The Matrix Resurrections [SPOILERS]

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack

I’ve read a couple of reviews arguing that the bland action was an intentional subversion of Matrix fan expectations, and therefore genius. We’re still doing this 4 years after Last Jedi? Subversion is only good if you give the audience something better than what they were expecting. There’s zero chance I ever sit through this mess again, meta commentary be damned.

And I’m a dumb sucker for waiting until the post credits scene, even having been warned in advance that I’d regret it. Take my advice right now, absolutely do not bother. You will hate yourself for days after if you do.

This was not nearly as subversive as TLJ. Not even close.

If you thought so I think you took too much stock in the first 30 minutes. It was all part of the ruse by the machines to keep Neo contained in a new false reality under their control.

[speede5]

I liked it, went in with low expectations thanks to you guys.

They could have done better with some things but it was kind of cool how the society had developed beyond the trilogy and machines were starting to co-exist with humans.

NPH was the new architect? Maybe I missed something but they could have got into that a bit better.

More one on one and less meat bombs would have been better. the best part about the first is the fight sequences and bending/breaking rules of the world.

The Merovingian was a big disappointment as he contributed nothing and if they were going to bring him back as fan service he could have at least had some effect on the story. For what he contributed it should have just been a cameo as a begger on the street that Neo sort of recognized.

I don't think this one will age well unfortunately as it had a lot of potential and the newer cast was decent. Probably should have gone the Netflix route with a 10 pt series that kicked off with Neo and then was handed over to a whole new cast for the next big war with the machines.

[Locke]

That...was awful.

That was 'watch on a plane to try and fall asleep' bad.

[djsFlames]

Needed more one on one fighting for sure.

The bike chase through the swarm was devoid of suspense because it was choppy and too chaotic. Same with the train. Poorly edited and too much happening too quickly.

Groff/Neo and Morpheus/Neo fights were good though. Needed more of that.

The story advancement and characters were good. I though Abdul Mateen and Henwick were very likeable.

I feel like it needed to cut down on exposition to keep the viewer engaged, but at the same time it needed to explain a LOT so it was also necessary. It's a tough balancing act to pull off.

Beautiful imagery though. The Wachowskis never fail on visuals.

Just throwing "terrible" the whole thing is a bit lazy though. But evidently this pissed some fans off.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Needed more one on one fighting for sure.

The bike chase through the swarm was devoid of suspense because it was choppy and too chaotic. Same with the train. Poorly edited and too much happening too quickly.

Groff/Neo and Morpheus/Neo fights were good though. Needed more of that.

The story advancement and characters were good. I though Abdul Mateen and Henwick were very likeable.

I feel like it needed to cut down on exposition to keep the viewer engaged, but at the same time it needed to explain a LOT so it was also necessary. It's a tough balancing act to pull off.

Beautiful imagery though. The Wachowskis never fail on visuals.

Just throwing "terrible" the whole thing is a bit lazy though. But evidently this pissed some fans off.

No...not really. You could tell that this movie was one that the Wachowskis were not interested in making, they took digs at the entire process all throughout which was a disservice to their fans, the cast and everyone else involved.

If they didnt want to make it then they shouldnt have made it. Let someone else take a crack at it.

I can understand just wanting a paycheque in the light that most of their films since 'The Matrix' have been awful, but the whole thing seemed like it was just an inside joke at the expense of interested viewers that was disinterestedly and haphazardly thrown together.

I'll be taking a pass on their next offerings. It'll take something special for me to actually pay to watch another of their films if this is the attitude they take towards it.

I dont even care about their ethos or whatever message it is that they were incompetently trying to convey. The movie wasnt even well done or fun.

Take away the Goodwill of the 'Matrix' element of it and the cast and characters that people enjoy and that film would have gone straight to video and the Wachowskis would be relegated to directing music videos and toothpaste commercials.

I'm really not interested in the social commentary about Hollywood elitism that emanates at the source from Hollywood elites.

[Strange Brew]

I understand that people have different tastes but stuffing a major Hollywood release with highlights from previous movies? You'd think that would turn off anybody and give you a clue as to how little effort went into this.

[djsFlames]

I don't know if its as much minimal effort as it was trying something different.

Not sure you guys saw Lana discussing why this movie was made. She was very inspired and motivated to do it. That also was evident in behind the scenes clips.

[Strange Brew]

She apparently had to be convinced to finish it.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

She apparently had to be convinced to finish it.

