Movies The Matrix Resurrections - the first critic "reactions" are in

[Kamusha]

Nothing in the movie is as immediately memorable as the highway chase or the orgy (whether you liked the orgy or it you can’t deny that it was memorable) from Reloaded. I’m not sure if this is gonna be sticking with fans for more than a couple of months.

 

It’s not really the conversation starter that it’s trying to be. It’s just kinda fine. Some interesting ideas but no home runs.

[skillzdadirecta]

18 minutes ago, Komusha said:

Nothing in the movie is as immediately memorable as the highway chase or the orgy (whether you liked the orgy or it you can’t deny that it was memorable) from Reloaded. I’m not sure if this is gonna be sticking with fans for more than a couple of months.

 

It’s not really the conversation starter that it’s trying to be. It’s just kinda fine. Some interesting ideas but no home runs.

Exactly right. It's... fine. Something that Matrix movies just aren't. They all have very memorable sequences for better or worse. Except this one. The action scenes in particular were extremely underwhelming even from a choreography stand point which was both shocking and disappointing.  Some of the more meta aspects of the story was interesting but they really didn't explore this fully enough for it to be all that impactful. I think Wachowski intended for this to be a lot more subversive than it actually turned out being. You get the sense that at a certain point she got tired if fighting the studio and just said fuck it and gave them what they wanted. There's probably a much better version of this movie on paper somewhere. 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, skillzdadirecta said:

Exactly right. It's... fine. Something that Matrix movies just aren't. They all have very memorable sequences for better or worse. Except this one. The action scenes in particular were extremely underwhelming even from a choreography stand point which was both shocking and disappointing.  Some of the more meta aspects of the story was interesting but they really didn't explore this fully enough for it to be all that impactful. I think Wachowski intended for this to be a lot more subversive than it actually turned out being. You get the sense that at a certain point she got tired if fighting the studio and just said fuck it and gave them what they wanted. There's probably a much better version of this movie on paper somewhere. 

 

I can see that. I’d be curious if a Warners of say, 2011, might have been a better creative partner in that regard.

[Fizzzzle]

Now that I've had a sleep on it, I appreciate that this movie had more of a focus on characters over spectacle, but at the same time, spectacle was kind of the point of the Matrix movies? Also the did Morpheus dirty.

 

Overall, I will think I liked it, but it's not something I'll be revisiting over and over again, which I did for the originals - even the bad ones.

 

It was okay.

[TwinIon]

There's really a lot to digest, but my first thought is that I don't think I've ever seen a blockbuster film in a more direct dialog with the audience than this one. So much of it felt like an outpouring of bottled up emotions and thoughts about the original trilogy that you have to wonder how different it would be if the Wachowskis had a blog and had worked out some of these feelings before committing them to film. At the same time, it's hard to tell how much of what ended up on screen is genuine and can be taken at face value, at least in terms of what is said straight to the audience. For example, did WB actually come to the Wachowskis and tell them they're making a fourth Matrix film with or without them?

 

I'd have to revisit the film to have a better sense of it all, but one thing that definitely didn't work for me was the emphasis on bullet time. Early on we get Jude talking about how synonymous the Matrix is with bullet time, which I felt like was sufficient talk on the subject. Later the Analyst comes in and talks about bullet time and how he uses the power that defined Neo to control him, but that didn't really go anywhere either story-wise or from an effects perspective. The story impact the Analysts "super bullet time" is entirely negated by Smith showing up and saving Neo, which felt pretty anti-climatic.

 

From an effects and action perspective, it's also a let down. The effect has been done before and with much greater flair, with the X-men movies are perhaps the best examples, though perhaps an unfair comparison since there basically isn't used during the action in Matrix 4. Without the super slow mo having any real impact, were left with Neo's new ambiguous force push powers, which feel like a natural extension of his stopping bullets, but also were mostly visually uninteresting. There's a cool moment on the motorcycle, but it almost felt like an excuse not to have Keanu do more fighting.

