The Matrix Resurrections sees Keanu Reeves’ Thomas Anderson as a successful video game developer, who created a trilogy known as “The Matrix.” One day, Anderson’s business partner, Smith, tells him that their parent company, Warner Bros., wants to make another game—with or without them.
It’s public knowledge that WB originally planned on making a fourth Matrix movie without the Wachowski sisters. And The Matrix Resurrections spends its first forty-five minutes letting you know that Lana Wachowski didn’t want to make it. Or, maybe she just had writer’s block because, after criticizing IP fatigue, the film seemingly becomes that which it just condemned. Where 1999’s The Matrix deconstructed a fear of surveillance, control, and technology, The Matrix Resurrections…well, it does that too, and some other things. In this edition of Mandatory Movie Battles, we pit old Keanu vs new Keanu and see who is actually the One.
Cover Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures
Resurrections knew it had no chance of competing with The Matrix, which is arguably the most influential film of all time. So, aside from the meta commentary, much of what Resurrections has to say was said in the first film: we all pretend to want the red pill, we’re fine with our regularly prescribed blue pills, and, of course, choice is an illusion. That being said, Resurrections bombed at the box office—there won’t be a follow up.
Overall Winner: The Matrix
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Matrix Movie Battle
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Action Sequences/Set Pieces
The Wachowskis’ approach to action The Matrix was all about what cyberpunks could accomplish with their hands and feet in a virtual world. Influenced by anime and martial arts films of old, The Matrix’s use of slow-motion/bullet time (among other things), changed action cinema in the western world.
Almost all of the action sequences in the original film hold up due to fearless direction and smart set pieces. Unfortunately, Resurrections didn’t have the original trilogy’s fight choreographer Yuen Woo-ping and it shows with originality and a proclivity for cutting away from the current shot. Despite the introduction of what is essentially the inverse of bullet time and something called swarm mode—which just means turning batteries (people) into bombs—it would be fair to call Resurrections’ action generic.
When in doubt, use Neo's two-handed Force push.
Winner: The Matrix
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Morpheus
In addition to Reeves’ Thomas/Neo and Carrie-Anne Moss’ Tiffany/Trinity, Resurrections features two major returning characters from the first movie in Morpheus and Agent Smith. However, this time they aren’t embodied by Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving but Abdul-Mateen II and Jonathan Groff, respectively. And, like New Coke (yes, this was a thing) trying to supplant classic Coca-Cola, Resurrections sets itself up to fail.
In Resurrections, outside of the Matrix, Morpheus passed away presumably from old age (or that one video game). Abdul-Mateen II’s version of Morpheus is a program, constructed from memories of the real Morpheus and Agent Smith, created by Thomas Anderson to help recreate the events that led to his initial escape. This begs the question: why not create a new character in Agent Mith instead of subjecting Abdul-Mateen II, who’s a fantastic actor, to an impossible comparison?
Winner: The Matrix
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Agent Smith
Unlike director/co-writer Lana Wachowski’s decision not to bring back Fishburne, she did want Weaving to return as Agent Smith in Resurrections and he agreed to do it. Unfortunately, was doing a play at the same time as filming, and, according to the actor, Wachowski was unwilling to accommodate the dates Weaving wanted. Therefore, the role was recast and, in Resurrections, Smith looks like Groff.
Why is this?
While in the new Matrix, Thomas Anderson’s reflection is that of a balding computer “nerd” who looks nothing like Reeves. This is because Neo’s digital self image has been scrambled to make it difficult for humanity to find him. A similar explanation, which really doesn’t require diving into, can be said for Agent Smith. To Groff’s credit, he pays homage to Weaving while doing something completely unique to him. Not-so-villainous Smith would be the guy from Hamilton and Glee. Still, no.
Winner: The Matrix
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Other Supporting Characters (Excluding Trinity)
Why is Christina Ricci in one scene?
This is really just an opportunity to give Jessica Henwick a shout out. In Resurrections, she plays Bugs "as in bunny." The new, more personable Morpheus—who never stopped believing in Neo and the legend of the One. As the captain of the Mnemosyne, Bugs leads the rag-tag group of Resistance members who find Neo in the new Matrix sixty years after Revolutions.
Henwick has made the most of supporting roles in projects like Game of Thrones, Iron Fist, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens for years. She even auditioned for the role of Rey in the latter franchise but lost out to Daisy Ridley. Their loss. On top of that, she could’ve been in last year’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings but attended the screen test for Resurrections instead.
One man’s opinion: Henwick is the most underrated and underutilized talent in Hollywood and one of the best things about Resurrections.
Winner: The Matrix Resurrections
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Keanu Reeves
You could make the argument that Reeves’ acting is better in Resurrections than in the original film. Or, you could argue it’s pretty much the same...we’re going to go with the former due to his inimitable ability to get better with age. It’s just a shame this latest outing didn’t put his John Wick talents to good use.
Winner: New Keanu (Not a win for Resurrections, just a win for Keanu)
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Love Story
Resurrections is about the love story between Neo and Trinity. When the original Matrix’s Architect was purged, Neil Patrick Harris’ Analyst aka evil Barney Stinson, proposed a new simulation compelling human beings to remain within the Matrix by siphoning energy from Neo and Trinity—who the machines rebuilt like cyborgs. Like two magnets being drawn to one another, Neo and Trinity produce just the right amount of energy when “longing” for one another. However, when they touch, it’s bad for the machines.
Message: Real human connection occurs outside the simulation. Ironically, we still seek it through the internet, phones, social media, etc.
While The Matrix hyped the relationship between its central pair, Resurrections sells it.
Winner: The Matrix Resurrections
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The Matrix
In the first film, Smith asks, “did you know that the first Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none suffered, where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program. Entire crops were lost. Some believed we lacked the programming language to describe your perfect world. But I believe that, as a species, human beings define their reality through suffering and misery. The perfect world was a dream that your primitive cerebrum kept trying to wake up from. Which is why the Matrix was redesigned to this: the peak of your civilization.”
The Analyst’s Matrix is designed to manipulate feelings and emotions rather than facts or reality...even though it still does that last part, which is essential. Get it? Today, we prefer our comfortable fiction over facts. While it’s implied the new Matrix’s implementation of social media platforms helps to make inhabitants dependent, it’s not entirely clear how Resurrections' simulation does anything different than the one with the green tint. If it’s about validating everyone’s feelings with fiction and then making them afraid...there’s something here. Probably. Somewhere.
Winner: The Matrix
