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[Tschumi]

I genuinely enjoyed the first third of this. Some of the ideas that were being played with, such as nostalgia/memory being its own kind of Matrix and one people willingly enter into and allow themselves to be controlled by, had a lot of potential and gave new context to the fact Neo's journey to enlightenment across the OT was complete, but he was forcibly brought back (by the machine and Warner Bros) and controlled by his devotion to the woman he remembered loving. It wasn't anything nearly as inspired as the Architect (yes, I like the Architect) flipping the entire 'One' narrative around at the end of Reloaded, but it had enough behind it to justify a new movie. Unfortunately, the movie ended up doing nothing with those ideas, kept feeding off nostalgia without recontextualising it, and reintroducing old characters with no justification or consistency with how they previously behaved. The Merovingian turns up looking bedraggled and his entire role is to shout nonsense over a fight scene, then leave. Ostensibly he's showing how powerful programs escaped the purge of the previous Matrix into Neo's (which I feel I don't quite understand), but Smith was already there for that, and bringing the Exiles with him just added bodies into a scene which would have been stronger to focus exclusively on Neo vs Smith standing off again, even if that, too, ultimately contributed nothing (and Smith is nothing like old Smith, and there's no apparent reason for him still to exist).

By the time it got to Neo drawing his power from Trinity, which makes a tenuous sort of sense on the surface - Neo's ability to break from the One's path was always predicated on his unique love for Trinity - but seemingly forgets what the function of the 'One' was in the previous films, as is also the case in suggesting that the One is somehow tied to how the machines draw power from humans (rather than just giving the most independent and rebellious human minds an outlet through which they can be released in a controlled manner without destabilising the system as a whole). I like the entire original trilogy, if sometimes more in concept than execution, and really wanted to like this, but the longer it went on, the more it felt like a meandering, tiresome mess. The editing was also terrible for the action scenes: the great thing about the OT is how the action scenes and actors were so well choreographed and trained that the Wachowskis could let their camera just watch the performers do their thing - The Chateau fight scene might be my favourite action scene of the noughties for that very reason - rather than having to constantly cut around bad technique and staging as is often the case in Hollywood fight scenes. Resurrections had non-stop cutting during the action, and it was frankly depressing: I suspect it might have been because a lot of fight scenes involved multiple protagonists fighting off a crowd, another terrible idea.

Anyway, TLDR, I really, really wanted to like this and it introduced ideas in the first half to at the very least justify its existence in a series which did not need and had no narrative space for another entry. Unfortunately, it did nothing with those ideas and ended up a complete shambles. Wachowski movies are always at least interesting on some level because their ideas and philosophies are so vivid, if absurd at least as often as brilliant, but even on that score, this felt very much like Lana putting something together with no great passion, driven more by a studio ultimatum (as suggested in the movie itself, amusingly) than a need to tell this story and a vision behind it. Having so many of the Sense8 cast showing up was quite amusing, though, if distracting.

thanks for ur thoughtful write up, i had way too much fun enjoying my own spleen to be so measured but i find myself agreeing with all ur takes

i liked Colonel Sanders Presents: The Architect, too.

 

[SirKicksalot]

The opening scene basically confirms some of the spoilers here. I just stop after Neo scene with the co-workers. F that not worth my time.

Just a bit later they're confirmed to be handler programs keeping Neo down. The woke leftists in this movie are suicidal bots and programs lol

The Merovingian turns up looking bedraggled and his entire role is to shout nonsense over a fight scene, then leave.

>shows up
>screams nonsense in French
>refuses to elaborate
>leaves
Absolute chad.

 

[Hardensoul]

Just a bit later they're confirmed to be handler programs keeping Neo down. The woke leftists in this movie are suicidal bots and programs lol



>shows up
>screams nonsense in French
>refuses to elaborate
>leaves
Absolute chad.

This thread is more entertaining and worth more of my time instead of watching the Matrix 4.

