The Matrix was Resurrected, and it appears that (almost) nobody cared

I couldn't help myself. In spite of both previous Matrix sequels being boring, nonsensical films with no reason to exist, I couldn't resist my morbid curiosity. I watched The Matrix Resurrections.

On the plus side, I can confirm that it's definitely the best of the Matrix sequels. On the down side, it still has no reason to exist, and its maker (Lana Wachowski) appears to have agreed with me on that, because all of the film's non-action sequences basically bang on endlessly about how hollow and meaningless nostalgia exercises like The Matrix Resurrections are, while constantly referring to the movie's own audience as "sheeple" who crave subservience while lacking the imagination or will to do anything more meaningful or creative with their lives.

Other L.W. isn't involved this time; apparently, Lilly wasn't interested in making yet another Matrix movie, and I can't help but feel that she made the right call on this one.

Mind you, part of me did appreciate just how baller it was for Lana W. to be so thoroughly contemptuous of the audience that she and Warner Brothers lured into the theatre with a sales pitch of exactly the sort of nostalgia that that the movie then claimed to despise, while relentlessly trafficking in it, but a bigger part of me was just annoyed at being constantly lumped in with the sheeple for simply having killed some time watching Lana W.'s nostalgia-fest of a film. Lana W. didn't spare her corporate overlords in this scorn-fest, either; Warner Brothers Interactive is clearly presented as an antagonistic force, here, and I applaud whichever suit at the W.B. signed off on their brand being presented in such a negative light.

More down side: Lana W. still has not corrected the error of basic physics which makes utter nonsense of everything to do with the conflict(s) with the machines. Conservation of Energy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics are both still things, meaning that the perpetual-motion machine which is the Matrix as presented is actually impossible, in a way which didn't matter so much to the first film (which isn't actually about the human-machine conflict), but which continues to be immersion-breakingly distracting in all of the sequels (which mostly are).

Back to the plus side for a moment, though: the action scenes still mostly work, in spite of Keanu apparently being too old now to carry a full movie of kung-fu wire-work (although I now worry about John Wick 4). The absences of both Lawrence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving were palpable, in no small part because the film kept showing us footage of both actors from the previous films, but the awesomely-named Yahya Abdul-Mateen II was a worthy alter-Morpheus, Jonathan Groff clearly had a ton of fun chewing the scenery as Almost Agent Smith, and Jessica Henwick's Bugs stole every scene she was in and looked so fabulous doing it that I almost wish I could carry off her blue bob hairdo.

In fact, the whole cast does a stellar job, here. Carrie-Anne Moss continues to be an excellent actor, and still lust-worthy as well, even in her mid-fifties; she clearly intends to age like fine wine, and I can only approve of whatever Faustian bargain she's made to ensure that it happens as planned. Jada Pinkett Smith emotes from under a ton of old-age make-up, and gives Groff a run for his money in the scenery-chewing department. 

Even Keanu Reeves is good here, having clearly levelled up his acting game around John Wick 2. Gone is the wooden delivery that characterized the maximum-effort, capital "A" Acting of much of his earlier work, replaced with a much more natural-seeming performance; not so much an Actor, but rather just a skilled performer inhabiting a character in who's skin he's grown comfortable enough to be confident of the performance just happening. 

Keanu and Carrie-Anne still have zero on-screen chemistry, though; they're both attractive people, but at no point in four films have I believed that their characters were deeply, passionately in love, and that includes their weirdly passionless sex scene from Reloaded.

So, what's the verdict? Both critics and audiences appear to be pretty lukewarm on the movie:

That feels fair. The Matrix Resurrections film isn't bad, but neither is it good enough to entirely redeem the mess of the previous sequels. Only super-fans of the franchise need bother to seek this out in theatres; if you loved Reloaded and Revolutions, then sure, see Resurrections on the biggest screen that you can find near you. Otherwise, you should only stream this one if your morbid curiosity won't let you leave it alone; it's not a must-watch, and there are other, better films available on stream that are better uses of your time.

C+