C J

In 2022 there's certainly a lot that seems dated about this movie such as the choice of language, the misogynistic lens, the racial tropes, and the often undeveloped character choices. And yet, it's full of interesting stylistic techniques, good pacing, and a compelling (albeit sociopathic) lead that keeps one engaged throughout the entire film. If you take it for what it is, a twisted piece of entertainment about a man pushed past the brink, and not a tacit endorsement of all the things wrong with the culture/time in which this movie was birthed, I think it's still quite enjoyable to watch.

A distinct disappointment. As a Matrix fan who has ardently defended Reloaded and Revolutions, I will offer no such apologies for Resurrections. Aside from a few sparse interesting parts, the movie largely felt like a deeply hollow retread of the Matrix Universe. Worse, the writing seems positioned specifically to provide an adolescent sneer towards the audience. There is a lot of meta self-referencing such that it seems designed to insulate itself against audience criticism. I can almost hear the director shouting through the screen at me, "If you don't like this movie, that's because you expect it to be the SAME as the other ones. We've moved on but maybe you can't." Well, no. It's definitely not the older movies, I agree. The older movies had a cohesive style to them. The older movies were cerebral in places. Oh, and the older movies had action scenes with actual choreography instead of strapping the camera atop a shaking blender while Neo force-pushes everyone. It's not all bad throughout. Neil Patrick Harris was a surprisingly interesting character. Jessica Henwick played her admittedly narrow role quite well. Finding out what happened post-Revolutions was enjoyable (for the parts that made sense). For the most part though, Resurrections was a chore to get through and felt like it was purposefully sticking a thumb in the eye of the Matrix fans. It wasn't smart. It wasn't fun. It lacked coherent action. It lacked stakes and compelling characters. I'm not sure who this movie was for but it doesn't seem made for newcomers or Matrix fans.