movie review matrix resurrection

The Matrix Resurrections

“The Matrix Resurrections” is the first “Matrix” movie since 2003’s “ The Matrix Revolutions ,” but it is not the first time we’ve seen the franchise in theaters this year. That distinction goes to “ Space Jam: A New Legacy ,” the cinematic shareholder meeting for Warner Bros. with special celebrity guests that inserted Looney Tunes characters Speedy Gonzales and Granny into a scene from “ The Matrix .” Speedy Gonzales dodged slow-motion bullets; Granny jumped in the air and kicked a cop in the face like Trinity. The 2003 animation omnibus “The Animatrix” detailed how the Matrix was created, how an apocalyptic war against robots led to human suffering being harvested to fuel a world of machines; there should be an addendum that includes this scene from “Space Jam: A New Legacy” to show what it all led to.  

This is the reality that we live in—one ruled by Warner Bros.’ Serververse—and it is also the context that rules over “The Matrix Resurrections.” The film bears the name of director Lana Wachowski , returning to the cyberpunk franchise that made her one of the greatest sci-fi/action directors, but be warned that no force is remotely as strong as Warner Bros. wanting a lighter and brighter take on “The Matrix.” “The Matrix Resurrections” is a reboot with some striking philosophical flourishes, and grandiose set-pieces where things go boom in slow motion, but it is also the weakest and most compromised “Matrix” film yet.  

Written by Wachowski, David Mitchell , and Aleksandar Hemon , “The Matrix Resurrections” is about building from beloved beats, characters, and plot elements; call it deja vu, or just call it a convoluted clip show. It starts with a new character named Bugs ( Jessica Henwick ) witnessing Trinity’s famous telephone escape before having her own swooping, bullet-dodging getaway, and later throws new versions of previous characters into the the mix. The wise man of this saga, Morpheus, is no longer played by Laurence Fishburne , but Yahya Abdul-Mateen II , who looks just as cool in dark color coats and sunglasses with two machine guns in hand, but has a confusing purpose for being there. “The Matrix Resurrections” will bend over backward, bullet-time style, to explain why he is. The same goes for how heroes Neo and Trinity return, even though “The Matrix Revolutions” put a lot of care into killing them off. This is the kind of movie in which it truly doesn’t matter when you last saw the original films; your experience might be even better if you haven’t seen them at all.  

It is also about making you painfully conscious of what constitutes Matrix intellectual property, as it places Keanu Reeves ’ hero Neo, known in the Matrix as a brilliant video game programmer named Thomas Anderson, in a board room with a bunch of creatives, trying to come up with ideas for a sequel. He has received pressure from his boss (and Warner Bros.) after his game “The Matrix” was a hit; “bullet-time” is discussed with awe by stock geek characters as something that needs to be topped. This is one of the movie’s more reality-shifting ideas—to frame “The Matrix” as a new type of simulation, one that was created by Thomas Anderson inside the actual Matrix, as taken from his dreams that come from taking a blue pill daily, instead of the eye-opening red pill he took in the original 1999 film. And yet like many of the Warner Bros.-related meta redirections, it all ends up adding so very little to the bigger picture.  

“The Matrix Resurrections” brings back the love story of Trinity (Carrie Anne Moss) and Neo, our two cyber heroes whose romantic connection gave the earlier films a sense of desperation larger than the apocalypse at hand. But here, they do not know each other, even though Thomas’ video character Trinity looks a lot like Moss. In this world, she’s a customer in a Simulatte coffee shop named Tiffany that he’s hesitant to talk to, in particular because she has kids and a husband named Chad (played by Chad Stahelski ). Reeves and Moss are both invested in this whimsical arc about fated lovers, but the movie plays too much into this nostalgia as well, relying on our emotions from the past movies to largely care about why they should be together.  