 

Then you have the repeated new threat of "swarm mode," which again, was uninteresting from both a story and visual perspective. Yeah, it basically turns every person around them into mild threats, but the lack of a more significant transformation felt like it lessened the mild horror element of agents taking over people's bodies. Oddly enough, it also essentially eliminates the need for the face replacement tech that the sequels pioneered. The result by the end is a giant anonymous mob that made the final in Matrix action feel like a bad zombie movie.

 

All that said, there were a some things I did like about Resurrections as a Matrix sequel. I think the idea of some AI joining the humans in both the Matrix and the physical world is a fun one. It's well implemented as a story device, and while I didn't love how Morpheus looked in the real world, the rest of the human/machine hybrid stuff looked pretty cool. I wish we got more of them. I'll might have to revisit it, since it is strangest blockbuster I've seen in a long time.

[Fizzzzle]

@TwinIonputting my confused thoughts into words like a champ

 

Ultimately, I think my attitude was "...eh"

[Anathema-]

1 hour ago, TwinIon said:

For example, did WB actually come to the Wachowskis and tell them they're making a fourth Matrix film with or without them?

 

It was the original sequels that were getting made with or without them. 

[heydude93]

18 minutes ago, Anathema- said:

 

It was the original sequels that were getting made with or without them. 

 

Did they not have sequels in mind when making the first movie!?

[Anathema-]

57 minutes ago, heydude93 said:

 

Did they not have sequels in mind when making the first movie!?

 

Any creative person is constantly wondering "what's next" even if it isn't their property. That doesn't mean that they're obligated to want to follow through, though. 

[SuperSpreader]

I didn't think the first movie was so deep or interesting so I'm sure I'm gonna enjoy this!

[heydude93]

On 12/23/2021 at 7:17 PM, Anathema- said:

 

Any creative person is constantly wondering "what's next" even if it isn't their property. That doesn't mean that they're obligated to want to follow through, though. 

 

Oh no doubt. I didn't know about the studio wanting to move forward with sequels with or without them until now, pretty interesting. I guess that confirms they definitely wanted to make them at some point. Did they want to helm them at the time though or were they pressured by WB to deliver a trilogy asap? 

[SuperSpreader]

This is awesome so far y'all dumb tbh

[skillzdadirecta]

2 hours ago, heydude93 said:

 

Did they not have sequels in mind when making the first movie!?

No they didn't.  

[SuperSpreader]

You can really feel the influence of the Animatrix in this. 

[SuperSpreader]

It's official:

Matrix 4 > Justice League (haven't seen) > TLJ (seen)

 

This was the most Matrix Matrix movie. Just as dumb as the rest of them but actually enjoyable because idgaf. I loled at the poor project management of everyone signing up for the assignment at Io without actually hearing it rofl. Both this and the latest Star Wars trilogy show filmmakers don't know anything about running a team and you realize how much is actually being directed elsewhere otherwise they wouldn't have written such obviously stupid decisions that fictionally become successful.

 

Basically, like the Matrix- This movie is a reminder that it's all bs and all the people in power in entertainment need to step aside and let others step up. Either way this is the most self aware movie other than Marvel movies, something the massive losers at WB need. I loved it! 

 

PS the worst part of this movie was the RATM remix. Horrible. But better than TLJ.

[SuperSpreader]

My wife just told me, "No more whiskey for you." I told her this isn't the whiskey this is the truth. Follow the white rabbit! 🐇

[legend]

It was not good.

 

It was simultaneously long and rushed.

[Gavin King]

Not sure what to think really. It definitely wasn't great, but I wouldn't go so far as to say bad. 

 

It very much felt like a first draft. Some interesting ideas and thoughts, but nothing really carried too much weight or felt fully fleshed out. Ultimately don't think anything would be able to come close to capturing the magic of the first one, but that's a pretty high bar. Not even sure if this is better than 2 or 3... kind of in the same ball park, but do think maybe worse as other's have said, 2 and 3 at least had very memorable moments/scenes. Just watched last night, and couldn't tell you the most memorable scene or moment.... probably "oh, Neil Patrick Harris is in this one."