 

[captainraincoat]

Just a bit later they're confirmed to be handler programs keeping Neo down. The woke leftists in this movie are suicidal bots and programs lol



>shows up
>screams nonsense in French
>refuses to elaborate
>leaves
Absolute chad.

Agent Johnston was the only other actor to come back from the original movies and even he is only used in the opening sequence

 

[ShadowNate]

Either Keanu and Carrie barely aged, or a lot of the budget went into making them look that way and hiding how older the actors are now (ok Keanu indeed does not look so much older even in Wick, but Carrie on those Netflix Marvel shows I last saw her in looked quite her age). Because, damn, I kept thinking how young they look in this.

The Analyst effect though sucked hard.

I didn't completely hate the movie; I thought it was alright if one did not expect much. A lot of the callbacks and scene recreations felt unnecessary but... eh, it's a fan service movie and they went that way. Could have been way worse.

 

[Decontamination Silo]

30 minutes in and I’m bored enough to liveblog about how bad it is. Every single character is an unlikable freak. Neo is now some sort of flimsy manic depressive. This seems aggressively bad. No other director would have disrespected the source material this much. WB should have hired someone else.

 

[Relique]

I genuinely enjoyed the first third of this. Some of the ideas that were being played with, such as nostalgia/memory being its own kind of Matrix and one people willingly enter into and allow themselves to be controlled by, had a lot of potential and gave new context to the fact Neo's journey to enlightenment across the OT was complete, but he was forcibly brought back (by the machines and Warner Bros) and controlled by his devotion to the woman he remembered loving. It wasn't anything nearly as inspired as the Architect (yes, I like the Architect) flipping the entire 'One' narrative around at the end of Reloaded, but it had enough behind it to justify a new movie. Unfortunately, the movie ended up doing nothing with those ideas, kept feeding off nostalgia without recontextualising it, and reintroducing old characters with no justification or consistency with how they previously behaved. The Merovingian turns up looking bedraggled and his entire role is to shout nonsense over a fight scene, then leave. Ostensibly he's showing how powerful programs escaped the purge of the previous Matrix into Neo's (which I feel I don't quite understand), but Smith was already there for that, and bringing the Exiles with him just added bodies into a scene which would have been stronger to focus exclusively on Neo vs Smith standing off again, even if that, too, ultimately contributed nothing (and Smith is nothing like old Smith, and there's no apparent reason for him still to exist).

It was all in pieces by the time it got to Neo drawing his power from Trinity, which makes a tenuous sort of sense on the surface - Neo's ability to break from the One's path was always predicated on his unique love for Trinity - but seemingly forgets what the function of the 'One' was in the previous films, as is also the case in suggesting that the One is somehow tied to how the machines draw power from humans (rather than just giving the most independent and rebellious human minds an outlet through which they can be released in a controlled manner without destabilising the system as a whole). I like the entire original trilogy, if sometimes more in concept than execution, and really wanted to like this, but the longer it went on, the more it felt like a meandering, tiresome mess. The editing was also terrible for the action scenes: the great thing about the OT is how the action scenes and actors were so well choreographed and trained that the Wachowskis could let their camera just watch the performers do their thing - The Chateau fight scene might be my favourite action scene of the noughties for that very reason - rather than having to constantly cut around bad technique and staging as is often the case in Hollywood fight scenes. Resurrections had non-stop cutting during the action, and it was frankly depressing: I suspect it might have been because a lot of fight scenes involved multiple protagonists fighting off a crowd, another terrible idea.

Anyway, TLDR, I really, really wanted to like this and it introduced ideas in the first half to at the very least justify its existence in a series which did not need and had no narrative space for another entry. Unfortunately, it did nothing with those ideas and ended up a complete shambles. Wachowski movies are always at least interesting on some level because their ideas and philosophies are so vivid, if absurd at least as often as brilliant, but even on that score, this felt very much like Lana putting something together with no great passion, driven more by a studio ultimatum (as suggested in the movie itself, amusingly) than a need to tell this story and a vision behind it. Having so many of the Sense8 cast showing up was quite amusing, though, if distracting.