The movie’s greatest stake is in the mind of Thomas, one that’s been having daydreams that are clips from the “Matrix” movies, while sitting in a bathtub with a rubber ducky on his head. He receives some guidance from his therapist, played by Neil Patrick Harris , who tries to make sense of the break from reality that previously had Thomas attempting to walk off a roof, thinking he could fly. Harris’ part should remain a mystery, but let’s say it’s an unexpected role that does get you to take him seriously, including how he analyzes our own understanding of “The Matrix.” Meanwhile, it becomes apparent that just as Morpheus is a little different than we remember, there’s a new version of big baddie Smith, played by Jonathan Groff , trying to imitate Hugo Weaving ’s slithering line-delivering that comes from a tightly clenched jaw. There are also copies of agents that take over bodies and wear impeccable suits and ties, chasing after the good guys. 

Plenty of Matrixing is in store once Thomas believes Morpheus, but it’s more fun to witness in the movie than for anyone to explain in detail. But it includes the feeling of Thomas going back to where it all began, including a training sequence in which Reeves and Abdul-Mateen II do a rendition of the dojo scene in “The Matrix,” only this time Neo leaves with a different power that requires less movement. And as part of Neo’s journey back down the rabbit hole, there’s a breakneck, candy-colored fight sequence on a speeding train, in which Johnny Klimek and Tom Tykwer ’s blitzing score seems to be powering the locomotive. 

Expositional philosophizing is also a part of the “Matrix” experience, and there’s a great line here from one of the film’s villains about fear and desire being the two human modes (you can practically imagine the line scribbled in Wachowski’s notebook). But these wordy passages also conceal the movie trying to move the goal posts, that the rules of the Matrix can change however its saga about cyber messiahs needs it to keep making sequels. And while the apocalyptic, real world action has always been less exciting than the stylized anarchy up in the Matrix, that gap of intrigue is felt even more here. Behind the screens, with Neo, Trinity, and others plugged in, certain returning members of the underground land of Zion like Niobe ( Jada Pinkett Smith, aged forward) try and fail to convince you that this story absolutely needs to be told, and that THIS is the ultimate world-saving chapter, even though the franchise no longer feels dangerous. That latter note becomes all the more obvious when “The Matrix Resurrections” gives us a micro, cutesy, fist-bumping descendant of the sentinel machines that used to rip human beings to shreds.  

It’s the action that proves to be the purest element here, robust and snazzy—for years we have been watching directors imitate what Wachowski did with her sister Lilly with “The Matrix” films, and now we can get caught up again in her fast-paced action that marries kung fu with acrobatic gunplay, often in lush slow motion. For all of this movie’s cheesy talk about bullet-time (almost killing the fun of being in awe of it), “The Matrix Resurrections” doubles up with certain scenes that combine two different slow-motion speeds in the same frame, painting some exhilarating, big-budget frescos with dozens of flying extras and hundreds of bullets. The film’s grand finale is an action gem, as it thrives on how much adrenaline you can get from layering multiple big explosions as things suddenly crash into frame, all during a high-speed chase.  

And yet once the adrenaline from a sequence like that wears off, you can’t help but think about the guy who sat near Steven Soderbergh on an airplane and watched a clip show of explosive action scenes , virtually making the director want to quit filmmaking back in 2013. There’s incredible merit in the action seen in “The Matrix Resurrections,” but those aren’t the elements that free the mind of the medium like bold storytelling, like “The Matrix” preached and then became a game-changing classic, only to become a docket for satisfying shareholders. Blue pill or red pill? It doesn’t matter anymore; they’re both placebos.  

Available in theaters and on HBO Max tomorrow.