 

If you enjoyed any of the other Matrix movies, worth checking out, but it kind of feels like this is a forgettable film. 

[Kamusha]

8 hours ago, SuperSpreader said:

 

PS the worst part of this movie was the RATM remix. Horrible. But better than TLJ.

Nah, that part was awesome.

 

 

[SuperSpreader]

What guy. Who? No. 

[SuperSpreader]

8 hours ago, Gavin King said:

Not sure what to think really. It definitely wasn't great, but I wouldn't go so far as to say bad. 

 

It very much felt like a first draft. Some interesting ideas and thoughts, but nothing really carried too much weight or felt fully fleshed out. Ultimately don't think anything would be able to come close to capturing the magic of the first one, but that's a pretty high bar. Not even sure if this is better than 2 or 3... kind of in the same ball park, but do think maybe worse as other's have said, 2 and 3 at least had very memorable moments/scenes. Just watched last night, and couldn't tell you the most memorable scene or moment.... probably "oh, Neil Patrick Harris is in this one."

 

If you enjoyed any of the other Matrix movies, worth checking out, but it kind of feels like this is a forgettable film. 

 

Agree. Definitely felt like a draft, the last third/quarter right after the failed project management scene at io felt like "okay wrap it up we gotta free Trinity for the next one" and it made the whole thing confusing since the last bit opened so many new rules without time to soak them in. I sort of wish this movie was them freeing Trinity and Neo not wanting to let go of the digital life and they end up leaving him and moving on. But whatever, I still enjoyed it. 

[SuperSpreader]

Oh I wonder if this is where this is going. They end up doing the thing at the end and messing with the world to wake everyone up but instead ppl are like wtf what are you evil beings destroying reality and everyone rejects Neo and Trinity's ideas accepting sim life as it is as the truth and normalcy. ♥️ 

 

After all, human action DID choose the machines just like human action did choose Donald Trump. 

[Kamusha]

31 minutes ago, SuperSpreader said:

What guy. Who? No. 

NSFW

 

Spoiler

 

 

[SuperSpreader]

Whatever. Unimpressed. 

[Kamusha]

2 minutes ago, SuperSpreader said:

Whatever. Unimpressed. 

It’s Christmas Eve. Have some cheer and don’t be a grinch. 

[SuperSpreader]

2 minutes ago, Komusha said:

It’s Christmas Eve. Have some cheer and don’t be a grinch. 

 

I think I heard a shot!

[Brick]

This doesn't seem to be available on Crave in Canada, which usually the HBO Max stuff usually is. Guess I'll have to wait a little longer until I can watch it. 

[Kamusha]

The more reactions I read the more I wanna give this another shot soon. I still need to process it. There are some brave choices this movie makes that I really appreciate. For example all the powers that Neo uses are more defensive. He only uses them to get away, never just to destroy. It shows a growth from the previous movies. It may not be the movie I was expecting given the hype but I could see this growing on me.

[Keyser_Soze]

It sounds like to me that if you come in with the mindset of not expecting to see a lot of action you might enjoy the movie more. (I haven't seen it yet)

[Firewithin]

watched this a bit ago.  it was definitely not needed at all lol.  first half was complete fan service but overall i guess it was OK

[heydude93]

On 12/23/2021 at 8:49 PM, skillzdadirecta said:

No they didn't.  

 

Now THAT's interesting.  I always assumed they had some continuation in mind with all the forshadowing in the original. From what you know how likely is it the sequels we got were not entirely what they wanted to story to be once they signed on to make them?

[skillzdadirecta]

8 minutes ago, heydude93 said:

 

Now THAT's interesting.  I always assumed they had some continuation in mind with all the forshadowing in the original. From what you know how likely is it the sequels we got were not entirely what they wanted to story to be once they signed on to make them?

