The Matrix Resurrections is the fourth film in the Matrix franchise. This time directed solely by Lana Wachowski (rather than with her sister Lily) and once again stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie Ann Moss who are joined by Neil Patrick Harris and Jonathan Groff.
The Matrix Resurrections is definitely the best of the Matrix sequels, but that doesn’t really say much, considering the quality of the second and third instalments. I actually quite enjoyed the first third of the film, which approaches the idea of a fourth Matrix film in quite an interesting meta way. Even directly referencing Warner Bros by name and their desire to make a fourth film with or without the original creative team. Despite all the self-awareness by the second act, we are essentially just in a retread of the original and then a retread of the sequels with more Zion (although it has a new name), which is what made the sequels so boring.
Some of the action was fun, but on the whole it just felt like a worse version of the action in the original, with too many quick cuts and too often Keanu was making hand actions to make every fly up in the air rather than fighting (you’d see what I mean in the film).
Despite that, the film was enjoyable at times. I appreciated the self aware stuff at the start and the final fight had some fun moments. I liked Neil Patrick Harris too. I just think the film didn’t really does enough to justify its existence, so still joins the pantheon of unnecessary fourth films like Toy Story 4, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Alien: Resurrection and many others I can’t remember right now.
So, I would recommend it if you enjoyed the Matrix and are interested in seeing a 4th Matrix film. Its certainly not as bad as it could have been (particularly without any Wachowski involvement). 3 Stars.
Movie Night 