Nick Allen is the former Senior Editor at RogerEbert.com and a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

• Keanu Reeves as Thomas A. Anderson / Neo
• Carrie-Anne Moss as Tiffany / Trinity
• Jonathan Groff as Smith
• Jessica Henwick as Bugs
• Neil Patrick Harris as The Analyst
• Jada Pinkett Smith as Niobe
• Priyanka Chopra as Sati
• Christina Ricci as Gwyn de Vere
• Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Morpheus
• Aleksandar Hemon
• David Mitchell
• Lana Wachowski

Cinematographer

• Daniele Massaccesi
• Johnny Klimek
• Joseph Jett Sally

Writer (based on characters created by)

• Lilly Wachowski

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The Matrix Resurrections Review

22 Dec 2021

The Matrix Resurrections

The legacy of 1999’s The Matrix endures and evolves. It has been exalted, co-opted, bastardised. With every passing day, the film, directed by Lilly and Lana Wachowski , seems to mean different things to different people, who all claim it as their own. To some it’s merely the groundbreaking, hugely influential, oft-imitated sci-fi action movie that’s rarely been bettered. To some it’s a trans allegory. To some it’s about truth, and reality, and sheeple. “Take the red pill,” tweeted Elon Musk in May 2020. “Taken!”, responded Ivana Trump. “Fuck both of you,” replied Lilly Wachowski. Thank you and goodnight.

Lilly has sat out the fourth instalment, preferring to move onto other things, so this is a Lana joint. And she has made a film about legacy itself: about Neo and Trinity’s legacy, about Keanu Reeves ’ and Carrie-Anne Moss ’ legacy, and literally about The Matrix ’s legacy. The Matrix — as a piece of intellectual property — is mentioned often in this film, which might easily have been titled ‘The Matrix Rebooted’, if only the Matrix in The Matrix hadn’t already been rebooted in The Matrix Revolutions . Welcome to the metaverse! Take a red pill, or at least a Tango Ice Blast, and strap on your synthetic seatbelt.

It dives into that legacy from the off, as Jessica Henwick ’s Resistance leader, Bugs, watches someone who looks like Trinity doing what Trinity did at the beginning of that first film, while characters say the same things other characters said. Bugs — who is in awe of Neo and Trinity, and has studied them for years — has seen this before. She knows what happens. As do we.

if you’re hoping for Resurrections to change the game again you might want to temper your expectations.

In San Francisco we are reacquainted with Thomas Anderson (Reeves), now a video-game designer who wrote a trilogy of games called ‘The Matrix’ and who has Matrix action figures on his desk (literally Carrie-Anne Moss’ Trinity, guns blazing). A colleague does a Keanu/Neo impersonation: “Lots of guns.” We are shown clips from ‘The Matrix’ game, actually clips from The Matrix film. Another colleague laments that “our beloved parent company Warner Bros. is going to make a sequel to the trilogy.” In a coffee shop called Simulatte (nothing is considered too on-the-nose here — it’s a laugh), Thomas meets Tiffany (Moss), who, well, reminds him of someone. Her husband arrives — he’s called Chad, and he’s played by John Wick director Chad Stahelski, who was Reeves’ stunt double on The Matrix . This all happens.

For a good while, The Matrix Resurrections is fabulously batty. It’s cheeky and sly, comprising endless onion-layers (if the onion even exists at all, etc); it’s funny and weird and witty and mad and even, at points, quite moving. Certainly we’ve never seen anything like it, not on this scale, not in a Hollywood blockbuster, not like this.

Then the plot kicks in, and, well, so does tradition. It’s quite odd that for all the ribbing, the self-awareness, the playfulness, it gets comfortably generic, for the most part losing that sense of fun. The action scenes are fine — occasionally inspired, mostly familiar; if you’re hoping for Resurrections to change the game again you might want to temper your expectations. Some of the overtly CG stuff, aesthetic throwbacks to the less-beloved sequels, even feel like video-game cutscenes. That is unlikely to be intentionally meta. And, alas, some of the portentousness of those sequels is resurrected too. Which is a shame, when it’s front-loaded with so much delightful tomfoolery. The self-awareness diminishes exponentially.

