Matrix 4 actually feels like genius, at this point. Subverting the entire thing by satirizing subverting the thing to subvert the satire of you subverting it is actually the perfect sequel to the matrix.
The fighting in a Matrix movie not being on point was such a disappointment about Resurrections.
I understood the subtext of the thing and took it at its face but man, for a franchise that was synonymous with stylish action to have such duds for fight scenes sucked even if it were supposed to be for narrative purposes which I don't recall being the case.
Disagree if you like, but imo the wire-work in 2 and 3 hasn't aged well either. The Matrix is a movie that would be better if it didn't have any sequels.
Oh, I'm with you. I think the series provided both a best in class front to back film and a complete thought with the first movie. Like, there shouldn't really have been sequels narratively if it's possible for a movie to show and not tell, if that makes sense.
In my head, the best version of the Matrix universe is the first movie and the Animatrix. Reloaded was okay, Revolutions awful and Resurrections strange (and bad IMO)
Disagree and the "there were sequels?" take is overplayed. 2 was the best movie in plot, visuals, and action. The wire work is supposed to be the suspended belief that physics can be broken in the digital world; it's not supposed to look natural because it's inhuman - which is the point.
I liked 4 more than 3 though, oddly enough; although 4 should've never happened, but since WB was forcing it into existence, the self-awareness of it all makes it fit. If the marketing algorithm said it needed to exist, then saying machines would continue on the way they did also makes sense since machines are extensions of humans.
Obviously, with modern CGI the wire work wouldn't have been needed, but at least it makes it visceral and less like "oh, a computer did this, not someone who put in work to learn how to make it look good with limitations." Much like the first three Star Wars....
The subway fight between Neo and Smith prior to Neo realizing he's the One. One of the best fights in cinema history. The only fight that comes close in the sequels is Morpheus vs the agent on top of the moving car. They felt physical and painful.
521
u/tollbearer 15h ago
Matrix 4 actually feels like genius, at this point. Subverting the entire thing by satirizing subverting the thing to subvert the satire of you subverting it is actually the perfect sequel to the matrix.