If you’ve recently checked the list of movies currently playing in the cinema, you might have wondered if we had unknowingly time-travelled back to the early 2000s, when the Matrix’ sequel was released and a Spider-man movie with Tobey Maguire was in theatres.
Or maybe we’ve been living in a simulation this whole time and the makers simply set the clocks back?
Well, as the COVID-19 restrictions show, we’re very much in 2021, and both the Matrix and Spider-man movies are new instalments.
Yes, the Matrix now has a fourth entry in the franchise. It was released yesterday, 18 years after the second sequel. Here’s what you need to know:
A Similar Story
For those who have somehow never watched the first Matrix movie, which was released in 1999, it follows the life of Thomas Anderson, aka Neo, a computer programmer.
Neo finds out that his entire reality—everything he’s seen, perceived, and learnt since he was born—is simulated, and constructed in a system called the Matrix.
Well, Neo has been through quite a few adventures since then, but it seems that this question has yet to be answered.
Have a look at the synopsis:
“To find out if his reality is a physical or mental construct, Mr. Anderson, aka Neo, will have to choose to follow the white rabbit once more. If he’s learned anything, it’s that choice, while an illusion, is still the only way out of — or into — the Matrix. Neo already knows what he has to do, but what he doesn’t yet know is that the Matrix is stronger, more secure and far more dangerous than ever before.”
In this film, Neo is once again that computer programmer named Mr Anderson—and a suicide survivor as well—who is unaware that his entire reality is a lie, a simulation.
Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, then bumps into a familiar character—Trinity—played by Carrie Ann Moss, and the two feel a connection.
He then has to make a choice, one that unbeknownst to him, he has made before – the red pill or the blue pill.
Reviews
Considering how critics tend to hate reboots, The Matrix Resurrections has decent reviews.
It got a rating of 69% on Rotten Tomatoes and 6.2 on IMDb. Reta Lee from Yahoo! News called it “unapologetically romantic”, while a reviewer from Scroll.in said it was ” caught in its own time loop trap.”
So, it appears that this is one of those movies you’d enjoy if you’re already a huge Matrix fan, just for the romance of remembrance.
Otherwise, going through the Matrix archive on Netflix might be a better option.
