Not being a fan of the Matrix films I had some trepidation about this new instalment but early on a got a sense that maybe this film would tackles some of the problems I had with the original trilogy and it quickly became my favourite Matrix film. There was a moment, early on, where a character deconstructs the red pill/blue pill binary, one of my major issues with the series' approach to deconstruction, that pricked up my ears and let me get into where this was going.
We are living in an age of reboots and sequels and revivals. There have always been these tendencies but right now feels like a high water mark for bringing back the stories we loved in new ways with varying success. The Matrix Resurrections is aware of this, establishes itself as entirely meta, and deep dives into the world of what it means to return to the nostalgia. I've always struggled with the original films' failures are effectively deconstructing their subject but Resurrections feels like it has tackled its task effectively and entertainingly. Resurrections feels like it is about Resurrections (itself), and about these sort of sequels generally, in a way that is entirely self-aware yet also lovingly nostalgic. It pulls itself apart before our eyes and asks us to consider what it is we are looking for by returning to the world of The Matrix. In that it accomplishes more than the three previous films combined.
The film still has the same aesthetic which is one that doesn't do it for me but I know is a selling point for many fans. However Wachowski has become a stronger director than when she attempted the first film and it shows. She crafts this tale a little less simply, a little less conveniently. And while the first one felt revolutionary for its visuals, a step that feels impossible to achieve again at this time, this one feels more insightful and aware.
Everything about Resurrections was more interesting to me. It drops the concept of "the One" that was so problematic in the previous movies, no "drops" isn't the right word... subverts. It explores the ways binaries fail us in story telling and in life. It still has its action movie plot beats the weigh down some of the more interesting elements. I mean it wasn't able to completely shake off everything Matrixy about it.
And why would it? This film explores the nature of sequels, especially the nostalgic aspects. So we get all the Matrix beats we expect because we are here for them. The film may acknowledge some of the pros and cons of that but it still lives into what it is delivering and in doing so both provides us with interesting meat to chew on and the familiar stuff that emotionally resonates for us.
So I will still not be a Matrix fan but I feel for me there is a lot more here to work with that I've been given before, and more to care about as well.
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra, Jada Pinkett Smith, Lambert Wilson, Eréndira Ibarra, Max Riemelt, Brian J Smith, Toby Onwumere, Christina Ricci, Telma Hopkins, Ellen Hollman, Andrew Caldwell
Director: Lana Wachowskis
Writers: David Mitchell, Aleksander Hemon, Lana Wachowskis
No comments:
Post a Comment