Matrix 4: Resurrections - Non-Spoiler Review

Let's get the easy stuff out of the way; see what I did there? Anyways, I love the whole trilogy of Matrix movies. In fact, I believe Matrix: Reloaded is the best film of the original trilogy, and yes, I also realize that my views here are far from universal. Having said that, let's also get out of the way immediately that if you thought this was a movie that would "Reboot" the franchise by pretending like Reloaded and Revolutions did not exist, you will be mistaken. Instead, Resurrections embraces everything that the previous three films had established. Needless to say though, that if you did not like Reloaded or Revolutions, you may not like this movie.

Image by Engadget

However, I did like the movie. As with all movies, there are some issues, and glaring ones at that, but overall, I loved how the film re-invented the franchise but specifically remembered its roots. As the previous films did, Resurrections is almost a biopic about how our society is as a whole, given that view is a jaded, semi-discriminatory and almost dogmatic one. Yet somehow, never seems to be too far from the obvious truth of society. The clear underlining message is that as a people we like living in other worlds to forget ours. We all, generally speaking, whisk ourselves away into cinema, books, games, phones etc. Anything to make us not actually deal with the real world. This movie is about self-discovery, about taking chances and overall, about love.

This was quite honestly the first time in a long time that I can truly say there was a decent love plot in an action movie. Resurrections was almost a love story with things physically blowing up around them. I loved the build-up between Neo and Trinity. Resurrections did not fall into the trope of having two people that didn't know each other just suddenly fall for each other. This was a complicated slow-burn approach, and it was very refreshing.

Image by Deadline.com

Matrix Resurrections did not forget to tell us where the "real" world is now either. There was easily political intrigue introduced again, although vague at the best of times. I would have liked to learn more about some aspects of the "real" world this time. How has the world really changed since The One brought peace between machines and mankind? Yes, there are some answers provided, but I would have liked a deeper dive into this. The movie felt like a Matrix movie until about the last quarter where the Michael Bay effect was alive and way too well. Every second seemed like there was some kind of explosion, which yes, for an action movie is great, but that's not exactly what the Matrix movies were about. This wasn't a Die Hard franchise movie, this is the Matrix. The story was deep and refreshing until that last quarter, then it was almost completely sidelined for the kabooms.

Image by Vox.com

There were certainly some plot issues in regards to how the movie fits into the existing universe, none of which I can talk about here due to spoilers. The ending was a bit cliche for my liking as well, but only because it wasn't well explained. Some exposition on what really caused the events to happen would have easily changed that for me. I felt like two main characters from the original trilogy were almost wasted in the film. Yes, they are there and they do things, but either not how they would have done them based on their previous versions of their characters or simply they just didn't do enough. Some strange phrase choices were made on the part of one of them too, which almost took me out of the movie entirely at times. These two character portrayals disappointed me for sure, and that is not on the side of the actors. They played the parts exactly as they were written I'm sure, so therein lies the issue. Small grievances, but grievances nonetheless.

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I felt at times that the film almost crutched on Superhero culture to a point as well. At certain points in the film, I almost forgot who Neo was supposed to be based on how he was in this adaptation. He seemed more Doctor Strange and less John Wick. I'm still not sure how I really feel about that though because it could be a true evolution of The One to be like this, or it could have been a way for them to separate Neo from John Wick. My head is still out for a review on this topic.

Yes, the things seen in the trailer are well explained, and I was thankful for that. I was concerned when I watched the trailers and saw The Matrix playing in the background of a few scenes that they may be attempting to erase the past movies. Thankfully this is not the case and is explained fairly well. At least to my satisfaction.

If you like the original trilogy as a whole, I'd recommend the movie for sure. If you hated Reloaded and Revolutions and were hoping for something completely different, then you may be disappointed. 

Overall score: 7.5 out of 10 stars

Pros:

- A genuine continuation of the Matrix stories. 

- Refreshing and expanding on the original movies without forgetting the past. 

- As with the previous films, makes you really question "what is real?" 

Cons:

- Newly introduced characters are very forgettable. 

- The movie leaned too hard on nostalgia at times, especially the ending. 

- Existing franchise characters are either underutilized or simply not used to their potential.