If true, that would explain the disjointedness of the third act

Although I know things are not necessarily filmed chronologically.

I'm guessing that was due to the disruption from covid.

[Locke]

Frankly...it felt as though that whole movie was more interested in taking the piss out of the audience and making its statement about Hollywood than in telling an even moderately coherent or interesting story and it was borderline insulting.

If Wachowski wanted to belittle and insult her audience the ultimate way to have done that would have been to actually make a good movie that insulted the audience throughout.

At the end of the day a bad movie is still a bad movie. They can make fun of the audience and the fans and the 'Hollywood Machine' all they like while laughing all the way to the bank, but the movie is still crap.

So good for her. She got paid for doing a crappy job. Its the modern day "Freddy Got Fingered."

Congrats Lana. You're as avant-garde, edgy and intellectual as Tom Green in 2001. Yes...you can smell those farts.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Locke

No...not really. You could tell that this movie was one that the Wachowskis were not interested in making, they took digs at the entire process all throughout which was a disservice to their fans, the cast and everyone else involved.

If they didnt want to make it then they shouldnt have made it. Let someone else take a crack at it.

I can understand just wanting a paycheque in the light that most of their films since 'The Matrix' have been awful, but the whole thing seemed like it was just an inside joke at the expense of interested viewers that was disinterestedly and haphazardly thrown together.

I'll be taking a pass on their next offerings. It'll take something special for me to actually pay to watch another of their films if this is the attitude they take towards it.

I dont even care about their ethos or whatever message it is that they were incompetently trying to convey. The movie wasnt even well done or fun.

Take away the Goodwill of the 'Matrix' element of it and the cast and characters that people enjoy and that film would have gone straight to video and the Wachowskis would be relegated to directing music videos and toothpaste commercials.

I'm really not interested in the social commentary about Hollywood elitism that emanates at the source from Hollywood elites.

I disagree, most of the interviews have said she came back because losing her parents wanted her to revisit the Neo and Trinity story and resurrect that love and she wasn't happy with how it ended. It was a passion for her to create a story for those characters, but I can see it was not necessarily so for the world building or fan service that that fans wanted. It wasn't for a pay-cheque or because Warner wanted another one.

The Matrix was rebooted in universe. It just so happens it was rebooted into this particular iteration which is not at all like the one we had 20 years ago.

The entire Matrix universe is stupid after all if you really every think about it. There's no way a human body can generate more power than the energy needed to sustain it. Apparently the original script had the humans acting as a neural network which provided computing power for the Matrix and the machine world which makes a lot more sense but WB in 1999 didn't think that audiences would understand that.

For me, the Matrix was at its best in the first one which had horror elements there were missing from all the rest. The original Matrix felt like you were in a nightmare where things kept on changing. Once Neo became Superman it crapped the bed and I stopped caring as much and just watched it for fun.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

I disagree, most of the interviews have said she came back because losing her parents wanted her to revisit the Neo and Trinity story and resurrect that love and she wasn't happy with how it ended. It was a passion for her to create a story for those characters, but I can see it was not necessarily so for the world building or fan service that that fans wanted. It wasn't for a pay-cheque or because Warner wanted another one.

The Matrix was rebooted in universe. It just so happens it was rebooted into this particular iteration which is not at all like the one we had 20 years ago.

The entire Matrix universe is stupid after all if you really every think about it. There's no way a human body can generate more power than the energy needed to sustain it. Apparently the original script had the humans acting as a neural network which provided computing power for the Matrix and the machine world which makes a lot more sense but WB in 1999 didn't think that audiences would understand that.

I am sorry man, you might be absolutely right, I cant speak to her emotional state or personal loss, but I have a really hard time believing that explanation based upon what they put on screen.

Everything in that film contradicts that. Pretty blatantly. There was not a lot of subtlety there. And if she wasnt overtly insulting her audience then she did a very, very bad job of...well...pretty much everything.

How could she be unhappy with how the first trilogy ended? I dont think she had any shackles on her wrists when making it. I know Warner Bros. has a track record of studio meddling but the original Matrix trilogy was pretty much as close to Carte Blanche as they come.

The only passion I gleaned from that film was in giving the finger to her audience and 'sticking it' to Hollywood.

Maybe I'm completely wrong, but what I can tell you is that I'm not watching that again to really dig down and get a deep dive into the motivation and messages of the director in slapping that final product on screen.

That was a bad film and it should feel bad for being so bad. Especially considering that, from all appearances, she could do whatever she wanted with that film and what she wanted was that. And it was bad.

