In Writer and Director Lana Wachowski’s The Matrix Resurrections, Keanu Reeves as Thomas Anderson (aka Neo from The Matrix) meets the married mother of three kids, Tiffany, played by Carrie-Anne Moss, who was Trinity also in The Matrix. They meet at Thomas’s favorite café in the city. With her eyes widened Tiffany asks, “Have we met?” In Lana Wachowski, David Mitchell, and Aleksander Hemon’s screenplay are Neo and Trinity in real-world or back in the computer-simulated world of the Matrix?
In the previous Matrix Trilogy, Neo and Trinity were soulmates. Neo was the Chosen One, who freed humankind from the bondage of the Matrix. Neo and Trinity died as star-crossed lovers in The Matrix Revolutions, in the simulated Matrix construct. Are Neo and Trinity alive in the real world or still in the Matrix?
Director Lana Wachowski speeds full throttle following opening credits. Fangirl hacker Bug, played by strong, smart Jessica Henwick, hacks into the old version of The Matrix. She observes Trinity dispatching Agent Smith’s henchmen with extreme martial arts prowess. All too familiar.
Bugs locates leader Morpheus, not the Laurence Fishburne version. Instead, she meets the younger sleek version, played by handsome, charismatic Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Somehow Bugs and Morpheus are in a modal, which is a simulation gaming platform. Keanu’s Neo created Morpheus in the modal. Morpheus like Bugs is searching for his creator Neo.
Thomas, aka Neo, is the award-winning game designer of The Matrix video games for the Deus Machina Company. His business partner is slick talking Jude, played by Andrew Lewis Caldwell. They both work for owner Smith, played with wanton zeal by Jonathan Groff. Yeah, Smith is the updated version of the villainous Mr. Smith from The Matrix.
Unlike its predecessors, Resurrections embodies a self-effacing sense of humor. Thomas created the previous 3 Matrix video games. Now in a development contract with Warner Brothers, Thomas and Smith are working on The Matrix 4. Too funny.
In Wachowski’s inventive narrative, Thomas is a suicide survivor. Apparently, he tried to walk off the ledge of a skyscraper. Believably earnest Neil Patrick Harris plays Thomas’s Therapist, who prescribes blue pills for his depression and anxiety. Recall in The Matrix, you take the blue pill to remain in the simulated plugged-in construct of the Matrix. You take the red pill to live in the real world. Free your mind.
The Matrix Resurrections has a distinct upside in that the cast includes Keanu, Carrie-Anne, Jessica, and Yahya. The downside: There are way too many irrelevant characters that we really don’t care about. Lana Wachowski methodically plods through the first hour of the movie to set up her narrative. Although Carrie-Anne poignantly grounds the story’s humanity in its déjà vu aura, she could have been leveraged more. She and Keanu have an extraordinary screen partnership.
Finally, gun battles and chaos arise. Neo is thrust back down the rabbit hole of the Matrix, albeit a different design?
Mateen displays surprising power as Morpheus. He and Neo battle in kung fu in the pristine lake Dojo. Exchanging brutal kicks and punches, Morpheus yells, “Come on Neo, fight for her! Fight for her!” Neo fights for Trinity, his true love.
Amidst the maddening gamer speak of which I know nothing, the ontological speak of the nature of reality, and spectacular gunfights and kung fu displays, Resurrections touches as a profound love story: Waiting all your life for the love of your life.
With an eloquent poignancy, Carrie-Anne’s Trinity tells Neo, “There’s a part of me that feels like I’ve been waiting my whole life for you…” That touched my heart. Keanu amazes us as Neo in his vulnerability and resilience. He’s the Hero. Carrie-Anne as Trinity is the Soul of The Matrix Resurrections. Her yearning sadness within touches your soul. In one way or another, we’ve all waited for the true love of our lives.
In the moving narrative arch, Trinity tells Neo, “I remember this. I remember us… We can’t go back.” No, we can’t go back to the past. We move on. That’s the eloquence of The Matrix Resurrections. The past remains in the past, like some painting on the back wall. What makes a difference is living in the present, and moving forward into the uncertain future. The Matrix Resurrections is imperfectly bold and daring. Yet, The Matrix Resurrections perhaps frees our minds. Just saying.
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Watch the office trailer here:
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Photo credit: Shutterstock, modified
