Today on Rhode Island Movie Corner, we’ll be tackling a series that I’ve been meaning to cover for quite some time now. Two years ago, I was planning on doing this retrospective in honor of the first film’s 20th anniversary, which also happened to coincide with the reveal that the series’ long-rumored fourth installment was finally going to get made. Ultimately, though, 2019 came and went and I didn’t end up doing it at that time; instead, I figured that I’d simply wait for the fourth film’s release… and yes, that’s even after it had to endure a COVID-19 forced delay just like all the other big blockbusters at that time. But now the time has finally come to tackle a franchise whose impact on pop culture practically speaks for itself, The Matrix. What started with the second directorial outing from sisters Lilly and Lana Wachowski after their highly acclaimed directorial debut Bound in 1996 quickly became a pop-cultural phenomenon that would go on to influence the film industry in numerous ways. It inspired many subsequent action films to utilize a greater implementation of wire-fu techniques that had been made famous by Hong Kong action cinema for their fight choreography (which, in turn, helped to introduce films from that subgenre to a wider audience). And, of course, there’s also the franchise’s famous slow-motion visual effect known as ‘bullet time’, which became such a popular fad in the industry that it was not only featured in hit video games such as the Max Payne series but was also parodied in numerous films such as Shrek, Scary Movie, and Kung Pow: Enter the Fist.
Thanks to the success of the original Matrix, the
Wachowskis would then go on to turn it into a full-blown franchise with a pair of
sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, both
being released in 2003. And while neither sequel was able to attract the same
level of critical acclaim as the original did, they were still major box-office
hits while spin-offs such as an animated anthology film and a bunch of video
games helped the franchise maintain its cultural relevancy. When it comes to
the films, however, they were only intended to be a trilogy, with the
Wachowskis repeatedly rejecting any plans for a follow-up. But now, nearly two
decades after the original trilogy’s conclusion, Lana Wachowski brings us back
into the war between humanity and the machines with The Matrix Resurrections,
and today, in honor of its release, I’ll be looking at both the original Matrix
trilogy and the previously mentioned animated anthology spin-off. And so, with
that in mind, allow me to present you all with the following choice. If you
decide to take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and
believe whatever you want to believe. But if you decide to take the red pill,
then prepare to stay in Wonderland as I show you just how deep this rabbit hole
goes as we tackle The Matrix.
THE MATRIX (1999)
The original Matrix is very much one of those films
that’s genuinely hard to provide any new insight on at this point because its
legacy and impact on both film and pop culture speaks for itself. And since I’m
not even close to being an expert on philosophy, religion, and the like, this also
isn’t going to be any sort of discussion on The Matrix’s deepest
cinematic themes. Instead, I’ll be tackling the question of whether this film
still holds up after all these years and considering all the franchise’s
further developments… to make a long story short, it does. Say what you will
about the following two films and where this story ended up, but as for this
first film, it still stands as an impeccably directed, written, and produced
sci-fi action blockbuster. The Wachowskis’ knack for visual storytelling and their
passion for martial arts films and anime is fully apparent throughout the
film’s top-notch action sequences, whether it’s Neo and Trinity’s rescue of
Morpheus or the climactic fight between Neo and Agent Smith. It also helps that
all its main leads are perfectly cast; Keanu Reeves as the reluctant audience
surrogate Neo, Carrie-Anne Moss as his badass confidant/love interest Trinity,
Laurence Fishburne as the poised resistance leader Morpheus, and Hugo Weaving
as the cold and emotionless antagonist Agent Smith. And so, with all that in
mind, it’s easy to see why The Matrix is still seen as a landmark entry
in the sci-fi genre. Not only is it a, for lack of a better term, ‘cool’ film
from a visual standpoint, but the Wachowskis managed to find that perfect
balance when it comes to presenting a story that’s undoubtedly smarter than a
lot of its genre’s peers but done in a way where it rarely becomes too
complicated to the point where it would confuse audiences.
Rating: 5/5!