Very thoughtful analysis. I agree with pretty much all your points. I found the beginning part to be at least promising. While a bit too on the nose with the meta stuff and relied too heavily on nostalgia, at least the main concept had some promise. The idea that this new iteration of the matrix is more successful due to the more docile nature of human lives since the turn of the millennium is intriguing. The truth is that our lives are very different than they were in the late nineties. We created our own prison within the prison using social media, addiction to validation, work culture, greed, nostalgia, and fear of losing what we already have. The video game idea is an example of this and while it sounds kind of lame on paper, I think Keanu's acting sold this well and I was totally buying it as a method of controlling Neo by this new "Architect/Analyst." Likewise for Trinity being tied down by her responsibilities to her family. Even the developments in the real world made sense: Rebuilding Neo and Trinity due to their anomalous ability in the matrix. Scarcity of energy leading to a machine war. The discovery of Neo and Trinity being a huge source of energy leading to rebooting of the Matrix. Zion inevitably perished due to exactly what is happening in the matrix, losing their edge and will to survive by becoming bogged down with old ideologies. It all seemed to fit neatly into a story that is worth exploring in a fourth film. The problem is the rest of the film. They just screwed up the execution from every front.

 

[Billbofet]

30 minutes in and I’m bored enough to liveblog about how bad it is. Every single character is an unlikable freak. Neo is now some sort of flimsy manic depressive. This seems aggressively bad. No other director would have disrespected the source material this much. WB should have hired someone else.

I am right there with you. 30 minutes in and this feels like an SNL skit. It's so meta I just cannot believe how bad it is. This roundtable scene with the software devs talking about what makes the Matrix so great is insufferable.

 

[Decontamination Silo]

53:00

Morpheus is some kinda of zesty hairdresser now. The robots look like some kind of bugs with Rocketeer aesthetics. The gunfights have cuts shorter than 1 second. I’ve audibly groaned at nearly every plot beat.

 

[Cockles & Whelks]

Never has the notlikethis.gif been more appropriate. Shockingly bad stuff. Wasn't a lot of it filmed in Berlin? They must have used Uwe Boll's German tax dodge. Or it was result of a drunken bet at Warner's.

 

[Decontamination Silo]

Weaving and Fishburn turned down an easy, quick and HUGE paycheck. I don’t think it was scheduling, I don’t think they wanted to spend a month with these people.

 

[Majukun]

Spoilers ahead, viewer's discretion is advised.

I was actually surprised by how few ideas this movie had behind it.

To be fair I didn't know exactly what to expect.. Only saw a trailer and came out thinking 'that was not the matrix'... But it was actually kinda comforting... These are not the early 2000 anymore, so I was ready for a new direction whatever that might be.

In fact considering the cryptic trailers, I thought it was gonna go all experimental and weird meta shit on us... What it ended up being was a really long, boring, generally unexciting flick that added very little to the mythos.

Hell even the action was really floppy and lacked sense of danger and choreography, guns shoot at point blank but nobody gets hit once, floaty punch and kicks, zombie mode at the end

And last but not least, the center about the entire plot was the power of love (and trinity is now the one for some reason because why not)

Considering I only like the first matrix really much, didn't expect to end up hating this movie, but I was bored by the end of it and kinda pissed after some time thinking about it.

 

[levyjl1988]

This movie feels like a franchise that doesn't need a sequel but adds more to the world-building but does not add to character development or the need for movies from that franchise.
It's on the same line as Star Wars The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, The Rise of the Skywalker, Pacific Rim Uprising, Terminator Genesys, Independence Day Resurgence, Space Jam 2 and Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
Sure it brings out the nostalgia and adds to the world-building, but something is missing, it's missing that spark that made these franchises popular, it seems too familiar but not really breaking new ground from its original set of movies.

