Random Thoughts On... Re-Evaulating the Matrix Trilogy

Since The Matrix is making a comeback to movie theaters, I’ve been a bit stoked. I’m actually looking more forward to this than the other movie coming out at around that time, Spider-Man: No Way Home. I think that just shows how uninterested I am in MCU’s Spider-Man. Heck, I haven’t even seen Far From Home yet. Maybe I’ll see it when Andy turns 5 or something…

Anyway, I had been revisiting the Matrix trilogy on HBO Max for a while now. While the first one still holds up well (well “Not like this” is a bit funny), the sequels are still okay at best. My son started crying when the Architect showed up, but that may have been because he was hungry. I think my term “Overblown Epicness” still applies for those last two movies. I had talked about the trilogy years ago on the blog. I was going to go ahead and talk about the Animatrix which I finally saw a couple of weeks ago, but I think it’s time for me to reevaluate what I think of the trilogy. Yeah, others have done it, so I might as well throw my two quarters in.

 

The Matrix: “That was Cold-Blooded in my dictonary!!”

The Matrix’s considered to be a classic for a reason. It took the simple idea of “This World Isn’t Real” and ran with it. Just about everything in this movie works. The Wachowskis (I may butcher their name) did a great work here. It took a lot of things I like (sci-fi, dystopian futures, and kung fu) and melded it all into a good two-hour feature. While some acting and dialogue wasn’t the best, that nitpick is nothing compared to all the good things the movie has.

A lot of the characters also hold up pretty well. Keanu Reeves may have a certain acting style, but it works for him here. Just about every character here was cool or eye-catching from Morpheus to the Oracle. I liked the original crew of the Nebuchadnezzar, and it kinda sucks that most of them didn’t stick around in the sequels. We needed some more folk as a part of that crew. The acting and dialogue was at its strongest in this first installment even though you had some misses.

I liked the crew. Wish more of them stuck around more.

One thing that really caught my eye in re-watching the trilogy is how important each scene was here. You didn’t have too much fluff.  You also didn’t get too much exposition. When things happened, they were important and major. Even the smaller scenes had something of importance. You even see that with the action scenes. Things may come off flashy, but it’s all effective and done well. The Wachowskis took the idea of the hero’s journey and added some religion to it. In the end, there’s a reason this movie sits up as one of the best sci-fi movies around.

When one learns the power of VLOOKUP...

So, how did the sisters screw it up?

The Matrix Reloaded: “DARKNESSES!”

So, I re-watched most of Reloaded with Liz, and one of the things that cracked me up was when she wondered why Seraph and Neo got into their minute-long fight. My only response was “it was cool, I guess.” That right there explains these two movies in a nutshell.

While both movies suffer, I think Reloaded suffers in a different way when compared to Revolutions. In a way, I understand why. We had to get reintroduced to the Matrix itself since it was four years since the last movie. This movie had to set up a lot of stuff that the first movie didn’t explain because that was a bit of a standalone feature. We got to see Zion, we found out that the Matrix also had weird programs (The Merovingian, the Architect, and those Ghosts), we had the Machines staging an assault on Zion, and we had Agent Smith going all Malware on us. Seriously, it was like the dude was hidden in one of those nasty pop-up ads or something.

While their relationship wasn't the best put to paper, I did like seeing these two together. They were literally "ride or die."

Anyway, this left Reloaded with a heavy job, and it doesn’t do it too well in the first half. We got a lot of padding with the action, the philosophical vibes, and that dang cave orgy. Is it just me, or does that scene come off as just awkward? It’s like the directors said, “How long can we stretch this out before it becomes weird for the audience?” Also, while it was cool to finally see Zion, I kinda wish there was more there. It would’ve made the big battle in Revolutions actually mean something because I barely care about anyone here. Also, is it just me, or do the supporting cast have more flair than our main leads? I really started noticing this here with Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus being so stoic and overly serious. I think one of the reasons I liked Link so much was because he brought some levity to all this dreariness.