THE MATRIX
RELOADED (2003)
With a game-changing sci-fi action epic under their belts,
the Wachowskis soon began the process of turning The Matrix into a
full-blown franchise, and to put it quite simply, calling their plans to do
just that ‘ambitious’ would be a massive understatement. Not only were they
developing a pair of sequels, which would end up being filmed back-to-back, but
they also had plans for multiple spin-offs across various mediums. They
recruited a bunch of anime filmmakers (since anime was a major source of
inspiration for them when they were developing the original film) to make an
anthology film set within the franchise’s universe, The Animatrix, and
they wrote and directed a video game tie-in, Enter the Matrix,
which featured over an hour of exclusive live-action footage featuring much of
the franchise’s cast of characters. Simply put, the immense hype that was
generated by the first film’s success was very much in full effect once the
second film, The Matrix Reloaded, hit theaters in the summer of 2003. Upon
its release, the film grossed over $741 million worldwide, which made it the
highest-grossing R-rated film up to that point, besting the record that had
been held for more than a decade by Terminator 2: Judgment Day and holding
that spot until 2016 when it was dethroned by the first Deadpool. And
while its overall critical reception wasn’t necessarily as strong when compared
to the first film, Reloaded did do solidly enough with critics; however,
the far more negative reception towards its immediate follow-up, Revolutions,
clearly had some sort of impact on how it would be seen by many in the years to
come. In other words, while Reloaded wasn’t even remotely close to being
a critical dud, the first two Matrix sequels are often paired together
by those who feel that the franchise lost its way when trying to follow up on
the original.
And yet… I find myself amongst the crowd who feels that this
film isn’t as bad as its reputation suggests. Still, it does have its
shortcomings, and I think it’s safe to say that part of this is due to the more
visual-heavy approach that it takes when compared to the original. Unlike the
original Matrix, Reloaded and Revolutions feature a lot
more CGI effects which, in their defense, was largely so that the Wachowskis
could utilize the original’s iconic ‘bullet time’ effects for the incredibly
ambitious action sequences that they came up with. This does, however, result
in a film that feels a lot like the later installments of another trilogy that
was being made around this time, the Star Wars prequel trilogy, by relying
on CGI more than it probably should’ve, especially since not all these effects
have necessarily aged well. And while there are still plenty of top-notch
action sequences such as the widely praised highway chase scene or the early
parts of the big brawl between Neo, Agent Smith, and the latter’s vast army of
clones, other action sequences can get rather ridiculous whenever they become
overtly CGI-based. All that said, though, the film still manages to be a
solidly engaging follow-up to the original Matrix with decent bits of
world-building even if there are a few times where its philosophical themes can
get a bit heavy-handed to the point of dragging down certain expositional sequences.
And so, with all that in mind, while you can see some of the narrative and
technical cracks that were starting to form as a result of the Wachowskis’ highly
ambitious sequel plans, The Matrix Reloaded is ultimately a largely
entertaining follow-up to its iconic predecessor. Granted, I can’t quite say
that it’s ‘as good’ as the original, but it’s certainly not the ‘disaster’ that
it’s been made out to be.
Rating: 4/5
THE MATRIX
REVOLUTIONS (2003)
As we get into the final installment of the original Matrix
trilogy, The Matrix Revolutions, I just want to start by noting
that, even to this day, I’m still genuinely fascinated by the fact that Revolutions
managed to hit theaters the exact same year as The Matrix
Reloaded, coming out just six months later in the fall of 2003. Now,
granted, like I noted earlier, these two sequels were filmed back-to-back so it’s
easy to see how they could both come out in such a relatively short timeframe; still,
there aren’t many examples of a film franchise that has managed to get two
whole installments that are directly tied to each other released in the same
year. The only other instance where a situation like this has ever occurred (at
least, given what I could find, anyway…) was with the original King Kong
in 1933, which was then quickly followed by Son of Kong the very same
year. And no, the Marvel Cinematic Universe doesn’t count in this instance
because while multiple MCU films are released in a single year, it’s not like
we get two Thor or Guardians of the Galaxy films a year.
Regardless, The Matrix Revolutions was set to serve as the grand finale
to the story of Neo, Trinity, Morpheus, and the people of Zion’s war against
the machines… but things didn’t exactly go as smoothly as before once the film
was released. Whereas the equally polarizing Reloaded still managed to
garner enough positive reviews from critics to earn the ‘Certified Fresh’
rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Revolutions ended up being a major critical
dud as many ultimately found it to be a lackluster conclusion to the trilogy.
