Review: ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ - Missing incredible action

The Matrix Resurrections recalls several moments from the original trilogy, very often with the original footage spliced in abruptly. One scene, in particular, didn’t make the cut, but it came to mind while watching this film. Monica Bellucci’s Persephone withholds information from Keanu Reeves’ Neo in The Matrix Reloaded. In order to get the information, Neo has to give Persephone a kiss. The trick is, the kiss has to make Persephone feel like she’s the love of Neo’s life, Carrie-Anne Moss’ Trinity.

It doesn’t matter that Neo doesn’t love Persephone, she only needs to feel like he does. Resurrections feels like an evolution of its predecessors, focusing less on what audiences know about The Matrix and more on how we feel about it. In some ways, that allows the film to go beyond the hows and the whys of the movie and focus on the emotional centre that is the relationship of Neo and Trinity. In other ways, the movie waves its hands over mishandled plot elements and hopes you will take the blue pill to forget.

What works is the reprised cast. Reeves and Moss, returning to their roles, seize the rare opportunity of continuing an epic love story 20 years later. Moss gets less time to shine but burns twice as bright when she finally gets to. The new cast is a bit of a mixed bag. Laurence Fishburne’s absence is felt, as is Hugo Weaving’s. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Jonathan Groff give new spins on their characters. Abdul-Mateen, decked out in bright colours, cracks jokes about the futility of choices while Groff is over the top, hamming things up just in time for Christmas.

The best thing about The Matrix has always been when the story would fall apart when characters fail to compel. When the deep conversations of the nature of humanity went over your head, you could always rely on the satisfying action. It’s heartbreaking to say that this is where The Matrix Resurrections falls flattest. None of the action feels particularly inventive, nor is it shot with any kind of continuity. The last John Wick film has more in common with a Matrix movie than this one.

The action is not only subpar, it’s few and far between and doesn’t do enough to distract from the movie’s other issues. The series has never been airtight with its logic and mythos, but the ending of Resurrections is mind-bending and not in the way you’d like. The film’s saving grace is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and the elements that work are strong.

Rating: Catch It On Cable

Damian Levy is a film critic and podcaster for Damian Michael Movies.