REVIEW: THE MATRIX - RESURRECTIONS

 

4/5

There Is No Pencil.

148 Mins. Starring: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jones, Christina Ricci & Jada Pinkett Smith. Director: Lana Wachowski. 

Red light. BLUE LIGHT! One pill makes you larger. And one pill makes you small. But follow the 'White Rabbit' like Jefferson Airplane, Alice and you may just find yourself resurrecting 'The Matrix' with a morphed Morpheus. WOAH! Time to fly. Even if the lack of a legacy making Laurence Fishburne reunion that we got with Keanu Reeves in 'Parabellum' is as disappointing as the corona botched 2020 original idea to have both 'The Matrix' and 'John Wick' 4 come out on the same damn day. People would ask, "which one will you choose"? Uhh...both! Duh! Movie night at the Apollo. There's still no need to dodge this though. Even if everyone is talking about who actually (no spoilers please. We don't get it here in Japan until JANUARY 7TH) is in this new 'No Way Home', Spider-Man multi-verse this weekend and forgetting about this 1999 beginning franchise that changed the cinematic games advanced future for all sorts of heroes that call themselves 'The One' (from NBA legend Shawn Marion's nickname, to even an R&B singer naming himself after Neo. Now that's so sick). Forgot about it like Dre. How that's for a raging early 2000's reference like Nokia brick sliding phones that opened up with a clunk that we thought were the future, millennials? But this 'Matrix' movie completing the Keanu Reevaisance is still the one like Shania Twain. Looks like they made it after all. After the first original classic came into code like the most iconic science fiction since the cyberpunk neon of 'Blade Runner' (that had it's own fresh and original sequel a few years ago back in '2049'), the second reload was some dumb fun, action hit a minute. Whilst the third revolution? Well, the less said about that the better, with more Smith's than the phone book. But still, on the whole it was a terrific trilogy. And here's the birth of a new one in this 'Star Wars' reboot age. You'll either love it or hate it. I'm the absolute former. Don't at me. Just unfold your arms. It was never going to be the same when this outcast changed the whole world. And this one has a problem with authority. Sure some moments will have you cringe against the machine (and the machinery that now moves in the same insect like formation of 'Dune'), but others will have you cheering from IMAX to your own laptop screen at home in HBO Max, like the first time you saw Neo fly and pick up Morpheus and Trinity to complete the big-three on the back of a big wheel lorry. Is 'The Matrix' a cult classic hidden in blockbuster films big framework? Or is it the greatest science fiction love story ever told in this San Francisco Golden Gate, opening up a 'West Side Story', minus the music in the bay? It's déjà vu all over again as Yogi Berra once said. But you'll love this pitch like the luck of a black cat. And all for the green digits in this lagging world of lapping up cryptocurrency, streaming and scrolling, this is no glitch. 

Marvellously meta and so self aware like another Warner Bros property, 'Space Jam-A New Legacy' (were even 'The Chosen One' 'Bron got to be the one). This Lana Wachowski (one sibling now, the sister) directed dynamo is a wowzer. But we won't spoil it like a certain Marvel spider movie that has the likes turning to the web to spin stories of how much they love it. That's all well and good, but don't be like Homer Simpson when he walked out of 'The Empire Strikes Back'. We're dodging this all like Neo does bullets. But I'm saying one day...you won't have to. And we'd love to run our mouth on just how good all this ironic inspiration is throughout this movies influence, but our lips are truly sealed like Keanu's in that interrogation scene from the first movie that back then was so horrifying were still checking our belly buttons for bugs. And that ain't no fluff. Now Reeves is a John Wick hair, don't care, bearded and tweed jacket revolution in this resurrection. The leather and the guns, lots of guns, doesn't matter so much behind black shades. Maybe he was jaded by all the copycat killers like the clowns who think they are the Joker (we even had one terrorising a train here in Tokyo of all peaceful places, this Halloween). Which means Wachowski's wonderful movie is saying so much more than it already has for the world it predictably told us would happen over twenty years ago. When back then it seemed like we were on the precipice of a brand new world and not the treadmil zombified exercise of a smartphone. Jaded definitely is the word as a beanie hat wearing Reeves is in an elevator surrounded by people holding smartphones like they were Beanie Babies in the 90's, wanting to get off like Captain America just asked him. It's the same reflection in the mirrored ceiling for this man who looks a little shimmer and glimmer different. So much so he's wiping away steam from the shower in his bathroom one to get a closer look at what appears like his eyes are deceiving him. Blue prescription pills falling around him in his sink as everything is blue like a Halsey song, or Joni Mitchell album. Even his therapists glasses are prescribed that way. It's enough to feed your head with enough information to have you wanting to curl up in your bathtub like 'I Am Legend' with a rubber duckie on your mind and a drop of bathwater falling like a tear. Keanu is as cool as movies about cats named after the dog lover. And this impressionist look is as convincingly good as that 'Chappelle Show' impersonation. From rooftops to office block cubicles is helicopter and sprinklers. Dialled and embyotic pod plugged in to the shaved head and not so slick, real world, non-flossed fashions that looks like something out of 'Zoolander's' 'Derelicte' collection. But this time without the need of a phone booth like Colin Farrell. And the moment Reeves walks straight to the switched up third act, boots in slow motion with the score like the 'Judgement Day' of a terminating franchise only this one could say "hasta la vista" too, you know it's on again like, "please remove any metallic items you're wearing." Keanu has the keys again like another meta 'Bill and Ted' moment for the seemingly self serious, but at times actually funny, dry guy, who's bringing more franchises back than Marvel, waiting on his turn to fly the cape. Whoa indeed! 

