The Matrix Resurrections Review
Reviewed by McNeill Mullikin
The Matrix Resurrections is one of the biggest disappointments of the year for me. While this was never one of my most anticipated films of the year, the trailers looked awesome. Heading into the film I was hopeful that Resurrections would be a better movie than the other sequels but still doubted its ability to beat-out the original film. Unfortunately, The Matrix Resurrections is easily the weakest film in the entire franchise.
Right off the bat, I became fairly annoyed with Resurrections because of how it is such a direct copy of the original film in so many ways. To add to that, this is one of the most meta films I have ever seen in my life; and not in a good way.
(For those who are unaware, “meta” essentially means the act of a creative work being self-referential with regard to itself or its genre.)
The Matrix Resurrections is filled with constant cringe-worthy, meta moments in a desperate attempt to be clever. Its ludicrous self-referentiality truly makes me question why this movie was even made in the first place.
As you might have guessed, Resurrections is also by far the most unoriginal film in the series. While the other sequels are nowhere near as good as the original film, they at least had new ideas and story structures. Resurrections has almost no sense of originality because it is a blatant rip off of the original movie. The vast majority of the action sequences, dialogue, and plot beats are all borrowed from the first film.
Though I strongly dislike The Matrix Resurrections, it is not a complete disaster and, fortunately, has a few redeeming qualities. Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss are great in their iconic roles, and the rest of the cast is great as well. The action set pieces that don’t mimic the original movie are cool and there are some interesting ideas and moments but not enough to make up for how incredibly underwhelming the story itself is.
Overall, The Matrix Resurrections is a massive disappointment, and it is honestly nearly a disgrace to the franchise because of how it uses cheap nostalgia bait as an attempt to justify its existence. It is not the most unwatchable movie ever, but the story is pointless, the visuals are unimpressive, and I truly hate how meta this film is. The Matrix should have never had sequels in the first place, and I hope that The Matrix Resurrections is the last.
P.S. This movie is such a rip-off of the original film that it uses a terrible cover of the same Rage Against the Machine song when the credits roll that is used for the credits in the original film…
