The Matrix Resurrections
The Matrix Resurrections is a 2021 American science fiction action film produced, co-written, and directed by Lana Wachowski, and the first in the Matrix franchise to be directed solely by Lana. It is the sequel to The Matrix Revolutions (2003) and the fourth installment in The Matrix film franchise. The film stars Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Jada Pinkett Smith. The film is set sixty years after Revolutions and follows Neo, who lives a seemingly ordinary life as a video game developer having trouble with distinguishing fantasy from reality. A group of rebels, with the help of a programmed version of Morpheus, free Neo from a new version of the Matrix and fight a new enemy that holds Trinity captive.
The Matrix Resurrections
- Lana Wachowski
- David Mitchell
- Aleksandar Hemon
Characters
by The Wachowskis
- James McTeigue
- Lana Wachowski
- Grant Hill
- Daniele Massaccesi
- John Toll
Joseph Jett Sally
- Village Roadshow Pictures
- Venus Castina Productions
- December 18, 2021 (Castro Theater)
- December 22, 2021 (United States)
148 minutes[1]
United States
English
$190 million[2]
Following the release of Revolutions, the Wachowskis denied the possibility of another Matrix film. Warner Bros. constantly expressed interest in reviving the franchise, hiring Zak Penn to write a new screenplay after the Wachowskis refused every offer to create more sequels. In late 2019, a fourth Matrix film was finally announced, with Lana Wachowski returning as director without Lilly, and with Reeves and Moss reprising their roles. Filming started in February 2020 but was halted the next month by the COVID-19 pandemic. Wachowski considered abandoning the film, but was encouraged by the cast to finish it. Filming resumed in August and concluded three months later.
The Matrix Resurrections premiered at Castro Theater in San Francisco on December 16, 2021, and was released theatrically and via the HBO Max streaming service by Warner Bros. Pictures on December 22, 2021. The film received generally positive reviews from critics but was a box-office disappointment, grossing only $159 million worldwide against a production budget of $190 million. It received a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the 75th British Academy Film Awards. A sequel is currently in development.
Plot[edit]
A young woman named Bugs learns that the Matrix is running old code in a loop, enacting the moment when Trinity first found Neo within the Matrix.[a] Bugs discovers a program embodying Morpheus and helps free him from the simulation.
Thomas Anderson is the creator of a video game series called The Matrix, based on his faint memories as Neo. At a coffee shop, he regularly encounters Tiffany, a married mother with no recollection of her past, on whom Anderson based the game character Trinity. Anderson has created a simulation called a Modal to develop game characters. He struggles to separate perceived reality from dreams, a known concern among his co-workers and partner. Thomas's psychoanalyst prescribes him blue pills that he takes each day to suppress the occurrences, but he stops taking them. Meanwhile, as Bugs and Morpheus work to extract Neo from the Matrix, Anderson's business partner regains his memories as Agent Smith, Neo's former nemesis.
Neo awakens in a pod and notices Trinity confined in another nearby, before being extracted to Bugs's hovercraft Mnemosyne. Neo is brought to the human city Io, where he reunites with an elderly Niobe. She explains that sixty years have passed in the real world since the Machine War ended, and that Neo's allies, including the original Morpheus, have died over time. The peace achieved by Neo's sacrifice lasted for many years, but the large number of humans leaving the Matrix created a serious power shortage, causing the machines to fight over limited resources. Soon afterward, Zion was targeted in an attempt to get humans to use as the power supply once more. However, this attempt caused many machines, who still remembered Neo's sacrifice and the promise of peace, to turn on the others in order to protect the humans. This allowed most of Zion's citizens to escape. Io was then founded by both machines and humans who have been working together ever since against the remaining machines who want to return things to the way they were before the war.
Niobe refuses to risk Io's safety to help Neo free Trinity and confines him to his quarters. Bugs and her crewmates free Neo and enter the Matrix to contact Trinity. They are attacked by Smith and other exiled programs, including the Merovingian, but Neo and the Mnemosyne crew defeat them as Neo's abilities return. The group leaves and locates Trinity, but before Neo can talk to her his therapist appears and immobilizes him by manipulating time. He reveals that he is The Analyst, a program designed to study the human psyche.