When asked a few months ago why she wasn’t involved, Lilly Wachowski said that she just wasn’t of a mind to do a retread, to do something she’d done before. Lana felt the opposite. Their parents having just died, she found solace in bringing back to life the other couple — Neo and Trinity — that had meant so much to her. “Nothing comforts anxiety like a little nostalgia,” says the new Morpheus ( Yahya Abdul-Mateen II ) in Resurrections . And it is cheering seeing Reeves and Moss back at it again. It’s romantic and sentimental and sometimes touching. But it also feels somewhat superficial, and nothing in the film feels like it is of huge consequence: there’s little to hang on to. There is joy here, and a couple of gobsmacking ideas (one of them outstandingly morbid), but it’s a shame that, having set out a brand-new roadmap, Resurrections forgets where it’s going. And reverses.

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‘the matrix resurrections’: film review.

Neo is back in Lana Wachowski’s very self-referential fourth ‘Matrix’ film.

By John DeFore

John DeFore

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Given the peculiar nature of Lana Wachowski ’s The Matrix Resurrections and the plot’s reliance on details many will consider spoilers, it seems wise to get something out of the way: If you loved The Matrix and hated the sequels (or simply found them unsatisfying), go see this one. Have a blast. (But wear a mask.)

If you’re in the much smaller club that believes the sequels were underappreciated examples of brainy mythmaking, it’s possible Resurrections will break your heart: While it doesn’t pretend the jumbo-sized plots of those two films didn’t happen, it does jettison much of their self-importance, and feels little need to blow viewers’ minds with new ideas or technical inventions.

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'sonic the hedgehog 3' director jeff fowler talks "artistic consultant" jim carrey and 'sonic 4' chatter: "we'll see", 'sonic the hedgehog 3' review: keanu reeves and jim carrey in a zippy sequel that gets the job done, the matrix resurrections.

Release date: December 22 (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Jada Pinkett Smith

Director: Lana Wachowski

Screenwriters: Lana Wachowski, David Mitchell, Aleksandar Hemon

It is, in other words, the kind of sequel Hollywood wants most — practically the same thing as the first, with just enough novelty to justify its existence — albeit one that thinks it can have it both ways, both bowing to and sneering at the industry’s need for constant regurgitation of familiar stories. It’s impossible to explain that sentence without revealing details of the film’s premise, so read on at your own risk.

Whatever exactly happened to Neo when he appeared to sacrifice himself at the end of film three, he’s back in the digital simulation now, living again as a two-decades-older Thomas Anderson. Anderson has become a successful video game designer whose greatest creation was (get this) a trilogy of hit games called The Matrix . Part of Anderson knows these games are a story he actually lived, but he has allowed the squares around him to convince him he’s mentally ill: He regularly sees an unnamed analyst (Neil Patrick Harris) who gives him meds (blue pills, natch) and helps talk him through the violent episodes in which he imagines the whole world is a simulated reality he needs to escape from.

Anderson hasn’t exactly left his fight against the Matrix behind — he’s written bits of code, “modals,” in which AI characters play through variations of scenes he can’t stop thinking about — but professionally, it’s his distant past. Imagine his shock when an associate tells him that “our beloved parent company, Warner Bros.” has decided it’s time to make a Matrix sequel, and is going to do it with or without Anderson’s involvement.

Something like this apparently happened in our own world: Several years ago, there was talk of a Wachowski-free reboot being written by Zak Penn, possibly to star Michael B. Jordan. Two years later plans had changed, with Lana Wachowski, sans original partner Lilly, on board to direct and cowrite.

Whatever the meaning of Lana’s go-it-alone move, or its possible relation to the film’s pairing of sole-creator Thomas with a morally and creatively suspect business partner (Jonathan Groff), there’s no misunderstanding what comes next onscreen. In a long sequence where shallow youngsters brainstorm Anderson’s new game for him, the filmmakers distance themselves from their project. They make fun of moviegoers who found the sequels’ philosophical ambitions pretentious, imagining the audience as lunkheads who just want more bullet time. And once this self-serving interlude is finished, that’s almost exactly what they give them.