While some have mocked this scene (for good reason), I like it. It definitely changed the game for Neo.

Strangely enough, I feel things get better when we get to the big mission and Trinity’s death. Everything about what The One is supposed to do is turned on its ear. Even though the Architect was pretty dull, the sequence itself was actually pretty good. Then, things even turn even weirder with Neo being able to affect the Machines in the real world. Finally, that cliffhanger was pretty dope. It made you wonder what a showdown between real Neo and “Real” Smith would go like.

While it’s not a good film, it’s still pretty entertaining. Even though the action we get is stretched out, it’s still pretty fun. All the fight scenes were quite fun (The Chateau fight was amazing), and the freeway chase is definitely a highlight of the film. Some of the philosophical jib wasn’t too bad especially when the Oracle was around. The Matrix itself was revealed to have all this weirdness within it, and that was fun to see. Our leads were good even though some dialogue wasn’t the best. Overall, it was an okay film.

So, what the heck happened next???

The Matrix Revolutions: “What did the five fingers say to the face? SLAP!”

I don’t know why I decided to use Dave Chappelle’s Rick James quotes here, but it just felt right. So, after all that fun in Reloaded, you’d think we would get answers, have more fun in the Matrix, and see Zion kick buttloads of machine butt. Well, you would be kinda right, but the problem is that a lot of that stuff didn’t pan out well here.

So... where's the armor to protect the pilot?????

If you thought that Reloaded had problems with pacing, you’d be wrong. Other than the fun we have with the Merovingian, we don’t get any with action until the Assault on Zion. After Neo’s last meeting with the new Oracle, we really don’t see the Matrix until Neo jacks back in at the end. I get that we had to stick with the Zion plot for a while, but The Matrix was where we kinda had fun at, not Zion. Also, is it me, or did Zion really suck with putting a defense force together? While those mechs looked kinda cool, they were missing a certain aspect: armor for the fleshy bits. Also, you’d think they would have more defenses than they did! No wonder the Machines became so efficient in destroying Zion! At least we do see some newer characters get a chance to shine during the attack on Zion.

Niobe, Morpheus, and the survivors of the attack hightailing it back to Zion was actually pretty fun. Also, I do have to credit the Wachowskis for showing off some cool black characters.

Then, there’s the final fight in the Matrix between Neo and Smith. While the fight is fun, I gotta admit that I was having a hard time seeing most of it. There’s a problem when all you’re seeing is black, lightning, and rain. I will say that the final moments of the fight weren’t bad. Yeah, it wasn’t a triumphant “hell-yeah” moment, but it worked. I do admire what The Matrix: The Path of Neo did a few years later with the Giant Smith though. That was hilarious. The movie ultimately ends in a way that just feels “eh.”

While I did seem like I hate this movie above, it still has its moments. The first act with Neo being trapped in the Matrix and the crew trying to get him was fun. While the attack on Zion was lackluster, it had some nice moments. At least the CGI looked good. Mary Alice had some shoes to fill as the new Oracle, and she did it well. Hugo Weaving hamming it up as Smith was pretty fun. Finally, seeing Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus be heroes is always good. Overall, an okay film, but it’s definitely the worst of the three.

…………………………………………………………….

In the end, this was an okay trilogy. A part of me feels like it shouldn’t have been one though. While we did get more material in the universe with stuff like Enter the Matrix and The Animatrix, another movie would’ve been nice. Maybe we needed something that showed the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar doing their thing before we got to the Armageddon phase that Reloaded and Revolutions was in. We sort of got that with the Animatrix and even Path of Neo. I guess Hollywood just thought a trilogy was enough  back then. Oh well, here’s hoping that Resurrections does it good. Next time, it’s the Animatrix. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there.

I'll miss Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus, but I know Yahya Abdul Mateen can fill those shoes well.