The Analyst explains that after Neo's and Trinity's deaths, he wanted to study Neo's body and his anomalous powers as The One and convinced his superiors to resurrect both of them. He discovered that due to The One's inherent connection to all humanity in the Matrix, manipulating Neo could make the Matrix produce more energy. Moreover, he found that the code anomaly in Neo was shared in his bond with Trinity, and that by suppressing their memories and keeping them close but always apart, the Matrix generated much more energy. Solving the energy crisis put The Analyst in a position to seize power from The Architect, after which he rebuilt the Matrix to control humans with emotional manipulation, claiming that humans generally believe what they want to believe. Neo's liberation destabilized the system and triggered a fail-safe to reboot the Matrix, but The Analyst stalled the reboot by convincing his superiors that threatening to kill Trinity would coerce Neo to return to his pod.
Neo and Bugs return to Io and talk to Sati, an exiled program that Neo previously met.[b] Seeking to avenge her parents' deaths at the hands of the machines, Sati helps devise a plan to free Trinity. Back in the Matrix, Neo makes a deal with The Analyst: he will return to his pod if he fails to convince Trinity to leave the Matrix. Tiffany reaffirms her identity as Trinity while talking with Neo. Realizing that he has lost, The Analyst attempts to kill her, but Agent Smith appears and attacks The Analyst, seeking revenge for his own imprisonment.
Neo, Trinity, and the others escape in their vehicles, chased through the streets by hordes of bot programs and attack helicopters. As the last ones to be extracted from The Matrix, Neo and Trinity become cornered atop a skyscraper. Holding hands, they leap off and Trinity begins to fly, taking them to safety. With Trinity's newfound control over the Matrix, both return to confront The Analyst. They thank him for giving them a second chance by resurrecting them while they also express their contempt. Neo and Trinity fly off into the sky together, making plans to remake The Matrix.
Additionally, Andrew Lewis Caldwell and Ellen Hollman appear as Jude and Echo, respectively.[27][28] Julian Grey and Gaige Chat also appear as Tiffany's sons Brandon and Donnie, respectively.[29] San Francisco mayor London Breed appears as Calliope, a member of Resistance.[30] Daniel Bernhardt was announced to be reprising his role as Agent Johnson from The Matrix Reloaded,[31][9] but his scenes were cut from the final film. Tom Hardy filmed an uncredited background cameo appearance, due to The Matrix Resurrections filming in San Francisco simultaneously with Venom: Let There Be Carnage, in which Hardy starred as Eddie Brock / Venom.[32]
Release[edit]
Theatrical and streaming[edit]
The Matrix Resurrections held its world premiere in the United States at the Castro Theater in San Francisco on December 18, 2021.[101] The film was initially set for release on May 21, 2021, which would have premiered alongside John Wick: Chapter 4 also starring Keanu Reeves.[102] However, the film was postponed to April 1, 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[103] The film was then moved forward to December 22, 2021.[104] It is the final film from Warner Bros. Pictures to have a simultaneous 30-day release on the HBO Max streaming service, which was used in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[105]
According to Samba TV, the film was streamed in 2.8 million households over its first five days of release.[106] Over the same period, it received the most unauthorized downloads of any feature, making up 32.6% of torrents.[107] 3.2 million households had streamed it on HBO Max within its first week of release according to Samba TV.[108] The film was released in China on January 14, 2022.[109]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
The Matrix Resurrections grossed $40.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $118.7 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $159.2 million against a budget of $190 million.[3][4]
In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Sing 2 and The King's Man, and was projected to gross around $40 million from 3,552 theaters over its first five days of release, with some tracking reaching as high as $70 million.[111] However, the film ended up underperforming at the box office, grossing $10.75 million over the weekend for a five-day total of $21.2 million, finishing third behind Spider-Man: No Way Home and Sing 2.[112] The total was lower than the $16.7 million made by Warner Bros.' Wonder Woman 1984 the previous Christmas in just 2,151 theaters, and was blamed in part on the simultaneous HBO Max release, lackluster audience reactions, and Christmas falling on a Saturday.[99][2] In its second weekend, the film finished fifth at the box office with $3.8 million.[113][114] In its third, the film earned $1.8 million and finished sixth.[115] In its fourth weekend, the film finished tenth at the box office with $803,606.[116]
