The Matrix Resurrections

Drizzle said:
Jupiter Ascending might have been the death blow since the Wachowskis haven't directed a hit film since Reloaded and Revolutions, which was probably the reason why WB greenlit another Matrix sequel.
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It obviously wasn't a death blow, otherwise we wouldn't be watching a new Matrix movie directed by Lana Wachowski right now.
 
Well if you were tell me a new Matrix film wouldn't open as well as Jupiter Ascending, I'd have thought you were insane. Even in a pandemic.
 
I think it would be unfair to dump the movie's underperformance at the box office entirely on Lana.

Ultimately, WB has released far more poorly received blockbusters that have made more money. Even though the fan discourse went predictably toxic, it still overall has a solid enough reception.

I think this was a perfect storm of a movie that is dominating the box office while going for a similar demographic, the movie being dumped on HBO Max simultaneously, and the movie coming out RIGHT as omnicron was spreading like wildfire. I think people were willing to risk it on a sure bet like Spider-Man, but not for a mixed-reception film that is easily accessible at home. Then there's the fact that the Matrix series as a whole was never really beloved by the mainstream audience beyond the first film in the first place. This has all the makings of a cult film for a niche audience.

That said, I'm curious if Lana goes back to streaming or doing something smaller scale after this. The fallout of all of this will be interesting to watch, but I'm grateful this movie got made.
 
DarkKnight88 said:
Well if you were tell me a new Matrix film wouldn't open as well as Jupiter Ascending, I'd have thought you were insane. Even in a pandemic.
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It's frustrating that Jupiter Ascending still looked great on a technical level and had some wonderful action sequences but a new Matrix movie doesn't.
 
‘Matrix Resurrections’: Post Box Office Bomb, Pic Pirated, Nabs 2.8M HBO Max Viewers – Deadline

Among Samba TV numbers, Matrix Resurrections ranks behind the first 5-days of Warner Bros./Legendary’s Godzilla vs. Kong by 22%, that movie having pulled in 3.6M households from Wednesday to Sunday. That movie was one of the first tentpoles to open post NYC and LA’s cinema reopenings, earning $48.1M in its first 5 days.
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In regards to 30-day numbers from Samba, Godzilla vs. Kong is the most watched theatrical day-and-date release on HBO Max with 5.8M households, followed by New Line’s Mortal Kombat with 5.6M and Suicide Squad with 5.1M. So there’s a chance that Matrix Resurrections could rank up in that echelon. The first weekend household viewership figure on James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad was 2.8M. Also by comparison, Wonder Woman 1984, the first of the HBO Max-theatrical pandemic titles was watched by 2.2M households in its debut Christmas weekend a year ago.
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I think even if the fight choreography and framing of the action wasn't even attempted to be done as beautifully as the original films, the actual cinematography and colors of this film looked gorgeous. I watched this film second as part of a double feature with No Way Home, and there was no two ways about it that this one felt like the more visually interesting and engaging of the two. IMO.

I'd still say NWH was 'above average' visually for an MCU film though. All in all I had a very good day at the movies.
 
BatLobster said:
OK...finally have seen the full movie. I have many thoughts...I'm sure I won't capture it all in one post, but these are just some of my initial impressions of what stood out to me.

I'll also say that this movie bombing is reaffirms my hunch that this could end up being something of a cult classic. :funny:

@Gothamsknight thanks for sharing that review. I totally am on the same page with almost everything that guy is saying.

Unfortunately, my opinion of The Force Awakens has diminished slowly over time, since the time it was released. It's a still a fun movie that sets up some good characters with potential, but everything he's saying there about how it casually undoes the victories of the OT is what has always bothered me about it and I feel it put the sequel trilogy in a very tough spot to get out of.

For me, The Matrix Resurrections is almost like an inverse Force Awakens. In many ways actually. Both on the surface, in terms of how the movies are approached stylistically and beneath the surface as well. There's that moment in TFA when Starkiller Base takes out the New Republic. We literally get mere seconds of seeing what the New Republic looked like before it's wiped out so we can start clean. That's always been a big problem for me.

Conversely, Resurrections
actually spends time on its world-building to give weight to what was accomplished in the trilogy, showing how Zion has advanced, how machine/human relations have advanced and the overall situation has become more complex over the course of 60 years. It would've been so easy to just say, "the machines have gone back on the truce, Zion is on the verge of extinction again, etc etc." The movie arguably undercuts its own sense of stakes by NOT doing this, but it's clear that's not the point of the film and this is primarily an epilogue to Neo and Trinity's story. This attention to lore made all the difference to me and proved that as much as Lana was taking the piss out of reboots and the state of modern franchise filmmaking, I still felt the love and care being given to the mythology. And I think it actually made for a really clever contrast to show how the "story" of trilogy is viewed by characters in The Matrix vs. in the real world. The meta angle could've completely sunk the movie, and I'm sure it did for a lot of people, but they actually incorporated it in a really smart way to advance the narrative and comment on the state of the world and our relationship with fiction.

