Review: The Matrix Resurrections

Keanu Reeves is successful San Francisco video game designer Thomas Anderson, creator of the “Matrix” trilogy of video games. He is haunted by visions and memories of what appear to be a past life that he doesn’t really remember. They involve a woman he frequently sees at the coffee shop (Carrie-Anne Moss), but she’s a happily married mother. And then Thomas is contacted by a hacker (Jessica Henwick) who is about to blow his mind. Neil Patrick Harris plays Thomas’ psychiatrist.

 

I had hoped by now that everyone realised that the sequels to “The Matrix” were unnecessary and detrimental to the original. Guess not. This 2021 film comes from director Lana Wachowski (co-creator of the series) and co-writers Aleksandar Hemon (no other notable credits), David Mitchell (“Cloud Atlas”), and it’s the worst film in the entire series. It’s a re-tread of the first film that, unlike the previous two films admits that it’s a re-tread with some cosmetic changes. That doesn’t make it better, especially since this is now the fourth time around. In fact, it’s both incoherent and somehow transparent (Neil Patrick Harris’ glasses are a groan-inducing ‘clue’), and it’s a 2 ½ hour slog to boot. Despite being difficult to find your bearings frequently, you’ll still figure out the destination well in advance. This meta-movie twist on the first film wants desperately to be seen as clever by being open about its unoriginality, but it just ends up looking like a cynical cash-grab that gives nostalgic vibes to fans of the original whilst suckering in newbies with a ‘fresh meta twist’. It’s soulless. And frightfully boring. We’ve got quasi-familiar characters inhabiting a quasi-familiar world that ends up not even quasi-interesting or quasi-entertaining. It’s not terribly easy to make sense of and not interesting enough to put the effort into trying to understand it.

 

Since I didn’t care a jot about anyone or anything here, the action scenes did nothing for me. Nothing. The filmmakers want you to dearly feel the bond between the characters played by Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, but for much of its length without fully committing to them being the same characters we’ve previously known and loved. Meanwhile, the narrative is cluttered with boring new characters and uninspired hybrid versions of previous characters, and a meta plot involving a Matrix video game that frankly seems very 1999, ironically enough. And I don’t think the irony was intentional.

 

Performance-wise, most of the cast is pretty poor here to the point where Keanu Reeves’ OK performance is the best thing. Especially poor are a stiff Jessica Henwick and charisma-deprived Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. The latter plays a blend of Morpheus and Agent Smith but without the gravitas of the former or the blood-curdling menace of the latter. Neil Patrick Harris gives a predictable, fatuous performance as the clearly dodgy shrink. I normally can’t stand Jada Pinkett-Smith and didn’t like her previous contributions to the series, but old-age makeup makes her halfway interesting. It’s the best performance she’s ever given. Shame it’s in this film.

 

This actually could’ve worked. It really could’ve. Just have Neo and Trinity ‘wake up’ in a new Matrix simulation unaware of who they are but somehow drawn to one another. That part is workable (if you can get around Trinity dying in the previous film), stay in that lane. Anything else is too cluttered and confusing, too redundant, and too dull to care. No, this just doesn’t suffice. It’s a cynical cash-grab and more confusing and cluttered than need be. Lousy.

 

Rating: D