December 28, 2021 – Hollywood releases these days are overloaded with sequels and remakes. Of the top 10 most successful films this year, 7 are remakes or sequels. Only one film in the top 10 box office hits, “Free Guy,” is original, not part of a larger franchise of related stories, such as the five movies from the “Marvel Cinematic Universe” in the top 10.

This new Matrix movie is part of the same trend. After seeing it, I am left with the feeling that the only purpose it serves is to spawn more Matrix movies, and why not, since they keep making more money? Resurrections does set up more Matrix movies by bringing its two main characters back to life, Neo (Keanu Reeves) and Trinity (Carrie-Ann Moss) after they died in the previous movie.

The film is directed and co-written by Lana Wachowski, half of the writing and directing team (the other half is Lilly Wachowski) that created the other Matrix movies. In addition to Reeves and Moss, other actors reprising their roles from previous Matrix films include Lambert Wilson (The Merovingian) and Jada Pinkett Smith (Niobe)

In this movie, a common theme of heroic sacrifice for the common good from earlier Matrix films is replaced by a love-conquers-all theme. Neo and Trinity strive to break free of their Matrix prison and reunite in the real world, in spite of the consequences. As in previous films, neither Neo, who goes by the name of Thomas Anderson in the Matrix, nor Trinity, who goes by the name of Tiffany, are aware of their true identities or their past lives. Neither is aware that they are living in an artificial computer-generated reality.

Even though 60 years have passed since the death of Neo and Trinity, they haven't aged as much as people in the real world have. In a mind-bending twist, Thomas Anderson is now a video game developer who originally developed the popular Matrix video game, which is just like the previous version of his Matrix reality. Since he has trouble distinguishing reality from the games he creates, he regularly attends therapy sessions, not knowing that his Therapist (played by Neil Patrick Harris of “Gone Girl”) is actively preventing him from finding out who he truly is.

This is not the old Matrix. This one is newer and more sophisticated, powered by sexual tension and unrequited love, according to the Therapist. Among those in charge is the Therapist, and Anderson's video game company boss, Smith (Jonathan Groff of “Hamilton”). These two are not exactly on the same side. Others get involved when a kind of sentient robot, Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II of “Aquaman”) helps free Neo from the Matrix with the aid of Bugs (Jessica Henwick of “Love and Monsters”) and her crew of the real world ship, Mnemosyne.

Neo is taken to Io, which is a bigger version of Zion, seen in previous Matrix movies. It is where humans hang out in the real world, along with some machines that have sided with the humans. There, it turns out that Bug, in taking Neo out of the Matrix, has defied the orders of Niobe, who doesn't want to upset the truce between the machines and humans. Freeing Neo from the Matrix has destabilized it.

Neo wants to liberate Trinity from the Matrix as well, but Niobe, leader of the humans, opposes this. She is eventually persuaded to support the tricky, risky rescue of Trinity, which involves car chases, lots of guns, explosions and kung-fu. It turns out that freeing Trinity from the Matrix is of far more consequence than anyone realized.

This Matrix has less philosophizing about the nature of reality, free will and destiny, and less about the nature of the Matrix itself, than in the previous movies. It is more of a straight action movie with a few plot twists about who has power in the Matrix and who is on whose side. There are enough questions left hanging to provide grist for the next film in the series. This movie rates a C+.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff (no extra charges apply). I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2021 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at