Spider-Man No Way Home does break new ground by introducing old familiar characters into the MCU and developing a new Spider-Man while revisiting and instructing and providing guidance to Tom Holland's Spider-Man, there are themes of growing up, being independent, enduring loss, etc, themes that feel familiar to our own daily types of struggle and that echoes with taking on the Spider-man mantle. Other franchises don't do this as these characters are already the best that they can be and don't really give that sense of developing an already developed character. We need to see them struggle, but not struggle on something they have struggled with before.

I don't hate the sequels or wish for their non-existence, I only wish they could have done more with it. Capturing nostalgia is hard, sometimes movies pull it off successfully and land perfectly like Spider-Man No Way Home, others capture that nostalgia, remind you of it, but don't really push into new territories with it.
I love Star Wars Episodes 1-6, but 7-9 didn't do anything for me. I prefer The Mandalorian more than Ep 7-9, just because it's different but familiar. The same thing with video games, I like Master Chief, but I enjoyed Noble 6 in Halo Reach better.

 

[Decontamination Silo]

I tapped out when they got to Zion. Gonna start a Cyberpunk replay to hang with Keanu tonight instead.

 

[levyjl1988]

Had to watch this to appreciate the movie a bit more.

 

[plasmawave]

The movie sucked unfortunately. I think this is by far the worst one in the franchise.
It was cool to see Neo and Trinity back 20 years later, but the first 30-40 minutes of the movie was like a MTV parody.
Also why did they name the new guy Morpheus? I don't get the reason why he had to be called Morpheus.
Laurence Fishburne was the real chosen one as he dodged the bullet with this one.

 

[Mossybrew]

Still processing my overall opinion. I do think NPH is doing a career best turn here tho.

 

[I collect VHS tapes]

that was really bad

I’m done with this franchise

 

[8bitpill]

In short, the movie was hollow and almost felt like a low budget version of the original.

 

[Mossybrew]

Yeah I guess my main complaint is there was not a single action sequence in this movie that felt original, cool, or even mildly exciting. You can go back and watch the original and those iconic scenes still hold up. I almost liked the meta aspect of the first part of the movie, but by the end you realize all that was just lampshading what an unoriginal zombie of a movie this is. And literal zombie hordes at the end to further drive home the point.

That manta looking robo was pretty cool lookin tho rite. And I liked the new Agent Smith.

 

[captainraincoat]

Ah they shot this on digital….that’s why the lighting was so shit

u can tell this movie was made during covid as every new scene feels like a sound stage or the Warner bro’s closed street set which has been used in thousands of movies/tv shows

the originals they actually drew out every scene in a comic book to get the camera positions and look/tone of the shot and they had proper sets but this has zero of that by the looks of it

would not be surprised if some of it was shot on an iPhone

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Weaving and Fishburn turned down an easy, quick and HUGE paycheck. I don’t think it was scheduling, I don’t think they wanted to spend a month with these people.

My understanding was Fishburne was never asked to come back and even he was unsure why.

 

[captainraincoat]

My understanding was Fishburne was never asked to come back and even he was unsure why.

Weaving was locked in a local production around the time of shooting and my understanding was this movie had a way smaller budget so they went with a barebones cast and shot it pretty quickly because of covid

I don’t think having either of them in the film would of elevated it to be honest

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Weaving was locked in a local production around the time of shooting and my understanding was this movie had a way smaller budget so they went with a barebones cast and shot it pretty quickly because of covid

I don’t think having either of them in the film would of elevated it to be honest

I thought Weaving said he didn't want to be in movies like this anymore, i.e. "geeky" sci-fi or superhero films and that's why he also passed on Red Skull in Infinity War?

On other note....

So Neo and Trinity are both The One because they share some come of "power" or something? They.... They have The Matrix equivalent of a Force Dyad?