I'm not saying they didn't have the ideas for a larger world to explore. Clearly they did given all of the media they put out. I'm saying that at the end of the first movie, Neo's journey is pretty complete. The guy has become pretty much a god at the end of that movie and there wasn't much for him to do in the sequels within The Matrix. He spends much of Reloaded flying around stopping bullets and isn't even part of the big final action scene on the highway. I don't think the Wachowskis had a trilogy planned really. Once the film became a hit and sequels were going to be made with or withour them, they just came up with more stories. The second and third movies are really just one long movie broken into two. I'm not even sure what was foresahadowed in the first movie that payed off in the second and third. You could really just watch the first Matrix movie and stop there to be honest. Nothing about those three movies, and now the fourth, feels cohesive are part of one story. At least not to me.

[heydude93]

1 hour ago, skillzdadirecta said:

I'm not saying they didn't have the ideas for a larger world to explore. Clearly they did given all of the media they put out. I'm saying that at the end of the first movie, Neo's journey is pretty complete. The guy has become pretty much a god at the end of that movie and there wasn't much for him to do in the sequels within The Matrix. He spends much of Reloaded flying around stopping bullets and isn't even part of the big final action scene on the highway. I don't think the Wachowskis had a trilogy planned really. Once the film became a hit and sequels were going to be made with or withour them, they just came up with more stories. The second and third movies are really just one long movie broken into two. I'm not even sure what was foresahadowed in the first movie that payed off in the second and third. You could really just watch the first Matrix movie and stop there to be honest. Nothing about those three movies, and now the fourth, feels cohesive are part of one story. At least not to me.

 

Yeah, the first is the superhero journey, the next is a deconstruction of that, etc. I like the sequels more than most tbph, but always wondered how much of the trilogy is what they envisioned vs only what the time they were living in allowed.  Years later we learned there's stuff they wanted to do in the original but couldn't, which opens up questions about the sequels. 

 

I know almost nothing about how they were made and haven't seen them since the theater release.  I have no doubt a lot went over my head when I did, but even at the time you couldn't help but feel like the production might've been troubled and the choice to tell essential parts of the already convoluted story in the anime and videogame was probably not a good one for the sake of the films. 

 

I'm sure part four has a decent amount of continuity from there, and I'm hyped to see it now that I have low expectations for the action scenes (which is unfortunate since so much of what made the IP a classic is how much reinventing and raising of stakes there was as far as what movie stuntwork, fight choreography and visual effects - both cg and practical - could be).

[Rev]

I thought it was .. decent I guess. I thought the fight choreography was terrible. None of the strikes seemed to have any power at all. The camera was all over the place. It was entertaining and kept my attention.That's about all I'll give it.

[skillzdadirecta]

2 hours ago, heydude93 said:

 

Yeah, the first is the superhero journey, the next is a deconstruction of that, etc. I like the sequels more than most tbph, but always wondered how much of the trilogy is what they envisioned vs only what the time they were living in allowed.  Years later we learned there's stuff they wanted to do in the original but couldn't, which opens up questions about the sequels. 

 

I know almost nothing about how they were made and haven't seen them since the theater release.  I have no doubt a lot went over my head when I did, but even at the time you couldn't help but feel like the production might've been troubled and the choice to tell essential parts of the already convoluted story in the anime and videogame was probably not a good one for the sake of the films. 

 

I'm sure part four has a decent amount of continuity from there, and I'm hyped to see it now that I have low expectations for the action scenes (which is unfortunate since so much of what made the IP a classic is how much reinventing and raising of stakes there was as far as what movie stuntwork, fight choreography and visual effects - both cg and practical - could be).

How were the sequels a deconstruction? Neo is so powerful in the second movie the only thing they could do with him was to keep him out of the movie for large parts of it. The first movie was about as complete a movie as you could have. They tried to build on that rich the sequels but whatever.