And I know people want to come down hard on others who are overly critical (like me) and say that maybe their expectations were too high or they wanted something else, and thats fine. But for my own taste I felt the writing was bad, the story made little to no sense, the acting was okay, the effects were actually pretty poor, dated and tired and the pacing and composition was amateur at best. Which you should not be getting from a seasoned and experienced Writer/Director with an almost unlimited budget.

That film was a chore.

As I said before, if it wasnt for budget, 'Matrix Nostalgia' and the cast (goes back to budget) that film would have been straight to DVD for $5 in Wal-Mart's scratch & dent bin before you get to the checkout.

[photon]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

The entire Matrix universe is stupid after all if you really every think about it. There's no way a human body can generate more power than the energy needed to sustain it.

Exactly!

[zamler]

The vibe I got is we know what the fans love about The Matrix. And we're not going to give them that.

[OptimalTates]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

The entire Matrix universe is stupid after all if you really every think about it. There's no way a human body can generate more power than the energy needed to sustain it.

The problem the original The Matrix ran into was that humans were not initially conceived as batteries but as super CPUs for the machines which makes it infinitely better and makes sense.

But in ancient times when the movie was developed in the 1900s they were told by the producers that viewers wouldn't understand processors and other future science mumble jumble so we got batteries instead.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Locke

I am sorry man, you might be absolutely right, I cant speak to her emotional state or personal loss, but I have a really hard time believing that explanation based upon what they put on screen.

Everything in that film contradicts that. Pretty blatantly. There was not a lot of subtlety there. And if she wasnt overtly insulting her audience then she did a very, very bad job of...well...pretty much everything.

How could she be unhappy with how the first trilogy ended? I dont think she had any shackles on her wrists when making it. I know Warner Bros. has a track record of studio meddling but the original Matrix trilogy was pretty much as close to Carte Blanche as they come.

The only passion I gleaned from that film was in giving the finger to her audience and 'sticking it' to Hollywood.

Maybe I'm completely wrong, but what I can tell you is that I'm not watching that again to really dig down and get a deep dive into the motivation and messages of the director in slapping that final product on screen.

That was a bad film and it should feel bad for being so bad. Especially considering that, from all appearances, she could do whatever she wanted with that film and what she wanted was that. And it was bad.

And I know people want to come down hard on others who are overly critical (like me) and say that maybe their expectations were too high or they wanted something else, and thats fine. But for my own taste I felt the writing was bad, the story made little to no sense, the acting was okay, the effects were actually pretty poor, dated and tired and the pacing and composition was amateur at best. Which you should not be getting from a seasoned and experienced Writer/Director with an almost unlimited budget.

That film was a chore.

As I said before, if it wasnt for budget, 'Matrix Nostalgia' and the cast (goes back to budget) that film would have been straight to DVD for $5 in Wal-Mart's scratch & dent bin before you get to the checkout.

You may sleep better knowing you spared one other person the experience of sitting through this movie. What you're saying resonates with me. I think I'd come to the same conclusions so I'm gonna take a pass. I'll try to add two hours to your life down the road one day as a thank you.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Sliver

You may sleep better knowing you spared one other person the experience of sitting through this movie. What you're saying resonates with me. I think I'd come to the same conclusions so I'm gonna take a pass. I'll try to add two hours to your life down the road one day as a thank you.

I watched Matrix Resurrections free on a streaming platform and I would take this any day over any Marvel movie but that's my take. I might have second thoughts if I paid for it. I also enjoyed Jupiter Ascending & Cloud Atlas which are also regarded as a POS. I don't know, I just like the aspect of being surprised by what the Wachoskis made in these films, good or bad. After those last two I thought they were washed up in Hollywood and maybe they are now if this movie also bombs with fans. Resurrections for better or for worse kept surprising me.

I tried to sit down and watch Spider-Man Far from Home last week to prep for No-Way Home and I made it 15 minutes and shut it off. I'd rather go to the office and answer emails than watch most Marvel films.

If that's the kind of aggravation that Locke felt while watching the Matrix, I totally get it.

[Inglewood Jack]

I enjoy Cloud Atlas to an irrational degree

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack

I enjoy Cloud Atlas to an irrational degree

Edited my comment because I actually forgot about Cloud Atlas. It was a mess but visually and story-wise it always surprised me too.

[zamler]

Watched a few scenes from Reloaded it makes Resurrections look like total trash.