The Matrix Resurrections
The bulletproof gamers are back in a self-indulgent reboot which is overlong, monotonous and very, very silly.
Another bad hair day: Keanu Reeves as Thomas Anderson aka Neo aka ‘The One’
In the words of Keanu Reeves as Thomas Anderson, the designer of a computer game called The Matrix: “This can’t be happening!” And, later: “No! It can’t be!” More telling is when a gaggle of gaming execs discuss the point of Warner Brothers producing a reboot of the trilogy. Because, says one, “reboots sell.” This is taking the metaverse to new frontiers of cynicism. It’s like Free Guy without the humour – or the logic.
The reboot – or sequel – starts just as the original The Matrix did – with Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), her back to the camera, confronted by a gang of armed cops in an abandoned hotel room. And just as Agent Smith and his suited goons arrive on the street below, Trinity has already done her worst, killing the cops in an acrobatic display of physical impossibility. And then there’s the rooftop chase, with our bulletproof Trinity somersaulting her way to safety.
If Matrix purists are feeling a sense of déjà vu, the cat belonging to Keanu’s therapist is called Déjà Vu, just to force the point home. There is a lot of déjà vu in The Matrix Resurrections. Apparently, the reason for the repeat of the original scene is because somebody is using old code. Because, it is pointed out, “we are all trapped in the same repeating loops.” It’s all so very Matrix, in which the deceased Neo – aka Thomas Anderson – is not only still alive but now has longer hair than Trinity, who is actually Tiffany, married to Chad with children.
When every scene presents the possibility of a new reality, it’s hard to believe in, let alone care about, what is happening. Tossing around gamer-cool words and phrases cannot disguise the utter rubbish being digitally rendered to perfection on screen. Characters really do say stuff like, “Captain – I’m tracking a whole lotta weird...” Another exec explains that “ideas are the new sexy,” which would make this an intellectual fumble in the dark. As one big special effect, this resurrection is mind-blowing to behold – but as entertainment it has no effect whatsoever.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Christinna Ricci, Jada Pinkett Smith, Telma Hopkins, Lambert Wilson, Max Riemelt, London Breed.
Dir Lana Wachowski, Pro James McTeigue, Lana Wachowski and Grant Hill, Screenplay Lana Wachowski, David Mitchell and Aleksandar Hemon, Ph Daniele Massaccesi and John Toll, Pro Des Hugh Bateup and Peter Walpole, Ed Joseph Jett Sally, Music Johnny Klimek and Tom Tykwer, Costumes Lindsay Pugh, Sound Dane A. Davis.
Village Roadshow Pictures/Venus Castina Productions-Warner Bros.
148 mins. USA. 2021. UK and US Rel: 22 December 2021. Cert. 15 .