In a sequence intentionally reminiscent of its counterpart in the first film, Thomas Anderson gets another chance to follow mysterious strangers out of the simulation his brain lives in. Things are a bit different with this extraction, but not too different: As the film condescendingly notes, “a little nostalgia” goes a long way to soothe anxiety in those transitioning from one reality to another. (Maybe that explains why Wachowski uses so many clips from the earlier films, needlessly illustrating Neo’s memories throughout this adventure.)

Eventually we’re with Neo in the “real” world, where flesh-and-blood survivors have learned to work with some of the machines they once battled. This community, still stuck far below Earth’s surface, has seen ups and downs since Neo left. Without giving anything away (or pointing out the screenplay’s unanswered questions), let’s just say Resurrections has a satisfying explanation for why Laurence Fishburne’s Morpheus has been replaced with one played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.

Another familiar face or two will appear, but Neo’s most important teammates are newcomers who were inspired by legends of his exploits to make their own escapes from the Matrix. Chief among them is Bugs (Jessica Henwick), who can kick a lot of simulated ass despite wearing sunglasses whose frame swipes straight through the middle of her field of vision. (The movie’s outré wardrobe, designed by Lindsay Pugh, is a lot of fun, but those glasses cross the line.)

Carrie-Anne Moss features prominently on the movie’s poster, but prepare to wait a long time for Trinity. She’s been re-Matrixed too, and the fictional life she was given there has a hold on her. Machine guns, flying robots and pods of goo notwithstanding, some of the picture’s most engaging scenes are those in which Neo/Thomas interacts with Trinity in that world, where she’s a married mother named Tiffany, and tries to coax her into remembering the life they once shared.

Rescuing Trinity becomes the sole point of the film, allowing us to mostly stop keeping track of all the Oracles and Architects and Keymasters and whatever that bogged the sequels down. As that mission develops, we piece together the ways Wachowski (writing with novelists David Mitchell and Aleksandar Hemon) has reconceived some figures from the original trilogy. These reimaginings mostly make sense, and they open up new interpretative possibilities for fans who feel these action blockbusters merit close analysis. But they tend to work better on paper than on screen, failing to crystalize meaning, sound and image as perfectly as, say, Hugo Weaving did as Agent Smith.

As for the action, it’s thoroughly enjoyable even if you’ve mostly seen it before. Ordinary inhabitants of the Matrix sometimes get transformed into a mindless swarm of attackers — not as chilling as watching Agent Smith possess other people’s bodies, but good for some zombie-apocalypse-style battles (and for a fight on a Japanese Shinkansen that owes something to Train to Busan ). Bullet time gets tweaked, not as a tool for cinematic excitement, but as a way to knock the air out of Neo’s sails.

Resurrections leaves plenty of things unexplored. For a movie that so loudly makes reference to the real world, its failure to address the place “red pill” symbolism has found in right-wing propaganda comes as a mild surprise. (The dialogue even contains the word “sheeple,” a favorite of those selling conspiracies online.) And there’s nothing here to inspire hope that, should Warners or whomever insist on more sequels, they’d be worth seeing. But as someone who watched Reloaded and Revolutions more than once, trying unsuccessfully to believe they were good (and who’d happily take a blue pill that erased them from my memory), I actually look forward to seeing this one a second time.

Full credits

Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures Production companies: Village Roadshow Pictures, Venus Castina Productions Cast: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Jada Pinkett Smith Director: Lana Wachowski Screenwriters: Lana Wachowski, David Mitchell, Aleksandar Hemon Producers: James McTeigue, Lana Wachowski, Grant Hill Executive Producers: Bruce Berman, Jess Ehrman, Garret Grant, Terry Needham, Michael Salven, Karin Wachowski Directors of photography: Daniele Massaccesi, John Toll Production designers: Hugh Bateup, Peter Walpole Costume designer: Lindsay Pugh Editor: Joseph Jett Sally Composers: Johnny Klimek, Tom Tykwer Casting director: Carmen Cuba

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The Matrix Resurrections Reviews

A sophisticated, compelling addition to the series.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 19, 2024

With its unique story that is meta and heartfelt and tons of action, The Matrix Resurrections is the best film in the series since the original

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 29, 2024

If “The Matrix Resurrections” works, the goal is simple. We want Anderson/Neo to emerge from his funk, to find love, to be happy inside or outside the Matrix. We do not need him to be a savior for humanity. By saving himself, he saves us.

