The “Matrix of Resurrection” is like a warm blanket. She has been hugging those longing for 20 years. What does it offer to others? [RECENZJA]

The new “” is pure fun and game. Two hours of references to films from 20 years ago, the involvement of “old” actors, a new deal, a partial closure (re) of the old one and the start of a completely new story. It is a different “Matrix” than we remember it from small movie theaters from the late 90’s. And I have no doubt that not everyone will love it. But it is worth seeing if only because it is a completely conscious, self-deprecating production that complains that it was even created. And also for this great pleasure that can be seen on the face of the new Morpheus (yes, there is also Morpheus, although it has undergone a slight facelift).

“The Matrix. Resurrection” – nobody wanted it, everyone needed it

You must have watched “Matrix” many times on the small screen, but there is also a part among you that not only has never seen this production in the cinema, but also does not really feel its revolution. In its time, “The Matrix” was a breakthrough – mainly in technology (those phenomenal slow shots!), But also in the approach to what the so far primitive shooting can be and how to implement a very simple and disturbing idea after the screening (like in “Inception”) – what if we already live in the Matrix? Although I will sound a bit like Morpheus from “Reloaded”, I remember how 20 years ago we asked ourselves this question after screenings, in high school, when we even discussed this topic in philosophy classes. It was really a fat thing, a text of a culture that has not found its successor until today, although many have tried.

I think that no one was waiting for this new “Matrix” at the same time – after all, “Revolutions” ended in such a way that there was no chance of any resumption (and yet!). But we all wanted it too. We wanted to get back to the feeling the Matrix gave us during a movie screening – the piercing thrill of something fresh and terrifying at the same time. How was it?

“The Matrix of Resurrection”. The pilot is flying with us in a very good mood

The “Matrix of Resurrection” is a complete rollercoaster ride. It’s a self-ironic look at production for a few very clear reasons. First, we viewers needed it. Second, she needed this franchise. It is a painful observation, but the film itself tells us this directly from the screen through the mouth of one of the characters we know very well. People love what they know, so if they get a new “Matrix” they will love it with momentum. Thirdly, I have no doubt that the Wachowski sisters were simply heartily fed up with questions about the next part of the most important work in their lives. And you can feel this approach here too. Carrie-Anne Moss must have heard similar questions, too, to whom she had clung to the roles of Neo and Trinity forever. Only the real Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and the real Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) could not be broken, but without them this story would be incomplete.

So we get both Neo, and Trinity, and Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II took the role) and the phenomenal Smith (Jonathan Groff, delightfully overjoyed to be a new version of the Agent). There are also some brand new faces, a tad too excited for my liking to be part of a living legend, and there’s a whole new role that Neil Patrick Harris has taken on. I wonder how you’ll like his playing – he’s too much himself for me, but maybe that’s what his charm is about, which I can’t appreciate. Fortunately, these additional characters are mostly background – I won’t tell you much about the storyline if I say that Neo and Trinity are the center of attention here again. And while Keanu Reeves has vowed that the new “Matrix” has nothing to do with the past and is a glimpse into the future, don’t believe him. It’s an adorable love story, rooted in the past as much as possible.

‘The Matrix of Resurrection’ (2021) Photo press materials

We may be moving back into the future, but we find a whole range of scenes as we know them from the past. Thomas Anderson, suffering from inexplicable problems with distinguishing between waking and dreaming, works for a reputable company and designs computer games. However, something goes wrong, because he gets a mysterious text message again, more and more elements that … he has seen before come to his reality. What will he do with it? And why is this happening? They will answer all these questions in “Resurrection”, I just want to add that they do it quite sensibly, although it is, however, a story sewn with thick threads – as always, when you have to create something by force that did not have to arise at all.

If, however, to break away from the plot, which was already in the two previous films … risky, to put it mildly, the new “Matrix” is a great game with convention and old versions of the film. Everyone on the set knows that this is not a serious production. The previous “Matrixes” were full of pathos, references to all world religions, philosophy, existentialism, and corporate criticism. NOTHING of this was left in the Resurrection. Feel that “Resurrection” is pure fun.

‘The Matrix of Resurrection’ Fot. Murray Close / Warner Bros. Pictures

And now the most important question you have to answer is: are you able to come to terms with it? Does “Matrix” like this suit you? Are you following the happy of your new incarnation, Smith? Are you and Morpheus excited to be able to re-enter the system after so many years after a major update? Will you accept that Neo and Trinity are not the same anymore – they have changed but haven’t changed at all (to quote the classic)? Can you survive when someone throws a joke every five minutes? If you answered “yes” or “rather yes” to these questions – go to “Matrix” this Christmas. If you’re still unsure, try falling into one of the categories below:

Spectator-purist – don’t watch this movie as “The Matrix”. Recognize that you came to a different production, loosely referring to the one from the past, and you will most likely not be disappointed.

Widzu-affirmatorze – you will have a lot of fun if (according to the philosophy of this film) you enjoy the very fact that “The Matrix” was made. “Resurrection” will wrap you like a warm blanket.

Viewer-fresh – either you were too young for “The Matrix” in the cinema, or you haven’t watched it at all – I’m afraid you won’t fully understand what is going on here and why. I also do not think it would help you to watch the whole before the screening of “Resurrection”, because this is a game aimed at the generation that “The Matrix” has consciously assimilated and absorbed it in the right place and time in world history. And this one is different than 20 years ago.

I had fun before, and although instead of the cold and terrifying ocean of the old “Matrix” I got a warm, tropical sea full of colorful fish, I am not disappointed. Maybe I don’t need much, and if the movie offers me Neo fighting Agent Smith, I’m happy. And if, apart from these fights, he offers me the same scenes and texts that we saw and heard in the first “Matrix”, in the same places, then happiness reaches its zenith and obscures everything else, especially flaws.

What disadvantages? The ones that are a lot there. Of course they are, because even such an absurd-conscious production is not free from them. You should generally start with a story drawn from your finger. Keanu Reeves, as much as I really love him, is too bored for me that he has to be here and play his part. We also went too much towards comedy, and this is not what the first “Matrix” captivated us with. But the main disadvantage of this movie is that it was made at all. You know why this happened, but it really shouldn’t have happened. Unfortunately, this is not the last word – although maybe not necessarily the Wachowski sisters. “Resurrection” is a new opening in the topic of the Matrix universe and we will certainly see his next creations in the coming years, whether we like it or not. Warner Bros., like a shark, has a sniffle of blood and is not going to let go.

You will ask which pill this movie is: real red, or fake blue. Unfortunately, both at once. It is not a disappointment when you do not have too high expectations, but there is also sadness and great joy – sadness, because such a “Matrix” hurts me, but also joy, because it was 20 long years of waiting.

“The Matrix of Resurrection” (“Matrix Ressurections”), dir. Lana Wachowski, screenplay Lana Wachowski, David Michell, Alesandar Hemon, prod. Warner Bros. Pictures, photos by Danielle Massaccesi, music by Johnny Klimek, Tom Tykwer. Starring: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Jada Pinkett Smith, Priyanka Chopra Jonas