Months after its arrival in theaters, and despite the fact that it was released simultaneously in streaming in the United States, one of WarnerMedia’s biggest productions of last year finally arrives at HBO Max Spain. Perhaps from the last five years. Or decade. We are talking about the return, more than fifteen years later, of one of the most influential science fiction sagas of this century.
We speak, of course, of ‘Matrix Resurrections‘, the divisive sequel to the original ‘Matrix’ trilogy that had the return not only of the protagonists Keanu Reeves Y Carrie-Anne Mossbut also of one of the minds that conceived the whole universe as it is lana wachowski. It is now within the HBO Max catalog and is the perfect occasion to finally get into it or, perhaps, give it another chance if you are one of those who left the movie theater disenchanted.
It is unavoidable
It has already been said to exhaustion at the time, but it is worth repeating: Making a sequel to ‘The Matrix’ is almost impossible. Not because of the artistic, but because of how it will be received, it will hardly be to everyone’s taste. It already happened at the time, both with ‘Matrix Reloaded’ and ‘Matrix Revolutions’, two parts of the same artifact that, at the same time, faced differently how to make a sequel to one of the most powerful phenomena in history.
These sequels have already been receiving some reevaluation, but it was very difficult to continue from there. It will not be for lack of attempts by Warner Bros, who have been trying to convince the Wachoswki actively and passively for years, and even considered ideas from other authors to try to restart this machine. It was not until the death of her parents that Lana Wachoswki began to look with different eyes at the possibility of returning to the franchise that put it on the mapbut also try to bring back to life two of the most important characters in his career.
But he didn’t want to do it the conventional way, any more than he did the other sequels. with the writers Aleksandar Hamon Y David Mitchell helping to rethink how to bring back the characters and the threat of the machines, ‘Matrix Resurrections’ opts for an interesting ambiguity in its first bars, also making a fabulous metanarrative nod to satire the very existence of the film and its genesis.
The references are not particularly subtle, making specific mention of parent company Warner Brothers as the supposed catalyst for a “new Matrix.” An extension that must be “original” and “fresh” and more things that are being launched in hilarious brainstorming sessions that also show that The Matrix doesn’t have to mean just one thing..
Wachowski also uses the images and symbols of his previous films, not only for the nostalgic nod but to establish dialogue in a way that consolidates some of their ideas. The resignification of the pills, the redefinition of the machines as enemies and also the importance that both Neo and Trinity have within the universe. With the latter, he makes some of the riskiest decisions, but they help to do their part. the true heart of a story that seems very cynical, but does not give up being emotional.
‘Matrix Resurrections’: new rules, same heart
The film also very well updates several of the ideas of the original trilogy about the messianic figure of Neo, as well as the control mechanisms carried out by the system to keep us subjugated. The changes made are more appropriate for the way we now relate to technology and the world around uswithout falling at all into the neo-Luddite turmoil that some other science fiction works fall into -hello, Charlie Brooker-.
Wachowski also takes a risk by also updating the visual finish of the film, changing some of the classic tones to make room for Caravaggio influences and chiaroscuro even in the action sequences. But the rethinking is interesting, achieving a more intimate and emotional work in these sequences to give them more strength apart from the show of rigor. Even if it doesn’t revolutionize the action like it did 20 years ago, it has more ideas and better execution than most genre films we see today.
You don’t necessarily have to buy all these decisions, after all, what is artistic has its intrinsic value and then what the viewer wants to give it. What cannot be denied is that his bravery proves challenging in a landscape increasingly dominated by franchises and by films cut from the same pattern, devoid of any risk and ideas that are not recycled. Coupled with its decidedly sentimental character for this story and these characters, this is one of the most beautiful acts of self-sabotage performed by a Hollywood movie.