Full Review | Jun 10, 2024

A sleek, meta, & complex return to this franchise makes for an ALMOST Perfect sequel even if it’s second half could of been stronger

Full Review | Jul 26, 2023

Lana Wachowski delivers a surprisingly meta, self-aware movie about the original trilogy packed with bold, fascinating ideas but an absolutely terrible execution.

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Jul 25, 2023

The Matrix Resurrections can be merited for its attempt to honor its predecessors, even if it becomes distracted by trying to please its parent studio.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Feb 23, 2023

I especially love the costuming in the film. This isn’t a standard legacy-quel, and it’s all the better because of that.

Full Review | Feb 10, 2023

Out of everyone in Resurrections, my two favorite characters are Jessica Henwick as Bugs and Jonathan Groff as Smith. They give the best performances in the movie, though the whole cast is strong, and they offer us something fresh within the Matrix lore.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Dec 30, 2022

"Resurrections is a film that argues against its own existence while bringing new weight to a universe that has captivated audiences for two decades."

Full Review | Nov 19, 2022

Never mind blue pills and red pills. The bitterest pill to swallow is the fact that The Matrix Resurrections is okay but it is not The One.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 12, 2022

At best, The Matrix Resurrections comes off as a bad parody. At worst, it ruins The Matrix films that came before. I hated every single second of it.

Full Review | Sep 18, 2022

The ways in which it was commenting on itself and how the world has evolved since the last film came out, and the state of entertainment, and the world, and politics... I felt like I was on the same page and that made this an enjoyable viewing for me.

Full Review | Sep 11, 2022

A high octane, nostalgic thrill ride with a little bit too much self awareness and an unnecessarily convoluted (even by Matrix standards) plot.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Aug 22, 2022

“Resurrections” is a slog, overburdened by endless exposition and lacking anything that feels remotely fresh.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 16, 2022

Daring, evolve[s] its franchise while mining nostalgia with care and savvy, and make[s] the utmost of its biggest strengths — Reeves and Moss, clearly, who could melt faces with their chemistry.

Full Review | Jul 8, 2022

... Distills brilliance and intelligence. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Jun 28, 2022

An uneven film that starts out unprejudiced and self-referential, comfortably and happily winking at the first three films of this saga, but then gets stuck in and endless loop trying to explain the unexplainable. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Jun 17, 2022

There's no denying the aspiration to create a story that revels in both provocative themes and thrilling large-scale entertainment.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Jun 5, 2022

The Matrix Resurrections evolves the original trilogy's anti-capitalist metaphor and places it front and center for all to see, ensuring that no one can look away from it's message that only community and resistance can save the day.

Full Review | May 30, 2022

A tetralogy was not achieved. The Trilogy remains intact.

Full Review | May 12, 2022

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The Matrix Resurrections First Reviews: Packed with Nostalgia but Exciting in New Ways

Critics say the sequel focuses on a few core elements and touches on what made the original so spectacular, even if it could never match the first film's impact..

TAGGED AS: Action , blockbuster , Film , films , movie , movies , Sci-Fi , science fiction

Whoa! Neo is back in the first Matrix movie in 18 years, and it just might be the best sequel yet. The first reviews of The Matrix Resurrections are mostly favorable, acknowledging that it’s less interested in innovation than emphasizing what truly works in the franchise: the romance.

Yes, Trinity ( Carrie Anne-Moss ) is back as well, and her chemistry with Keanu Reeves as Neo is said to be one of the highlights of this meta-nostalgic revival. Whether he rest — from its philosophical themes to its action scenes — is serviceable or satisfying is still up for debate.