 

[Doczu]

I think the best part of the movie was when Neo talked to Trinity for the first time and they introduced Chad the husband.
I mean how more literal can you be? A fucking nerd having the hots for a sexy milf only to be cock blocked by a fucking CHAD.

This movie is a travesty and the last time i go to cinema for a sequel/reboot of a "beloved franchise".

 

[GloveSlap]

It's not often I feel second hand embarrassment for a movie while watching it....

 

[TVexperto]

Ah they shot this on digital….that’s why the lighting was so shit

u can tell this movie was made during covid as every new scene feels like a sound stage or the Warner bro’s closed street set which has been used in thousands of movies/tv shows

the originals they actually drew out every scene in a comic book to get the camera positions and look/tone of the shot and they had proper sets but this has zero of that by the looks of it

would not be surprised if some of it was shot on an iPhone

i liked the movie but i agree with the sets... it looked like the how i met your mother street you see on 100s of other shows

 

[Tschumi]

Had to watch this to appreciate the movie a bit more.

i really enjoyed this, but he's neatly sidestepping how annoying a lot of the new ideas are, just talking about how new they are... in my opinion, at least... he's just very positive

i do appreciate... the shaping of their symbolism a bit better after this video... i do think a bit more highly of Lana, but i still complain about all the things i complain about in the film. actually realizing that the robots firing blue lazers in the machine war are how i peeled your apple actor's army pisses me off more, they didn't do a good job of making this guy seem like anything more than a bit of software stinking up the whatever matrix...

I think the best part of the movie was when Neo talked to Trinity for the first time and they introduced Chad the husband.
I mean how more literal can you be? A fucking nerd having the hots for a sexy milf only to be cock blocked by a fucking CHAD.

This movie is a travesty and the last time i go to cinema for a sequel/reboot of a "beloved franchise".

i totally picked up on the incredulous naming of Chad.

 

[Qwell]

Like many others here thought it sucked pretty bad. I had recently rewatched Matrix maybe a month ago and still really enjoyed it. I'm actually rewatching the chateau / freeway chase from reloaded trying to see if I'm being too harsh on the 4th. But these scenes from reloaded are just kicking ass compared to the 4th. The music, camera, editing action all of it still memorable. While 2 and 3 weren't as good as the 1st there were still elements that were great and some rewatchable moments. But I don't see myself ever rewatching the 4th or even catching a scene here or there for funsies.

 

[Majukun]

My understanding was Fishburne was never asked to come back and even he was unsure why.

Because Morpheus dies in the mmorpg and they wanted to keep continuity on that side

 

[Revolutionary]

Because Morpheus dies in the mmorpg and they wanted to keep continuity on that side

lmao this is the scene they wanted to preserve in Matrix canon

 

[Tams]

It's clogging up the cinemas here in Japan. I wanted to go today but it's still on. Bleuuurgh.

 

[FunkMiller]

Because Morpheus dies in the mmorpg and they wanted to keep continuity on that side

Probably one of the single dumbest things I've ever heard.

"Oh! We can't possibly change the canon introduced in a shitty video game from over a decade ago, based on a trilogy that turned into a narrative trashfire after the first movie anyway!"

 

[SJRB]

I think the best part of the movie was when Neo talked to Trinity for the first time and they introduced Chad the husband.
I mean how more literal can you be? A fucking nerd having the hots for a sexy milf only to be cock blocked by a fucking CHAD.

This movie is a travesty and the last time i go to cinema for a sequel/reboot of a "beloved franchise".

Yeah the movie is as subtle as a brick to the face, lol.

 

[FunkMiller]

Yeah the movie is as subtle as a brick to the face, lol.

Nothing worse than a dumb movie that thinks it’s clever.

 

[SirKicksalot]

The MMO is not canon. In the MMO Morpheus becomes a genuine terrorist and dies like 6 months after Revolutions. In Resurrections he's the leader of Zion.

