Image provided by Warner Bros
Over 20 years ago, the world became infatuated with a little science fiction film called "The Matrix." It transcended cinema with its state of the art special effects and it also helped that it was an enjoyable film. In a few days, the 4th film in the Matrix saga "The Matrix Resurrections" will be out in theaters nationwide and while it's not an utter disaster like the sequel that proceeded it, it's still a film that is a complete muddled mess.
I always like to go over the things I liked first about a movie and while I believe this film has more flaws then positives, I still found enjoyment in a few things. To begin with, the action particularly in the 3rd act of the film was well done. There is a sequence that occurs in the streets of San Francisco towards the climax of the film that was very well choreographed and just plain old fun action. The visual effects in the film are also top notch but what really caught my eye was the attention to detail in every shot. The filmmaker Lana Wachowski clearly had a vision in mind and as far as visuals go, she accomplished this.
The cast does a suitable job with the standouts being Jonathan Groff (MindHunter, Frozen ll) as Agent Smith and Jessica Henwick as newcomer Bugs. Main stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss are certainly great in their respected roles, but Groff and Henwick stole the show for me personally.
With all that said, the film as stated earlier is a muddled mess. To begin with, the narrative is absolutely lacking in consistency and tone. The first act is not just confusing but completely unnecessary to the overall plot of the film. It treads over previously seen footage from the original film and is completely incoherent compared to the rest of the film. The first act is incredibly exposition heavy and left me feeling overloaded. Another issue is the complete tonal change from the first act of the film to the last act. The first act is very meta and breaks the 4th wall constantly. The second act of the film is pure science fiction and the transition from the first to the second act was very jarring. Consequently, the last act of the film is a very action heavy movie with almost 0 elements of science fiction.
The frustrating thing about The Matrix Resurrections was it was littered with brilliant ideas that I would have rather seen then what we ultimately got. The film is absolutely a visual wonder and the performances are great, sadly that didn't save the movie due to the lacking narrative and inconsistent tone. There was potential for this to be a great movie, sadly it didn't last very long.
Grade: C-
The Matrix Resurrections premieres in theaters & on HBOMax on December 22nd, 2021.
Directed by: Lana Wachowski
Written by: Lana Wachowski, David Mitchell and Aleksandar Hermon.
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen ll, Jessica Henwick, Neil Patrick Harris and Jonathan Groff.