The Matrix Resurrections

That “meta” introduction was almost physically painful. Not because I have anything against meta-movies, but because I simply found the self-reflection banal, shallow and unimaginative. There’s nothing there that cheaper movies wouldn’t have made more interesting in the past. And I find it utterly embarrassing of Wachowski to smuggle such gibberish into the sequel of a Hollywood film after twenty years. Did they hold a gun to her head to make it? Fortunately, after a few minutes, it switches from this painful despair to the expected action sci-fi, which I like in concept, but which at the same time toils in many ways and doesn't make use of its potential and the various over-the-top themes that deserve elaboration. It seems that the main driving motive behind the film is a kind of nostalgia and a desire to give its heroes the well-deserved happy ending that they were not afforded in the original trilogy. By the way, the reviews about the weak action did not lie, there was really nothing that could make you jump from your seat. Although I found a couple of scenes to be relatively imaginative, the audiovisual experience of the fourth Matrix is rather sterile in the end, something that stands out especially when compared to the various cuts to the original films – each of those scenes has a more interesting "face" of its own than all the newly shot footage put together. (23/12/2021)

In my opinion, this movie is actually like last year's Mortal Kombat as it is such a "guilty pleasure", at least so far this year. As a standalone movie, the fourth Matrix movie does not stand up well, in my opinion, and few people will enjoy it without knowing certain realities and a sense of irony. Still, I was gloating in the cinema and marveled at how the studio could have greenlighted this screenplay. The way the whole thing went reminded me a bit of the third season of Twin Peaks, where David Lynch broke free from the chain and was meta in his own peculiar way. He left popular characters in hibernation for most of the time and managed to piss off half the audience to boot. It could quite possibly be summed up as follows: If you are one of those who wanted and looked forward to the fourth Matrix movie, you are probably going to be as disappointed as ever. If you are one of those who considered the original a borderline masterpiece and did not care for the sequel, you are going to get an entertaining and interesting experiment. I guess that is about all. (04/02/2022)

I hate this cashgrab movie! The first blockbuster of the year where I physically suffered to finish watching it. The Matrix trilogy was revolutionary, but I'm not as die-hard a fan as others, so from the new Matrix I expected at least an entertaining action film, and what I got was an insanely talky romantic crap with cheap effects, boring actors, uninteresting dialogue, a convoluted plot where I was downright lost, a slapdash pace, and damn painfully dull and uninteresting PG-13 action – it was a shock. Just about everything was wrong here, and there wasn't a single scene that I liked in the least, which for a property like this is a big bad. Jupiter Matrix Fail. A downright offensive movie. Story 2/5, Action 1/5, Humor 0/5, Violence 0/5, Fun 2/5 Music 3/5, Visuals 3/5, Atmosphere 2/5, Suspense 1/5, Emotion 0/5, Actors 3/5. 3/10. (28/12/2021)

An entertaining and surprisingly current coronavirus continuation. Reaction to the third Matrix will depend heavily on how much the viewers took the original trilogy, because the Wachowski sister keeps on making unhidden fun out of it from beginning to end. It mocks human sheep who want just to get on an enjoy life: why won’t the powers that be just leave them alone? It also ridicules the fact that this sequel was even being made, admitting that it was only for the money. Oh, and for love, love too. The special effects and action sequences are only mediocre, but the fights are at least quite easy to follow. All the revolutionary things that were so jaw-dropping in the first movie are now simply ordinary, expected, or else made fun of. The second half of this picture is rather headless chicken and a lot of things from it need explaining. I thought this movie lacked an overall message, but on the other hand I quite enjoyed watching this self-reflective or even cynical period to the series. (02/01/2022)

Sense8 Reloaded. How do you evaluate a film that didn't meet any expectations, contains a lot of mistakes, and yet I would rather watch it again than Matrix Revolutions? I'm sticking with a slightly sheepish three stars because the first half is genuinely fantastic. Many parallels, clichés turned upside down, (bitter) commentary on pop culture and the dream factory itself – all intertwined with Keanu Reeves looking even more broken than usual. It's something different than anyone expected, and it works in almost every aspect. Unfortunately, doubts arise with the more action-oriented side of things, while a surprising and, for me, unwanted cameo from the Merovingian is accompanied purely by awkwardness. The entire staircase scene is poorly done, and the only way to overcome it is through Jonathan Groff, who for some reason is in this film and elevates it with each narcissistic performance. Lana Wachowski deserves respect for her initial vision, for the clear desire to bring back something/someone who cannot return, and for faithfully returning to the characters and storylines of all the films, not just the first one. It might anger many people, but even though it involves characters that I didn't need to see again, it concludes something that evidently had been and still is left open within it. Nostalgia is much stronger than genuine feelings, memories overshadow the true face of the film. I already have a great fondness for The Matrix Resurrections, but unfortunately it is beleaguered by problematic visual aspects, a fragmented Morpheus with one strange scene after another, and a strangely rushed ending that suddenly needed to pick up the pace after two and a half hours. (24/03/2022)