The film debuted second in Russia ($3.9 million), first in Japan ($3.9 million), and first in Thailand ($794,000). Its opening gross was 8% above Eternals (2021) and 12% over Tenet (2020).[117] The film went on to earn $35.2 million in its second weekend,[118] $13.7 million in its third,[119] and $7.7 million in its fourth.[120] In its fifth weekend, the film crossed the $100 million mark outside the U.S. and Canada.[121] The film made $3.5 million in its sixth weekend,[122] and $2.1 million in its seventh.[123]
In February 2022, co-financiers Village Roadshow sued Warner Bros. for breach of contract, claiming that the decision to stream The Matrix Resurrections on HBO Max created "abysmal theatrical box office sales figures" and damaged the value of the Matrix franchise. Warner Bros. responded that the lawsuit was "a frivolous attempt by Village Roadshow to avoid their contractual commitment".[124]
Critical response[edit]
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 63% based on 356 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "If it lacks the original's bracingly original craft, The Matrix Resurrections revisits the world of the franchise with wit, a timely perspective, and heart."[125] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 63 out of 100, based on 57 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[126] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale, the lowest of the series, while PostTrak reported 60% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 46% saying they would definitely recommend it.[99]
Los Angeles Times reported divided reactions to the film.[127] Film critic Katie Walsh praised the film, concluding "Wachowski brings this unapologetic earnestness and sense of pleasure to The Matrix Resurrections, which is also a welcome reminder that big action films can be well lit, stunningly designed and, yes, colorful too."[128] The Independent gave the film 4 out of 5 and wrote, "The Matrix Resurrections ends with a literal call to the powers of sentimentality, empowerment and freedom – it ponders whether humanity finds any value in them which, in turn, seems to really ask whether audiences still have any interest in blockbusters of this purity and ambition. For my own stake, at least, I hope they do."[129] Gizmodo praised the film, saying "Resurrections is an excellent Matrix sequel that knows what you think you want in a Matrix sequel, and gives it to you in ways you aren't expecting. Sometimes those things don't work, but mostly they do, and as a result I'm confident to say: The Matrix is back."[130] Matt Singer of ScreenCrush wrote, "The thing that carries The Matrix Resurrections through some of those rough patches instead is Wachowski's obvious affection for the characters, and the actors' reciprocal love for this world and its endless intellectual curiosities."[131]
The Guardian gave the film 2 out of 5 and wrote: "Really, Resurrections doesn't do much to remove the anticlimax that hung like a cloud over the cinema auditorium at the end of the third film in 2003. This movie is set up to initiate a possible new series, but there is no real creative life in it. Where the original film was explosively innovatory, this is just another piece of IP, an algorithm of unoriginality."[132] The Verge also gave the film a negative review praising the performances and visuals but criticized the writing, characterization and recasting of characters and felt that "Resurrection centers Neo and Trinity's love story but in a disjointed and frustrating way."[133] The Times called it "another truly horrible sequel" in a one-star review, criticizing what it called its creative shallowness, similarity to previous Matrix films, level of self-referentiality, and the quality of its action sequences.[134] Gulf News gave the film a mixed review, concluding that "The Matrix Resurrections may be a bumpy ride but it's still a trip."[135] IGN's Amelia Emberwing gave the film 4 out of 10, praising the performances but criticizing the execution and visuals while also writing "The Matrix Resurrections is the kind of film that will go down in cult history because it is so laughably bad. Truthfully, I can't even say it's unenjoyable because I spent so much of its overly long runtime giggling over how jaw-droppingly misguided the majority of it is", and further expressed, "The Matrix Resurrections is a bunch of really good ideas stacked together to make a bad – and sometimes ugly – film."[136]
Future[edit]
Following the film's release, producer James McTeigue told Collider that there were no plans for further Matrix films, though he believed that the film's open ending meant that this could change in the future: "I think the film also works where it's really open to audience interpretation, like what happened in those 60 years before they fished Neo out again, or Thomas Anderson to Neo. When Neo and Trinity are there at the end, and they're talking with The Analyst, what do they actually mean that they're going to change? So I think that it's out there, but it's not in our wheelhouse at the moment."[145]
In April 2024, it was announced that Warner Bros. was developing a new installment in the franchise with Drew Goddard attached to write and direct. Lana Wachowski will serve as executive producer.[146]