Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) is the creator of The Matrix video game trilogy. Warner Bros wants him and his business partner (Jonathan Groff) to continue the story with a Matrix 4. Meanwhile, Mr. Anderson has trouble distinguishing fantasy from reality. It seems he's conflating his life with that of Neo, the hero of The Matrix trilogy. It turns out that he is indeed Neo, and his normal world is The Matrix itself.
The Matrix Revolutions seemingly ended with Neo sacrificing himself to free humanity from their machine overlords. But he and his love interest Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), who also died in that movie, are still alive. His old mentor Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, substituting for Laurence Fishburne) and a few new rebel hackers free Neo's mind. Neo wants to free Trinity, who's now a married woman named Tiffany, too. His old human ally Niobe (Jada Pinkett-Smith) says no, while his analyst (Neil Patrick Harris) wants him plugged in again. His aforementioned business partner is actually his old nemesis Agent Smith (previously Hugo Weaving). It's not going to be easy for anyone.
Every time they talk about the in-movie video game trilogy is bluntly obvious metafictional commentary on the real film trilogy. How so? A few shallow-minded programmers have nothing useful to add to the new game beyond bullet time. The Merovingian (Lambert Wilson), a co-villain from Reloaded, is now a raving homeless man ranting about how sequels and remakes suck. I'm sure that Lana and her co-writers, David Mitchell and Aleksander Hemon, wrote the film as a huge take that to both mindsets. But their way to continue the series feels like running a mile after finishing a marathon. Its 148-minute runtime tries many a patience.
One of the new hackers, Bugs (Jessica Henwick), is the best of the new cast. She only saw Neo once when he, as Mr. Anderson, tried to jump off a building, which inspired her to free her mind. She and her fellow hackers are endearing as they gush over getting involved in Neo's story. Abdul-Mateen is a great substitute as Morpheus, while Groff is a decent new Smith. Harris is a warm presence as The Analyst, and an OK one when he turns out to be the true villain. Wilson's scene as The Merovingian is so bizarre, I forgot who he was until later. The makeup team that aged him and Pinkett-Smith did a great job here.
But the makeup team has to sit out on Oscar night. The Visual Effects and Sound teams, however, are deservedly shortlisted this year. There's plenty of action on the visual side, including bullet time and bullet stopping. There's also some stunning digital scenery, including a shot with Neo walking through a half-binary and half-real city. Cinematographers Daniele Massaccesi and John Toll should be commended for their alluring color palette here. The most memorable sound effects come from the creepy machines, including the Bots, who are inhuman sleeper agents. Johnny Klimek & Tom Tykwer's score sets a strong pace for the cyberpunk action.
Overall, The Matrix Resurrections is a groggy sequel to a dormant franchise. Its technical side is wide awake, but its storytelling is rusty. It's quite hard to continue a series after its original conclusion was conclusive. But I don't hate the film. It did inspire me to read up on the originals' philosophies. The first film's mix of philosophy and action was extraordinary back then and now. If this new film sparks some more interest in philosophy, then this "mindless sequel" isn't a total waste of time.
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