Here’s what critics are saying about The Matrix Resurrections :

How does it compare to the original?

It’s constantly engaging, thoughtful, and challenging in all of the best ways the original Matrix ever was. – Sean Mulvihill, FanboyNation

As excitingly fresh and ambitious as The Matrix was in its approach to cyberpunk cinema in 1999, The Matrix Resurrections is just as devoted to its bold and disruptive vision in 2021. – Jacob Oller, Paste Magazine

The Matrix Resurrections goes back to the integral source code that made the original so captivating. – Julian Roman, MovieWeb

This is a resurrection of the excitement and sense of wonder we felt when we watched the first Matrix . – Sherin Nicole, idobi.com

Where the original film was explosively innovatory, this is just another piece of IP, an algorithm of unoriginality. – Peter Bradshaw, Guardian

What about the two previous sequels?

It’s better than the sequels . – Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy

Resurrections is easily better than the last two installments . – Kirsten Acuna, Insider

Will satisfy fans and critics in a way  Matrix Reloaded  and  Revolutions  didn’t . – Patricia Puentes, Ask

If you’re in the much smaller club that believes the sequels were under-appreciated examples of brainy myth-making, it’s possible  Resurrections  will break your heart . – John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter

(Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures)

Does it have its own identity?

It’s great to see this new film establish a visual fluency all its own amidst the wafts of nostalgia . – Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction

What you get that’s new this time around is the overall look of the movie… Resurrections  feels much warmer, with plenty of oranges and reds interspersed, that make the eventual heart of the film beat that much stronger . – Germain Lussier, io9.com

Through its clever flashbacks and callbacks,  The Matrix Resurrections  takes moments that are very familiar and makes them entirely new . – Sean Mulvihill, FanboyNation

It’s not servicing fans. It’s in service of itself… There is value in looking back as long as that experience moves you forward . – Jacob Oller, Paste Magazine

Even though  The Matrix Resurrections  is a nostalgia-filled homage that wouldn’t work without the franchise’s three previous movies, this new installment still manages to be fresh and original in its own way . – Patricia Puentes, Ask

The movie is in love with the previous movies, but in a sort of defiant way. Lana seems to be saying, “Oh, you liked the previous movies? HERE THEN, HAVE THEM!”  – Tom Santilli, Movie Show Plus

This one largely eschews innovation. Rather, Resurrections takes comfort in the familiar . – Peter Debruge, Variety

Does it have something important to say?

Without being dogmatic or contrived, the writers pack a lot into their characters’ conversations… about free will, how a story never ends, the limits of reality . – Patricia Puentes, Ask

The plot, slight as it is, creates a frame on which Wachowski can hang a lot of indignation . – Hope Madden, MaddWolf

You get a real sense that Lana has something very important to say, and she’s pissed off about it . – Tom Santilli, Movie Show Plus

You begin to wonder if this movie is about anything or if it’ll just be two-plus hours of Wachowski trolling . – Robert Daniels, The Playlist

Is it self-aware?

The Matrix Resurrection s is well-aware that it has a lot to prove and its level of meta might be too much for some. I dug it, though . – Germain Lussier, io9.com

This tongue-in-cheek approach adds a dose of levity to a franchise that had previously been consumed by darkness . – Julian Roman, MovieWeb

Not since Mary Martin’s Peter Pan implored a generation of young Americans to clap for a near-death Tinkerbell has there been a production with quite this level of fourth-wall-breaking earnestness . – Keith Uhlich, Slant Magazine

To some, the over-referencing and meta nature will be seen as a double-edged sword… The Matrix Resurrections  forces the audience to question the entire purpose of the franchise . – Sheraz Farooqi, Cinema Debate

How is the action?

