20 December, 2021
I was lucky enough to be on assignment for Scenestr one last time in 2021 to review the fourth Matrix film. Another delayed sequel to a beloved franchise that has long been dormant revitalised yet again out of nostalgia and a quick cash grab.
If Bond marked time, this certainly stung even deeper. The Matrix in 1999 was a breath of fresh air, yes it brought a lot of things familiar to anime fans to a mainstream Western audience and it was not the first trapped in the machine dystopian thriller of that decade. Comparisons to Alex Cox’s Dark City have often been made but The Matrix was a crowd-pleasing blockbuster. At 18 in 1999 in the wake of a new Star Wars film it felt like the kind of earth-shaking industry re-making hit as Star Wars had in 1977. For a while that felt true, every fight scene in the wake of The Matrix ripped it off even though from a storytelling point of view it made no sense in those movies as they were not in a warped reality. The sequels four years later were not as beloved and everything kind of went quiet, but that first film still remains something special and the sequels have been re-evaluated too in recent times.
I’ve remained a fan of the filmmakers believing Cloud Atlas is underrated and underseen.
But why do another Matrix movie and why now? The reason is kind of sweet and there is some imagination and ambition here but I will leave for you to decide if it ultimately justifies.
I will put it to you this way.
The Matrix was special in 1999 because it was something new rather than a sequel or a remake of 1960s TV show which was very much happening at the time.
I look forward to new films in this era which are their own thing like The Matrix was in 1999.
You can read my review here https://scenestr.com.au/movies-and-tv/the-matrix-resurrections-film-review-20211223
Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. Having started in 1993 they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They still publish magazines in print for Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland every month.
-Lloyd Marken
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