Once again, though, I don’t think that this film is as bad
as a good chunk of the internet regards it as. I can totally see where some
people are coming from when they say that certain routes that the story takes
are disappointing or that some of the trilogy’s most notable themes and
storylines aren’t explored as much as they should’ve been, but overall, Revolutions
manages to be a relatively engaging and appropriately grand-scaled finale
for the trilogy. Obviously, like Reloaded, Revolutions’ overt use
of CGI can be an issue at times, but in this instance, it’s for an entirely
different reason when compared to its immediate predecessor. Whereas Reloaded
had a few too many action sequences where the characters were replaced with
blatantly obvious digital doubles, Revolutions thankfully doesn’t use
that visual effects method as much (or, in other words, if it did, then it
hides it a lot better…). No, in this instance, the problem comes from the
moments where there are so many CGI visuals on-screen that it’s sometimes hard
to tell exactly what’s going on during some of the more frenetic action
sequences, especially given this series’ penchant for boasting a darker color
palette. Despite this, however, the trilogy’s success in endearing you to the main
trio of Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus helps to keep you invested in their
endeavors, which all culminates in an epic final battle between Neo and Agent
Smith. And so, with all that in mind, I will admit that I do find myself
amongst those who find The Matrix Revolutions to be a legitimately
underrated film. Sure, you can argue over the quality of this film’s narrative
and philosophical beats until the cows come home, but at the end of the day, I strongly
disagree with the long-standing consensus that it’s an utterly worthless sequel.
Rating: 4/5
THE ANIMATRIX
(2003)
And finally, we conclude with the project that I’ve
repeatedly teased throughout this entire retrospective, The Animatrix, a
collection of nine anime short films set within the world of The Matrix.
A collaboration between the Wachowskis and some of the most famous anime
filmmakers at the time such as ShinichirÅ
Watanabe and Mahiro Maeda, this anthology feature properly expands upon the
franchise’s lore in various ways. Some of the shorts, like Kid’s Story
(in which the titular Kid, a side character from Reloaded and Revolutions
who idolizes Neo, manages to escape from the Matrix on his own accord) and The
Final Flight of the Osiris (in which the rebel ship Osiris learns
that the Machines are tunneling towards Zion), directly address plot-points
that were otherwise unseen in the films. Others are simply unique little
glimpses into the universe, like Matriculated, which examines the idea
of humanity attempting to convert machines to their side. It all comes together
in a wholly engrossing anthology feature in which each one of the nine shorts
are beautifully animated. Personal favorites of mine as far as their unique
animation styles are concerned include the previously mentioned Kid’s Story,
which features some particularly striking stylized visuals, and A Detective
Story, with its gorgeous black-and-white noir-inspired visuals that perfectly
coincide with its, you guessed it, noir plot.
Overall, The Animatrix is an incredibly well-made
collection of anime shorts that is the clear result of the Wachowskis paying it
forward to the medium that played such a significant role in The Matrix’s
creation. And sure enough, when you combine an iconic medium with what was
easily one of the newest and exciting sci-fi action franchises at the time, you
get a film that successfully manages to appeal to both those who are well-versed
in the world of anime… and folks like me who have little to no experience with it.
However, at the risk of making an incredibly controversial statement in the
eyes of this film’s fans, I don’t think that this film is ‘100% essential’ when
it comes to experiencing this franchise. Now, to be clear, that doesn’t mean
that I don’t highly recommend this film because that couldn’t be farther from
the truth. What I mean by all this is that, ultimately, The Animatrix is
primarily intended to be a source of additional context to the main films
without resulting in a situation where you would end up missing out on any
pivotal plot points if you end up skipping this. Anything significant to the main
series that is featured here are minor beats at best such as the connection
between Neo and Kid or the inciting incident with the Osiris that kick-started
the events of The Matrix Reloaded and, in turn, The Matrix
Revolutions. But again, I want to make it clear that, despite everything
that I just said, I DO NOT recommend that you skip this because it’s
one of the most unique and rewarding experiences that you could have from a
spin-off of a hugely successful film franchise.
Rating: 4.5/5
And that concludes our
retrospective on the original Matrix trilogy and The Animatrix.
Thanks for following along and be sure to sound off in the comments below with
your own personal experiences with this franchise, especially if you were a part
of its target demographic when it first came out. And yes, I do plan to follow this
up with a full review of The Matrix Resurrections. You can expect that
post sometime soon.
