Cinema release of “Matrix Resurrections”
This is where part four of the sci-fi series with Keanu Reeves starts
Once again, Neo (Keanu Reeves) finds himself in the “Matrix”.
© Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Village Roadshow Films (BVI) Limited
With “Matrix Resurrections” the savior Neo, believed dead, returns after 18 years to the illusory world that made film history in 1999.
Seldom did the term “reboot” fit so well with a film series like the “Matrix” franchise. On December 23rd, it actually comes up a fourth time, the greenish illusion of the Wachowski sisters. In contrast to the original trilogy, “Matrix Resurrections” was the first to be directed by Lana Wachowski (56). Otherwise, at first glance, little seems to have changed in the recipe for success that made film history in 1999 – and incidentally caused increased heels of creaking lacquer and leather coats.
For several reasons, interested fans should urgently pack the source code of the first three films onto their hard drive before heading out to the cinema. On the one hand, it has been an incredible 18 years since the third part of the series found its interim finale. On the other hand, the franchise became so confused at the latest with the revelations in “Matrix Reloaded” that the Morpheus gusset popped off your nose with a frown. As a reminder, here are the most important storylines from “Matrix”, “Matrix Reloaded” and “Matrix Revolutions”.
The beginning of the simulation
Shortly before the turn of the millennium, a certain Mr. Anderson (Keanu Reeves, 57) discovered with horror that not only his existence was a lie. All of humanity is – without being aware of it – held captive in a simulation, the matrix. The real world, on the other hand, is a dystopian wasteland, in which man-made machines have taken over and misuse their matrix producers as a source of energy.
Only a handful of people know of the barren reality. Under the leadership of Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne, 60) they organized what appeared to be a hopeless resistance against the machines. This is where Mr. Anderson aka Hacker Neo comes into play: According to tradition, he is the chosen one who can finally break through centuries of tyranny. This is exactly what it looked like at the end of part one: Neo not only defeats the security system of the simulation, Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving, 61), but also death itself and finds himself in the person of Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss, 54) too the great love.
The fairy tale of free will
The first of the 2003 sequels negated the happy ending of part one. Everything that has happened so far in Neo’s hero’s journey has been nothing more than a routine process. In fact, “The Architect” reveals to one horrified Neo that his role as savior is nothing more than a kind of security log that merely indicates when it is time to restart the matrix. There were already five of these reboots before Neo, he is simply number six.
With this punch in the pit of the stomach, part two apparently finally ended the hope for free will, which was symbolized in the predecessor by the choice of the red or blue pill. Was every victory over Agent Smith and Co. really just part of an eternally spinning hamster wheel?
The sacred farewell
At the end of the trilogy, which also appeared in 2003, the last bastion of mankind in the real world is on the verge of destruction. Because Neo refused to usher in the seventh cycle of the matrix, all of the people trapped in it threaten to be wiped out. To prevent this, Neo and Trinity set out in a desperate attempt to be the first people ever to enter the machine city.
This succeeds, but at a high price. Neo loses his sight, Trinity even her life. In the final twist of the film, Neo realizes that he too must sacrifice himself in the fight against the renegade Agent Smith in order to ensure peace between humans and machines. And so Neo eventually dies the ultimate Savior death. Or?
Everything at the beginning in part four?
If “Matrix” is considered the undisputed masterpiece of cinema history, the two sequels offended numerous fans. Too much religious pseudo-philosophy wrapped in too much video game optics instead of a coherent sci-fi story, were some of the allegations. Will part four get the curve back to the virtues of part one?
Show the trailer for “Matrix Resurrections”that Neo is once again unaware of the existence of the Matrix – just like in the original. But he is plagued by strange visions – or are they memories? Next to him, Trinity, also believed dead, returns, while the only survivor of the main trio, Morpheus, is now played as a younger version of herself by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. So has a new cycle of the Matrix just started – and Neo is condemned to break it again from December 23, 2021?