I don't agree with the TLJ comparisons. This movie is its own beast entirely, and I'll give WB credit on this. For as much as they were clearly going to attempt to milk this franchise with or without the involvement of the Wachowskis, I'm not sure a tentpole blockbuster movie this subversive could've possibly ever been made under Disney. I guess we'll see what Taika Waititi's Star Wars holds in store, but yeah. This is without a doubt one of the most "punk rock" takes on a blockbuster I've ever seen.

Now, all this to say-- I understand very get how this movie isn't for everyone and will disappoint people. But I think there are some layers to unpack here and I think to walk away only thinking "it sucked!" is kind of doing yourself a disservice here, if you're a fan of the mythology. There's a lot to like here from a narrative standpoint, even if the action isn't even attempting to be groundbreaking. Which I completely get, is disappointing. But at the same time, I agree with the guy in the above review, I was most interested in the film in the non-action scenes, because it actually had engaging things to say.

Although I do think the climax was actually pretty sweet. Keanu and Carrie-Ann, in their mid 50s, leaping off that building for real probably trumps any practical stunts that were done in No Way Home. Just sayin'. :word:
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As always, you articulate everything I feel so well haha. But yeah man, I mean, you have to admire what went into this. The fact that Lana was able to do a film that was completely her own is refreshing, even if it is divisive. I can't bring myself to dislike this movie honestly and why I can totally see why others may not dig it, and I still rank the original 3 above it, I don't see how people can hate it the way some do, but hey that's just me. I see this movie growing on me more and more over time, and once the freshness is over, it'll fit right into the series.

I, too, was hoping for a more intimate story as well which is probably why I wasn't as bothered as other people were by the action. It truly did feel like an epilogue for the whole series. A smaller movie, that wasn't so focused on spectacle (despite literally jumping off of a 46 story building). yeah, I like this movie haha.
 
Sad to see it bomb but maybe it's a blessing in disguise. We got a cathartic epilogue for Neo and Trinity with some meta commentary on nostalgia, but I don't think there was much fertile ground for an ongoing franchise. Perhaps it's best to let this rest, though I'd like a new video game or perhaps a remake of Enter the Matrix.
 
Gothamsknight said:
As always, you articulate everything I feel so well haha. But yeah man, I mean, you have to admire what went into this. The fact that Lana was able to do a film that was completely her own is refreshing, even if it is divisive. I can't bring myself to dislike this movie honestly and why I can totally see why others may not dig it, and I still rank the original 3 above it, I don't see how people can hate it the way some do, but hey that's just me. I see this movie growing on me more and more over time, and once the freshness is over, it'll fit right into the series.

I, too, was hoping for a more intimate story as well which is probably why I wasn't as bothered as other people were by the action. It truly did feel like an epilogue for the whole series. A smaller movie, that wasn't so focused on spectacle (despite literally jumping off of a 46 story building). yeah, I like this movie haha.
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I completely agree. I think epilogue is a great way to look at it.

To me, this is part-fourth Matrix film, and part almost a "video essay" of sorts where one of the creators looks back upon and reframes their own work a bit while commenting on the time that has passed since and even just using it to talk about growing older in general. I think the number of clips they they showed from the first 3 films, while I can see how that bothered people, for me it just further made it clear that trilogy is its own complete thing, and this fourth movie is something different entirely that is more like a companion piece/epilogue. It understands that it's not essential in terms of the main narrative, but it does try to provide some additional closure that may have been lacking before. And I thought that was a really cool way to approach it that does not retroactively taint what came before in any way. Because I can still view that as its own thing.

Hear me out, but I feel like this is sort of Scream 4 meets Toy Story 4 of The Matrix franchise. Scream 4 in the sense that both are kind of remakes/reboots that are kind of anti-remake/reboot that go next-level meta, with some biting social commentary about how the world has changed since the original films. But then a bit of Toy Story 4 in the sense that Toy Story 4 works as an epilogue for Woody's story in the same way that Resurrections works as an epilogue for Neo/Trinity. Weird comparisons to make I know, but that's kind of the feel I got. It just feels like a movie that very easily could not have existed, which makes me appreciate having it more.
 
This movie was awesome. What a shame about the performance because I'd love to see more movies with this new status quo. Definitely the best sequel.

It was a great new installment but also serves as a nice epilogue to the trilogy. It really felt like the organic next step where Neo and Trinity went.

The "new" Matrix was created to be placating and mundane, always chasing the spark of the past, an existence just tolerable enough to try and change anything. Neo and Trinity hd to choose to leave that behind and take a risk, even if it meant failure of death. It works character and meta wise. Leave it to the Wachowski's to actually say something about this. And to house it all in something so personal as waking up Trinity was terrific. The Wachowski's are best when they tell a simple core story to house their ambitious ideas.

I was thrilled with Trinity's arc and how her and Neo are both "The One." It makes sense to see a person with her belief and dedication be rewarded with becoming part of that. As someone who loved Trinity, I loved it!

The only major flaws for me was the execution of the action and the cinematography. It doesn't need the iconography of the other films, as that what this movie seemed to be deconstructing, but some of the ways it was shot just wasn't all that strong.

