Karen Taylor

Movie watching for my household has been one of the best distractions since Covid-19 began controlling our lives. We look forward to new, uplifting, eye-opening, mindful, playful, and sometimes just entertaining film. "Matrix Resurrections" is neither of these adjectives. It is an abject failure. I kept watching, looking, searching, hoping for this 2.5 hour drone to get better. It never did. The dialogue: insipid. The martial arts: contrived. The flashbacks: assaulting. The acting: high school. Ultimately, is this supposed to be a love story?! Okay, I went along with "love conquers all" in "Matrix I" because the rest of that movie was so awesome. But here? Here's my advice to Wachowski or anyone else who might want to create another one of these: take out all your bottles full of blue pills followed by all your bottles full of red pills, head to the nearest toilet, dump, flush. Walk away.

A bit too derivative of "Avengers: Endgame," this 4 hour (yes 4 hours) slog left me wanting more of something else. I kept watching and just knowing that "this has got to get better." It never did. Even when Superman is brought back to life he could breathe no real vitality into this movie even though I had hoped that he would do so. Sadly his initial amnesia, though bothersome, was more palatable than the insipid "love conquers all" immediate recognition and goo-goo embrace of Lois Lane. The Amazons, specifically Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Cyborg/Victor, and the actors portraying these characters, save this movie from total disaster. I love rewatching good/great movies. This one doesn't rate high enough for that honor.

Halfway through the film I wept, wondering how our ancestors survived such a monstrous system, but also feeling the strength of Erivo's performance. I would see ANY movie she stars in. I also wondered whether the spiritual slant was a bit much but later thought why not? SOMETHING special had to transpire in order for her to be so successful for so long freeing so many. This is one of the most effective anti slavery movies ever created. Definitely a must see.