The action sequences are reliably captivating and despite the film’s meandering plot, combination of tones, and heady sci-fi, it clips along as an entertaining spectacle . – Drew Gregory, Autostraddle

The Matrix Resurrections sticks with slick wirework, wicked martial arts choreography, and ferocious gunplay. Action junkies will get a fix and a half here . – Julian Roman, MovieWeb

The action doesn’t entirely live up to the originals, but how could it? – Hope Madden, MaddWolf

The choreography is still strong overall, but can’t help but miss that original feel . – Sheraz Farooqi, Cinema Debate

There’s probably more action here than in the original film. But many of the scenes, though large in scale and scope, feel redundant . – Kirsten Acuna, Insider

The absence of fight choreographer Yuen Woo-ping is deeply felt whenever Resurrections goes in for close hand-to-hand combat — moments that recall the cut-to-shreds chaos cinema of Jerry Bruckheimer and Tony Scott . – Keith Uhlich, Slant Magazine

The filmmaking isn’t as clear or exciting, not as innovative as it once was; too many cuts mired in a darkness . – Jacob Oller, Paste Magazine

What about the romance?

Resurrections is a love story at its core… This time you feel two old lovers and friends reuniting after years apart, and it just works . – Hannah Lodge, Screen Rex

Compared to the relatively sexless blockbusters we’re used to, it’s refreshing to see [Neo and Trinity’s] romance front and center . – Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy

The Matrix Resurrections  is primarily focused on the bond between Neo and Trinity, which serves as the emotional core of the film and forces the audience to reexamine the original trilogy in that same light . – Sheraz Farooqi, Cinema Debate

Its emphasis on the romance between Neo and Trinity allows Resurrections to become a devastatingly sincere movie about how love is the best weapon we have to make sense of a world that fills our heads with the white noise of war and conflict on a forever loop . – David Ehrlich, IndieWire

Do Reeves and Moss still have chemistry?

When Reeves and Moss are on screen together their unmistakable chemistry rekindles hot enough to warm a city . – Robert Daniels, The Playlist

Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss are electric together on screen… Spectacular . – Julian Roman, MovieWeb

The audience can’t help but swoon anytime they’re on screen together. – Germain Lussier, io9.com

There’s never a moment where you doubt their starry-eyed fondness for each other. – Keith Uhlich, Slant Magazine

So it’s great to have Moss back as Trinity?

Carrie-Anne Moss is still a force of nature. – Hope Madden, MaddWolf

She’s excellent. Badass, striking and with an underlying yearning she’s able to nearly beam at you. – Jacob Oller, Paste Magazine

It’s a pleasure to see Moss return, but a shame to see her given so little interesting to do . – Peter Bradshaw, Guardian

Carrie-Ann Moss’ screen time is comparable to Zendaya’s in WB’s Dune … which is a shame because the duo’s scenes are easily the film’s best . – Kirsten Acuna, Insider

Are there any standouts among the new cast?

As much as we’d have loved to see Laurence Fishburne back as Morpheus, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is a superb replacement . – Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy

It’s Jessica Henwick who threatens to run away with the entire show. She is a revelation, imbuing her character with warmth, strength and assured intelligence . – Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction

Jessica Henwick’s Bugs is the single most electric addition to the franchise since the original . – David Ehrlich, IndieWire

How is the pacing?

The film’s pacing makes sense because it mirrors the first film like poetry… It feels like the movie wraps just as it finally ramps up and gets going . – Kirsten Acuna, Insider

It’s too long, but all of them are . – Hope Madden, MaddWolf

Will we want to see it more than once?

This is, even more than the first three movies, a film built for repeat viewing . – Germain Lussier, io9.com

I’m excited to see what unfolds in second and third viewings of  Resurrections . – Hannah Lodge, Screen Rex

Will it make us want more Matrix movies?

As much as the movie is self-aware of its status as a legacyquel, it definitely sets the pieces on the board for this to act as a soft reboot for further movies . – Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy

If this is the start of a new trilogy, you can count me in . – Sean Mulvihill, FanboyNation

There’s nothing here to inspire hope that, should Warners or whomever insist on more sequels, they’d be worth seeing . – John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter

The Matrix Resurrections is in theaters on December 24, 2021.

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