It's not Blade Runner 2049, Twin Peaks: The Return or Mad Max Fury Road, but it's definitely something I wish more of these sequels these days did. In an age when we are getting big budget fan films, where filmmakers are just playing with their same action figures and recreating their favorite scenes, it was refreshing to see an original creator deconstruct these endless franchise sequels that begin repeating themselves in a meta way and tell a good story to do that by pushing it forward.
 
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KaijuDude1992 said:
I still for the life of me don't understand how this cost $190M to make and a part of me still can't believe it. I mean where did all that money go besides the paychecks for Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Ann Moss, because it sure as hell didn't go towards the set pieces or the action sequences in general?

This movie looked insanely cheap at times which makes me think it was mismanaged from the beginning and no one really knew what the hell they were doing except throwing more money at it for some reason.

Wow at just how much of a misfire this was for the studio, but again I'm glad some people enjoyed it. It's always interesting seeing different viewpoints on films like this.
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That’s insane. It did not look like $200M budget movie. There was zero action and the effects were nothing special.
 
OutOfBoose said:
Didn't look like a 200 mil. blockbuster. Unless actors cost too much.
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John Wick is expensive. Carrie-Anne I doubt it. I love her, but I haven't seen her in anything since Disturbia.

And now I see she was in the Defendersverse.
 
Neno_Kos said:
Original Matrix had 63M budget and looked more expensive than this. Somebody did good money laundering with this movie and perhaps it was from it's early stage doomed to failure.
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They had some pretty good money saving ideas in the first movie. They filmed on the sets left over from Dark City which saved them some cash.
 
BatLobster said:
I completely agree. I think epilogue is a great way to look at it.

To me, this is part-fourth Matrix film, and part almost a "video essay" of sorts where one of the creators looks back upon and reframes their own work a bit while commenting on the time that has passed since and even just using it to talk about growing older in general. I think the number of clips they they showed from the first 3 films, while I can see how that bothered people, for me it just further made it clear that trilogy is its own complete thing, and this fourth movie is something different entirely that is more like a companion piece/epilogue. It understands that it's not essential in terms of the main narrative, but it does try to provide some additional closure that may have been lacking before. And I thought that was a really cool way to approach it that does not retroactively taint what came before in any way. Because I can still view that as its own thing.

Hear me out, but I feel like this is sort of Scream 4 meets Toy Story 4 of The Matrix franchise. Scream 4 in the sense that both are kind of remakes/reboots that are kind of anti-remake/reboot that go next-level meta, with some biting social commentary about how the world has changed since the original films. But then a bit of Toy Story 4 in the sense that Toy Story 4 works as an epilogue for Woody's story in the same way that Resurrections works as an epilogue for Neo/Trinity. Weird comparisons to make I know, but that's kind of the feel I got. It just feels like a movie that very easily could not have existed, which makes me appreciate having it more.
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Exactly. Im currently on my 3rd watch of the film, and I like it even more now. I think for me what works the best are the emotional aspects of the film. The stuff between Neo and Trinity is done so well, and there's almost like a desperation to rekindle their love in a way? That's probabaly my favorite part of the film. I know lots of people come to the matrix for the action, but it was never only about that. Did people forget the Neo and Trinity romance in the first 3 movies?

It's growing on me a lot, and I really like it honestly. If a fifth film happens, you know Im gonna totally on the hype train about it. I love this world!


Doctor Jones said:
This movie was awesome. What a shame about the performance because I'd love to see more movies with this new status quo. Definitely the best sequel.

It was a great new installment but also serves as a nice epilogue to the trilogy. It really felt like the organic next step where Neo and Trinity went.

The "new" Matrix was created to be placating and mundane, always chasing the spark of the past, an existence just tolerable enough to try and change anything. Neo and Trinity hd to choose to leave that behind and take a risk, even if it meant failure of death. It works character and meta wise. Leave it to the Wachowski's to actually say something about this. And to house it all in something so personal as waking up Trinity was terrific. The Wachowski's are best when they tell a simple core story to house their ambitious ideas.

I was thrilled with Trinity's arc and how her and Neo are both "The One." It makes sense to see a person with her belief and dedication be rewarded with becoming part of that. As someone who loved Trinity, I loved it!

The only major flaws for me was the execution of the action and the cinematography. It doesn't need the iconography of the other films, as that what this movie seemed to be deconstructing, but some of the ways it was shot just wasn't all that strong.

It's not Blade Runner 2049, Twin Peaks: The Return or Mad Max Fury Road, but it's definitely something I wish more of these sequels these days did. In an age when we are getting big budget fan films, where filmmakers are just playing with their same action figures and recreating their favorite scenes, it was refreshing to see an original creator deconstruct these endless franchise sequels that begin repeating themselves in a meta way and tell a good story to do that by pushing it forward.
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I completely agree with everything you've said here! Was waiting on your review, Doctor Jones haha.
 
GothamCity said:
So they want a 5th?, this new one is flopping at the moment.
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HBO Max and streaming content is the name of the game now, I guess?

Maybe it's just genuinely not about box office ticket sales anymore. It's about selling social media engagement and buzz.
 
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