsis intentionally vague. Don't worry: there's already more going on than the few lines above suggest. Or the trailer, which was strangely vacuous, especially in terms of story.

I'm glad: the trailer makes you want to see the movie without really giving away what it's about. As a result, at least the first half of "Resurrection" shines. It actually delivers on what director Lana Wachowski promised in an interview with Collider: "The film is certainly not another sequel, but something on its own that embraces the previous 'Matrix' films in a witty way. We're turning the rules of blockbusters on their head."

Big words. They manifest themselves in the film in the fact that the question marks I had in my head even before seeing the film don't resolve for a long time. To my delight. It's strange not understanding what it's all about and being intrigued by just that. And when the dialogue is conspicuously unsubtle to the audience, I can't help but grin broadly. "Nothing comforts over fears like a little nostalgia," says a young Morpheus, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. As if he knows I doubt the raison d'être of a fourth Matrix movie. Is that why he's providing me with heaps of flashbacks of the old movies, to make me forget my doubts?

For a half, it works surprisingly well. "Resurrections" actually feels clever. Innovative and unexpected. Turning the rules of blockbusters on their head. Lana's words. Chapeau. But then comes the second half. To elaborate on them story-wise would give too much away and spoil your enjoyment of the first, brilliant half. So I'll sum up the second half, at least story-wise, in a single word. To the best possible description I can think of: heavy-handed.

And that's where the movie's problems start.

This is not what a Matrix movie feels like

What happens in the second half is unforgivably lazy and, after all, nothing more than "yet another sequel." I don't say that lightly. The "Matrix" franchise is among my favorite. I also count the two sequels "The Matrix: Reloaded" and "The Matrix: Revolutions." Sure, they can't even begin to hold a candle to the original. But the original is also a masterpiece. At least the sequels have consistently expanded the Matrix mythology and given the characters more depth. The action more epic. And the drama more pathos.

But most importantly, "Reloaded" and "Revolutions" feel like Matrix movies at every second. Stylistically, aesthetically, and in terms of content. "Resurrections" doesn't. It feels significantly cheaper. Or - the other way around - like a very expensive television production. There are a lot of unimaginative shots, for Matrix an unusually unsteady camera work, mediocre computer effects and boringly choreographed martial arts. In other words, everything "The Matrix" doesn't stand for.

Worse, where's the iconic bullet time? It's in the movie - at least that's what one character says on the meta level - but it's just so stripped down that it's barely recognizable. Constantly, I miss that certain something that makes "Matrix" work. Even the much-maligned "Reloaded" and "Revolutions" had the breathtaking freeway chase or the rainy, epic battle against Agent Smith in the finale. Such aha moments are completely absent from "Resurrections." Instead, the film constantly reminds us how good the original was through brief flashbacks. It's like he was deliberately digging his own grave.

Lana, what are you doing!?

The tonality: A grab at the toilet.

As if the film's misguided second half and undignified cheap look weren't enough, Lana Wachowski also sloppy with the tonality. Especially when young Morpheus becomes a casual patterer. I mean: What the heck? Morpheus, then played by Laurence Fishburne with a deep, rumbling voice and so much gravitas that he easily carried the credibility of the whole franchise on his shoulders, suddenly degenerates into a gag delivery boy.

I'll be damned. And he's not the only one making wisecracks. I don't know what Lana Wachowski was thinking. It doesn't fit the dark franchise, which has always skimped on humor. Especially when a brief cameo appearance by a "Reloaded" character degenerates into such a silly zero act that I lose all respect for her.

It's not that "Resurrections" has degenerated into pure comedy. There's not much missing, though. The increased gag density feels like it distances the sequel even further from the Matrix franchise. At least the film does one thing right: it stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Ann Moss in lead roles. The chemistry still fits like a glove. It's as if it hasn't been 17 years since the two were last in front of the camera together. Their scenes are also the ones in which "Resurrections" still feels a bit like a Matrix movie.

Conclusion: Great expectations are followed by great disappointment

There's an old saying of critics: Don't judge a movie by what you want to see, but by what it is. Because as subjective as a film review is - at least the attempted objectivity is influenced by nothing so much as by one's own expectations.

So here's my tip: lower your expectations. Don't expect the masterpiece that "The Matrix" was anno 1999. "The Matrix: Resurrections" won't be any better. But at least you'll save yourself the disappointment you might feel watching the credits. Maybe then you can actually get more out of the movie than just trying to be clever.

Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I'm an outdoorsy guy and enjoy sports that push me to the limit – now that’s what I call comfort zone! But I'm also about curling up in an armchair with books about ugly intrigue and sinister kingkillers. Being an avid cinema-goer, I’ve been known to rave about film scores for hours on end. I’ve always wanted to say: «I am Groot.» more

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