The Matrix (series)

THE MATRIX (15)
D: Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski
Warner Bros./Village Roadshow (Joel Silver)
US/Australia 1999
136 mins

Action/Science Fiction

W: Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski
DP: Bill Pope
Ed: Zach Staenberg
Mus: Don Davis
PD: Owen Paterson
Cos: Kym Barrett

Keanu Reeves (Thomas Anderson / Neo), Laurence Fishburne (Morpheus), Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity), Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith), Gloria Foster (The Oracle), Joe Pantoliano (Cypher)

The coolest film of 1999? The Matrix is certainly one of the coolest films of the 1990's.
Keanu Reeves plays a computer hacker trying to find a man called Morpheus. Once he finds him, his eyes are opened to the truth; his entire existence is actually a virtual reality world, all within the confines of a mainframe computer system. The real world is now a barren wasteland, where a handful of human survivors are in a fierce war against machines with high artificial intelligence.
It's a plot which draws off the usual sci-fi staples, but also adds much originality as well as a reference or three to Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland stories.
The film is also worth noting for its milestones in visual effects achievements, using "bullet time photography" to fully make a fully convincing world within a world.
8/10

Carrie-Anne Moss & Keanu Reeves in The Matrix
Carrie-Anne Moss & Keanu Reeves in The Matrix
THE MATRIX RELOADED (15)
D: Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski
Warner Bros./Village Roadshow/NPV (Joel Silver)
US 2003
138 mins

Action/Science Fiction

W: Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski
DP: Bill Pope
Ed: Zach Staenberg
Mus: Don Davis
PD: Owen Paterson

Keanu Reeves (Neo), Laurence Fishburne (Morpheus), Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity), Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith), Jada Pinkett Smith (Niobe), Gloria Foster (The Oracle), Harold Perrineau (Link), Monica Bellucci (Persephone)

The first sequel to The Wachowski's 1999 breakthrough sci-fi hit is very much style over substance when compared to the original film, but still has enough action and thrills to keep it entertaining.
The story picks up where the original left off, with a full war brewing between the 'awoken' humans and the artificial intelligence network which controls the matrix.
Its only drawback is the cliffhanger ending, making it feel like a 138 minute trailer for the third in the series (which was filmed simultaneously with this one and released later the same year).
6/10

Matrix Reloaded
Matrix Reloaded
Everything that has a beginning has an end
Everything that has a beginning has an end
THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS (15)
D: Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski
Warner Bros./Village Roadshow/NPV (Joel Silver)
US 2003
129 mins

Action/Science Fiction

W: Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski
DP: Bill Pope
Ed: Zach Staenberg
Mus: Don Davis
PD: Owen Paterson

Keanu Reeves (Neo), Laurence Fishburne (Morpheus), Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity), Hugo Weaving (Smith), Jada Pinkett Smith (Niode), Monica Bellucci (Persephone)

Like most things which have revolutions, this third film to the series goes through the same old motions and is all very much "been there, done that".
Like the second film, it's style over substance once again with a plot consisting entirely of gobbledygook. This couldn't have gone any more off track from the first two films and leaves the impression that it was simply pieced together with trimmings from the cutting room floor when the previous films were edited. A very unsatisfying conclusion.
4/10

Matrix Revolutions
Matrix Revolutions

THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS (15)

D: Lana Wachowski

Warner Bros / Village Roadshow / Venus Castina (James McTeigue, Lana Wachowski & Grant Hill)

US 🇺🇸 2021

148 mins


Action/Science Fiction


W: Lana Wachowski, David Mitchell & Aleksandar Hamon [based on characters created by The Wachowskis]

DP: Daniele Massaccesi & John Toll

Ed: Joseph Jett Sally

Mus: Johnny Klimek & Tom Tykwer


Keanu Reeves (Neo / Thomas Anderson), Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity / Tiffany), Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Morpheus / Agent Smith), Jessica Henswick (Bugs), Jonathan Groff (Smith), Neil Patrick Harris (The Analyst)


20 years after the last Matrix film (Matrix Revolutions) comes this confused mess of a reboot/sequel that the original film’s creators (Lana & Lilly Wachowski) had no interest in making, but were under pressure from Warner Bros. to provide a further film. 

The garbled plot is set 60 years after the events of the previous films, where Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) has a seemingly ordinary life as a video game creator, who is subsequently freed from a new version of a computer-generated world so he can fight a new enemy that holds Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) captive.

There are no two ways about it. The film is a complete and utter mess, making no sense at all when you consider the end of the previous film, which it makes no attempt to address.

The visual effects, stuntwork and sound design are all fine, but what difference does that really make when the plot is recycled garbage?  Personally, I do find some amusement that Lana Wachowski, hesitant to make another film in the first place, decided to serve this up to the studio as a big middle finger, but it’s quite an expensive practical joke, resulting in huge financial losses for the studio.

There are lessons to be learned here. The most important being to let sleeping dogs lie and certainly not trying to fix something that isn’t broken.

The previous film was a disappointment for sure, but nowhere near the same league as this one.

4/10


Keanu Reeves & Carrie-Anne Moss in The Matrix Resurrections
Keanu Reeves & Carrie-Anne Moss in The Matrix Resurrections