But have we met? Because when we first see Reeves reunite with Carrie-Anne Moss (who has been lawyering up for Marvel and Netflix's street-level, defending heroes as of late) in a clinically cool coffee shop in this safe, sanitised sim like city (a far cry from the symbiote of fellow B movie, blockbuster beauty 'Venom: Let There Be Carnage' also wreaking box office havoc right now), it's like wiping your arse with silk, or something out of a sitcom ('The Matrix Years'). What more could you expect when Barney Stinson is in this movie? But forget how they met. Besides Neil Patrick Harris is actually a formidable dramatic actor, like the blood soaked sheets of 'Gone Girl' and many more proved. And once Reeves and Moss gather more than rolling stones, as they ride out on a steel horse, with more than bullets flying around them, you'll be glad you left the HBO at home and joined the IMAX box office to really take it to the maximum. The only thing more thrilling is the Shinkansen scene heading to Tokyo and the Mount Fuji cherry blossom beautiful backdrop via the bathroom. Even ripping the claws out of 'The Wolverine' scene that saw Logan in translations run, taking train tops to new speeds that would have even more than Dennis Hopper's big bad losing his head. But how is this a Matrix film without a real holy trinity? Fishburne may be fondly missed, but Manhattan 'Watchmen' in a blue suit and 'Candyman' star in an orange one Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, on a career year (he also has the 'Aquaman' franchise in his rank), does more than a respectful inspired impression like Josh Brolin does Tommy Lee Jones' Agent K in 'Men In Black III'. All the way down to the frown inducing shades with no handle, holding two submachine guns and oozing charisma. Dancing around the television set and nostalgia, he's really having fun, flying. Making that jump Yahya redefines Morpheus and even has a Manhattan, or familiar cocktail. Chocked full of epic easter eggs he also Ali shuffles to another fight in an even more beautiful dojo this fall. Unlocking more hidden rooms and secret passageways than the doors of 'The Adjustment Bureau', without a funny hat. But coming out of another one, it's the best thing about 'Iron Fist' (you think that not hard, but what about the 'Ozark's' Tom Pelphrey?), Jessica Henwick becoming one with Carrie-Anne again in pill bottled blue hair that steals the show. In a coded cast that includes Broadway, Tony nominated and Grammy winning 'Mindhunter' Jonathan Groff truly putting on a show like tick, tick...Boom! And Bollywood superstar, Yahya 'Baywatch' co-star and one of Time's most 100 influential, with more power than a Jonas Brother, Priyanka Chopra Jonas wonderfully hiding in plain sight in this bespectacled wonderland. There's even a cool cameo from Wednesday Addams herself Christina Ricci that clicks. Not to mention the return of Jada Pinkett Smith, even if there's no Larry. The icon and mama kin with wicked wisdom to the new worlds most famous family who reloaded this franchise after Will said no way to Neo for one Mr. Smith we'll never see. Replacing original R&B queen Aaliyah after her tragic passing for a film shrouded in secret tragedy. The late, great lead singer of INXS Michael Hutchence was also rumoured to have a role. But for all the new ammunition this gun cocks and all that's left in the chamber, bullet time is back. And this is one resurrection we want that we can have brought back to the big screens we return to. So slow it all down and enjoy it. This one does more than bend the spoon, shoving the red pill up your ass. It's a reloaded revolution. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Further Filming: 'The Matrix', 'The Matrix: Reloaded', 'The Matrix: Revolutions'.