The Matrix Resurrections (2021) Review

Title: Matrix Resurrections 
Year: 2021
Director: Lana Wachowski
Country: US
Language: English

Raise your hand if you've heard this; "The Matrix is one of the best sci-fi movies ever made!" Ask yourself, "who is telling me this?" A boomer (55+)  would say Star Wars, a millennial (25-40) might say Inception and a Zoomer (0-24) might say The Force Awakens. Gen-X (40-55) is the biggest supporter of this series and, well, for better and for worse The Matrix Resurrections is made for that audience in mind. 

To find out if his reality is a construct, to truly know himself, Mr. Anderson (Keanu Reeves) will have to choose to follow the white rabbit once more.

My Gen-X friends are going to be mad at this review, but The Matrix Ressurections is essentially a not-so-sublte allegory about the Gen X experience of the 2020's. Lots of musings about growing old, being unsure if they've made an impact or if their actions matter. The answer is obviously "Yes! You are still important!" The Matrix was a time capsule for that generation, storing all their moods and insecurities. The Matrix Resurrections is a desperate pat on the back. 

The film is so META...as if that is anything to be proud about when every Hollywood Blockbuster does the same thing (including Space Jam 2!). They play songs from Rage Against the Machine...get it? The Matrix was a video game in The Matrix...get it? He has to make a sequel because Warner Brothers demands it...get it?  Follow the white rabbit?...get it? In 1999 this self-indulgent wink at the audience was cool. Nowadays it's played for laughs. It's a cliche. In 2021 if your entire film is reliant on being meta, you are a hack film-maker. 

Doing the same thing Force Awakens did, but somehow more tediously, Matrix Resurrections is a bit of a speed-run of The Matrix Trilogy re-enacting original scenes in a lazier "meta" way. Like, instead of fighting Mr.Smith in the rain, Neo fights Mr.Smith in an office with the sprinkler system on. 

It's pretty jarring to see Keanu Reeves, star of John Wick,  in a movie with terrible fight choreography, but this is it. The Matrix Resurrections would have been dated in 2001, let alone 2021. It's not only bad, but terribly boring. I pride myself on not getting easily bored by movies, but even during the "action" scenes I felt it crawled to a snail's pace.