 

[NahaNago]

Yeah , the how I met your mother guy was kind of annoying. I feel like he plays the same type of character in a lot of movies lately. Thanks to him the movie felt more like a comedy. The hobo French guy was just weird.

 

[isual]

I think /tv/ did it best. Should of made a prequel movie about the machine wars and expanded on that. Also, the movie felt off. What sort of camera lens did they use?

 

[Strider7]

Just finished watching it. Not good. Not good indeed.

 

[The ninja farmer]

Loved the first one. Liked bits n ideas of the second

couldn’t wait for the 3rd n to finish.

I liked this, but not sure how it will hold up to repeat viewings.

thought the meta, call backs, Easter eggs mostly worked for the movie and kinda reminded how the matrix was for the turn of the century world and this one is very much for the world 20 or so years later

besides to me the matrix was always a love story that got lost somewhere on the second film and became to big and tried to save everything. I felt this being mostly the core of the new movie. Really worked and helped hold it by together (mostly).

and the trinity finger clicking. That more than hints of where the real power is in the matrix (that and ‘real bullet time’)

but is this a big bombastic sequel topping movie. No it isn’t. But that’s the point isn’t it ?

 

[Thirty7ven]

Spoilers, it’s trash.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

What happened to the fight choreography? Was pretty weak. And the two doesn't have the same impact as the one. Pretty poor film overall.

 

[Stuart360]

What happened to the fight choreography? Was pretty weak. And the two doesn't have the same impact as the one. Pretty poor film overall.

The fights were bad compared to the orig trilogy. Dont know what was going on there, time or budget constraints i guess.

 

[ZywyPL]

That was shot with stereo cameras running at different framerates and blended in a single frame. IMO it nails that nightmare sensation that he was talking about, of needing to move faster.

Like I said, only when the Architect moves with normal speed while everyone os slowed down, then yes, Neo has all the rights to be terrified, but in like 70-80% of the bullet-time shots the Architect also moves in this weird kind of slow-mo, where he's faster only because he skips every other frame. It's just an absolutely terrible execution of something that's been done a billion times already in Hollywood, where again, this is the series that are famous of pushing the envelope of what can be done in cinematography.

 

[TrebleShot]

Just watched it.
Abomination.
Shite.

 

[chromhound]

y'all telling me they had one job and they fuck it up ?

 

[Ulysses 31]

Anyone else found it a bit strange they said Neo was reading as fully blue pilled like Trinity while it's quite clear he has trouble accepting the reality he's in at the start of the movie?

 

[LaughingStock]

Boring, uninspired, unnecessary. There's a line in the beginning that sums it up. "Warner bros wants a matrix 4 and they'll do it with or without us"

There isn't a single memorable action scene. The plot isn't that bad and there are some cool ideas like the machine civil war. But the execution is sloppy.

The constant flashbacks with scenes of the original movies were so cringe. This is nostalgia done wrong.

The dude that plays Smith has got to be the dullest motherfucker they could find. Even discount Morpheus isn't so lame.

You know, My bet was that this would be a woke trainwreck. I was wrong. There's nothing blatantly woke about it. But honestly, being woke would have been an improvement. Some crazy trans metaphors mixed with Trump bashing. It would've at least been entertaining to make fun of.

The outrage youtubers won't have much to work with.

 

[SiteSeer]

there is a pandemic of curmudgeons. i swear some people -want- to be miserable. i liked this movie, they knew they couldn’t top the first one so they went in another direction. it feels like two movies in one sometimes. i give them credit for going perpendicular instead of parallel. it’s more a movie about the matrix movies and less a matrix movie itself.

 

[Majukun]

Probably one of the single dumbest things I've ever heard.

"Oh! We can't possibly change the canon introduced in a shitty video game from over a decade ago, based on a trilogy that turned into a narrative trashfire after the first movie anyway!"

didn't say i agree with it, just said that apparently (haven't heard the direct quote myself) that's why morpheus is not (directly) part of the movie