(Photo Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures) “The Matrix: Resurrections” was released on Dec. 22, 2021.

Troy Lafond
Connector Editor

“The Matrix: Resurrections” is the fourth entry in “The Matrix” franchise and the first in 18 years. Director Lana Wachowski returns from the original, though without her sister, Lilly Wachowski, for the first time. Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss also reprise their roles as Neo and Trinity from the original trilogy. While the return of the talent from the original films suggested promise for this return to the franchise, “The Matrix: Resurrections” unfortunately fails to justify its existence in any meaningful way.

“The Matrix: Resurrections” is extremely self-aware of its status as a long-delayed, unneeded sequel and does everything it can to make the audience aware of this at any given moment. While several of these moments serve as highlights of the movie, such as a particularly humorous jab at Warner Brothers near the beginning of the film, they also work to expose the greatest flaws of the movie.

With these self-aware jabs, “The Matrix: Resurrections” wants its audience to perceive it as being different from other sequels of its nature. However, these moments are undeserved when it ultimately falls victim to the same trappings it criticizes. Merely pointing out the fact that these tropes exist in the movie is not enough for the movie to overcome it. The core structure of the movie is stunningly similar to that of the original “Matrix” movie, and the constant references to that only serves to make this fatal flaw more obvious.

In 1999, this was a revolutionary movie. However, as a 2021 movie that is essentially a self-remake, it lacks the same punch. There is no sense of innovation that the original franchise had, even despite the massively ballooned budget. In fact, this budget fails to show, as a result of the massively disappointing action sequences. Quick edits and cuts take away from the impact of these sequences that once were revolutionary. The set designs are uninteresting and, at times, outright ugly. It is hard to see where the 190 million dollars spent on this movie went.

However, perhaps the biggest flaw of this movie is that it manages to be boring. Clocking in at 2 hours and 28 minutes, “The Matrix: Resurrections” has a lot of bloat, which usually shows itself in overlong sequences of exposition. This massively takes away from any enjoyment that could be derived from the action-oriented moments, and it often takes 20 to 30 minutes to see any action. While not every movie needs to be back-to-back action, it’s a puzzling decision for a revolutionary action sci-fi franchise, especially in an installment as poorly written as this one.

The one shining light among the mass disappointments of “The Matrix: Resurrections” is its cast. Leads Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss are still in top form, and the supporting cast, consisting of Neil Patrick Harris, Jonathan Groff, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Priyanka Chopra and Jada Pinkett Smith do their best even when their material does not give them much to work with. The cast is clearly fully invested throughout and does the best job they can to elevate this movie.

However, none of these performances are enough to justify the existence of “The Matrix: Resurrections”. The movie completely lacks any of the franchise’s defining sense of innovation both in storytelling and in action sequences, and its intended humorous self-awareness only works to further tear apart these flaws. Hopefully after this one, “The Matrix” will be fully left in the past, as it’s clear that the original cast and crew do not have a direction for the continuation of this franchise and that Warner Bros just wants to cash in a check.

Grade: D