| USA, 1999-2003 | Action/Mindfuck | Mainstream |
Tomorrow, December 22, Matrix Resurrections is released. It’s the newest entry of a franchise that we all thought finished 20 years ago; regardless of the reasons we may speculate that happened in Lana Wachowski’s mind to think it was a good thing to resurrect (pun intended) her masterwork after so much time. Money? Regain fame after two decades of meh movies? Culmination of her self-realization process that started with her transition, and at the same time making peace with her former self?
Regardless, it’s always a good idea to be familiar with the main corpus of the franchise just to know what to expect. It is also a good thing to remember some fictions that made your mind soar as a child and see if they held well against time or, on the contrary, suffer from the Ocarina of Time syndrome. So, consider this text as a sweet memento of better years.
The Matrix (the trilogy) is fundamentally a work of its time. Being conceived in the rise of the digital revolution, it ventures a grimmy futuristic prediction based on a well-known sci-fi formula: “predicting not the science advancement, but the problems it carries”. The Matrix’s world is a very dark outcome of the digitalization, previously established by the cyberpunk pioneers of the decade, and also relies on more classical futuristic fantasy fictions on its way of addressing rhetorical questions concerning humanity’s sake in a scientific-based context. It is also clearly influenced by century-end Asian action flicks, and fuses this style well with its mindfucking premises. Furthermore, being conceived in the decade where screen violence was an omnipresent issue in softly-aged audiences, it takes part of the hot topic discussion by standing on the side of stylising violence and make it another cinematographic asset rather than a morbidity addendum made for fans’ pleasures (which also is here in a way too). It’s a very unique product that is, clearly and delightfully, a memento of 1990s pop culture. Including a Keanu Reeves in a state of grace accompanied by larger-than-life Carrie-Ann Moss (who never betrayed her character Trinity in all her career) and suave but hard-boiled and a bit naïf Laurence Fishburne.
Now touching the movies, I have to say that perhaps my watch order influenced my impressions. I’ll let you decide. I started with Reloaded just to continue with Revolutions because I didn’t remember a thing from these entries after so many years, given that the main point of The Matrix still stood fresh in me. Nevertheless, I ended watching the first entry afterwards just to verify if the sequels did a good job in maintaining the introduced lore coherent or just were a Die Hardesque forward flight. Incidentally, that watch order also made me appreciate the work more.
The movies show an incremental action progression. The Matrix starts as a very competent neo-noir that for pledging eyes looks baffling and irresistibly attractive, intorducing very dark horrific moments made to scare and disorient, just to subtly transitioning to an action extravaganza in a way that its suddenness strangely does not taint its proficiency. The two halves of the movie and their oscillating transition also work well as a reflection on how Neo’s character progresses from “feeling like an oddity in an average world” to a talented survivor and hero in a world that does not forgive, so we as the audience can flawlessly perceive it. Its soft philosophical questions are well conducted and the lore introduction is brilliant. Its totally iconic array of characters is well-felt by the actors, so the usual actor-character barrier cinema watchers can perceive happening when featuring persons with a big ego is non-existent here.
After the first entry, Reloaded feels hyperbolical. Just as Hideaki Anno exaggerated the Gunbuster formula in its two last episodes to produce hype in its established fans, The Matrix‘s sequel performs a strategy not inferior to his. The Wachowskis crafted a sequel made for their fans. The action scenes here are excessively superb, the lore is further twisted to unlikely dimensions that are meant to bend our minds, and the special effects are further refined just to leave the audience with a “WOAH!” after the screening experience. However, here also resides its main flaw. The pyramid-like solid equilibrium of The Matrix is broken when extending its aspects to gain new dimensions in Reloaded. The action starts to overthrow the mysteries, building a thrill instead of a noir. The newly twisted lore carries the underlying philosophical questions with it, effectively performing mental knots that, while initially intended to surpass our reasoning to leave us in awe, can be sadly mistaken with weak and formulaic writing, and the digital special effects, in the world of Unreal Engine 5, seem too artificial and poor compared to the previous prop and camera based ones. The broken balance of Reloaded is unstable: sometimes hype and awe come into us, others we are totally lost and disappointed. Nevertheless, it compels excellently in what it was designed for: stay in our minds and produce further hype.
Revolutions is the final step of the process. Raw, pure, unfiltered action, action, action and hype, hype, hype. The name is fitting, because it revolves completely the initial Matrix formula. This is, finally, the forward flight. The established premises need to be solved as fast and as piercingly as a bullet: as strongly as possible to gain the intended effect. Revolutions is arguably the most unbalanced entry of all, bending and piercing the established fabric and carrying all within it. This statement is meant in a literal sense, because it takes advantage of all what was shown and resolves it in a single instance with an epic and cathartic grand finale. Neo transcends, and the Matrix is soothed.
But also renewed. In mystic doctrines, a transcendence implies a resurrection, and in the lore of the franchise, the Matrix is renewed. Whilst writing-wise and cinematographically-wise the series could be over with Revolutions, on a philosophical level, it means a new starting point for all. So, I wonder, will Resurrections reprise the original formula of The Matrix? I bet YES. A new version, a new mindfuck, suited for a transcended audience.
Tomorrow we’ll see.