THIS POST WILL INCLUDE SPOILERS FOR THE MATRIX RESSURECTION
A few days ago I wrote a post about 5 movies that should have been TV shows. Originally I had put this movie as number one, but as I was writing the reason for that I found there is too much to say, hence why I am giving it its own post.
The One Issue with The Matrix
You may find it as a weird statement considering that the movie is filled with flaws from bottom to top. But, The Matrix Resurrections problems all come from one main issue: None of the aspects of the movie are complete.
This is by the way a problem with almost all of The Wachowskis movies. In fact, up until their show Sense8, I haven't felt they had a complete big project, that includes, V for Vendetta, Cloud Atlas, and yes, the original Matrix movie. And with only one of them working on this project, the result is almost expected.
The Wachowskis are ambitious in their ideas, they're all good in fact. However, they don't seem to be able to restrain their ideas with the time they're given. They don't seem to throw away any idea, which eventually leads to trying to force it through a quick dialogue or speeding up events. By doing that they break a golden rule in filmmaking: Show, don't tell
Every answer we were supposed to explore was just thrown at us in the form of dialogue or monologue.
To fully understand the issue we must dive into the main themes of the movie.
Io
I found the idea of Neo being stuck in the Matrix again intriguing. It opened up a lot of questions, the evolvement of both worlds around him was exciting to explore. The aftermath of Zion, the Matrix keeping him alive, were all great areas to explore.
However, the exploration of the aftermath of Zion and the new city is merely a few scenes, it wasn't a complete trip. In fact, from a certain perspective, it seems all it was is a meet-up point. So instead of getting shown the new world fully, it is a quick tour, a quick lesson, now it is time to go since we already wasted an hour and a half of the movie.
The new city, Io, didn't get any time and all of its histories were put into a few lines of dialogue. Again, you're telling me, not showing me.
The Matrix
On the other side, we have the Matrix. Somehow, the movie spent too much time and too little at the same time. It created a lot of questions, I didn't mind the movie spending the first 40 minutes exploring that. What I mind is that they didn't give out answers.
The answers were, once again, given in a form of a quick dialogue. Niel Patrick Harris as the new Analyst explained everything in one scene. It is not that it didn't make sense, because it did as far as I am concerned, it is just another wasted opportunity.
Cooperation Between People and Machine
Another great concept to develop, but there isn't much to say here. All we got about some machines' reasons to help was through another quick dialogue. Agent Smith helping Neo wasn't elaborated upon really, another quick dialogue.
The Meta Commentary
These days you can't walk past a movie without a meta-reference here or there. I have come to terms with that personally. Also, the Matrix gets a pass because they did it before it was cool in the new age way.
However, drawing similarity between the Matrix as a simulation and the real world was literally shortened into a rant by Merovingian (The Frenchman) while a fighting scene was happening.
The ideas the movie was trying to explore were good. They're the same ideas Squid Games tried to explore, so there is quality in that commentary, with the Matrix concept, it should work. But, it is another thing fed to us through a rant.
Neo's Resurrection
I actually don't have any problem with how Neo's resurrection was handled. We know why he was kept alive, so that checks out. We know how he was manipulated, makes sense. However...
Trinity's Resurrection
Trinity's resurrection is messy. After Neo's resurrection, which happened around 40 minutes within the movie, Trinity's resurrection became the main plot point. It would have been fine, and that scene where she decides whether she'd leave behind the simulation was a great concept. It was also good to see her as the one who ends up having the power.
The issue is, well, what did she overcome exactly? Trinity has had two dialogues up until that point, all we see of her life is one scene before that point where she decides. We know nothing about her, how can we relate to how difficult the decision is as an audience where all we know about her is that she had "this dream"?
All we know is that she has two kids, and a husband who is abusive I guess. They tried to force a whole abusive husband angle through two scenes. This leads me to my last point.
The Not so Subtle Anti Women Critique
Again, much like all the previous points. It is another great aspect to explore that is cheapened through quick dialogue. Trinity's husband pulls her by the hand and talks down to her and the Analyst saying stuff like "Control your woman". Not subtle, not well done, just a quick dialogues that might be counting on you watching the Handmaid Tale before you had attended this movie.
In Conclusion
I liked every aspect of this movie. Literally all of it, even stuff I haven't talked about like the new Morpheus/Agent Smith mix, Bugs, Sati, and all the rest of the characters. I was also happy to see none of them die in the end, it was a relatively refreshing way to explore how the movie evolved.
Another critique the movie received is that the final fight scene escalates and ends too fast, well, with what time would that be possible?
The movie had spent its entire run with half-assed dives then reverts to dialogue and monologues to speed through. It is another disappointing work to credit The Wachowskis. Warner Brothers should have seriously considered making a mini-series for this rather than one movie. The movie, and most of its aspects, simply feel incomplete.
I can't even give the movie the enjoyable pass I usually give action movies.