The Matrix Resurrections - Satisfying in Term of Actions Sequence though Story Telling Might be too Slow and Heavy for Casual Viewers

So there's another sequel to one of the beloved movie franchise that I was intrigued to see. But as I mentioned in my previous posts, I waited till the weekend to see it in the cinemas. This time we saw it in the location where it also showed another movie that my wife and I were eyeing for. OK let's get this started then.

Brief Story Line

Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves - John Wick movies, The Whole Truth etc) was working in video game company together with his boss (Jonathan Groff - Frozen II, Glee TV series etc). As a successful developer of the hit game The Matrix, Thomas seemed unable to differentiate reality with illusion and had to visit a psychiatrist (Neil Patrick Harris - 8-Bit Christmas, How I Met Your Mother TV series etc). Thomas also had a strange feeling of attachment with a woman named Tiffany (Carrie-Anne Moss - Jessica Jones TV series, Memento etc) who looked like the character Trinity in The Matrix.

However, things gotten very confusing for Thomas when he encountered a younger version of Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II - Candyman 2021 version, Watchmen TV series etc) who was assisted by Bugs (Jessica Henwick - Love and Monsters, Iron Fist TV series etc) and trying to convince him that he was really the chosen one Neo.

So how would the story conclude? Find them all in this movie.

End of Brief Story Line

Before seeing this movie, I actually wanted to re-watch the first 3 movies since it has been a long time and I got to admit that I have forgotten a lot of the plot (especially the second and third film). But as I did not have the time, I had to settle with whatever memories that I have. Luckily though this fourth movie showed glimpses of the scenes from the previous movies which reminded me bit by bit. And just like my past experience where I had to really concentrate (and still could not fully grasp the whole concept), I had the same feeling here as well. 

The story progressed in a slow manner especially when involving Neo's world in the Matrix and the actions were scarce especially in the first half. I think this is why my wife was having a bit of fatigue feeling (and boredom) since it required us to concentrate & think really hard. However once we got to the middle and the story was easier to understand, plus obviously having more action, we got really really excited. The fights were more frequent and once again showed why my wife and I were such fans of this movie franchise. The actions were truly amazing and awesomely done supported by fantastic special effects. And it has a spectacular long action sequence climax that satisfied us.

For a movie that is mind bending, this one was successful in doing so. Which is why I really think that if you want to see this, it is better to watch the first trilogy to have a much better understanding. As a film that was really ground breaking at the time its first one was released back in 1999 (especially that classic bullet avoiding scene), I never thought they could still pull it off in making a fourth one. Probably because it was still directed by half of the Wachowskis (Lana) who were responsible for all The Matrix movies together with her sister Lilly. However I think the critics were pretty divisive about it though, while audiences still excited to see it, but not sure if it would be a huge box office success as it was released simultaneously in HBO Max in the US.

Other than Keanu Reeves and Carrie Anne-Moss, there were only 2 more original cast from the previous movies, i.e. Jada Pinkett Smith (Bad Moms, Gotham TV series etc) and Lambert Wilson. Meanwhile we have some new cast of Bugs' crews Seq (Toby Onwumere), Berg (Brian J. Smith), Lexy (Eréndira Ibarra), plus Niobe's man Shepherd (Max Riemelt). Fun fact: these four people used to play together in that interesting Netflix series Sense8 (also created by the Wachowskis). Oh there were also the appearances of Priyanka Chopra Jonas (We Can be Heroes etc) and Christina Ricci (Distorted etc). I personally felt that Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick and Jonathan Groff were quite impressive in particular during the action sequence, whereas Neil Patrick Harris was surprising in this rather serious role.

Overall this was one science movie that had some cool action sequence with great visual effects. Though it required a lot of thinking and the focus seemed more like a love story rather than the fight between men and machine, but the actions were well worth the wait as they were simply incredible. I myself would probably enjoy it better if the first trilogy were still fresh on my mind, and seeing it with Dolby Atmos sound effects (which sadly was not available in Indonesia), plus if the pace was fasten a bit to get to the good stuff. After all, it had a duration of 148 minutes including closing credits, with one surprisingly amusing post end credit scene, so yeah it was pretty long (and tiring for some). 

Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars