The Matrix Resurrections (4k UHD + Blu-Ray + Digital HD)
Blu-Ray Reviews | Mar 9th, 2022
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Jada Pinkett Smith
Written By: Lana Wachowski, David Mitchell, Aleksandar Hemon
Directed By: Lana Wachowski
Studio: Warner Bros
Buy On Amazon.com
I knew it was going to be a matter of time before the Matrix continued or rebooted in some way. Was that a wise decision? I guess it depends on who you ask.
Without giving up too much, the basic movie is relatively the same as the original movie but different in many ways. It is set 60 years after the events of The Matrix Revolutions and follows Thomas Anderson/Neo (Keanu Reeves) who seems to be having a normal life as a video game developer. A game called the Matrix, again – too on the nose and too meta. He has faint memories as Neo and that’s where the game comes from. He sees a therapist (Neil-Patrick Harris), who seems like he’s keeping Mr. Anderson in check. Thomas keeps running into a woman with a family called Tiffany (Carrie-Anne Moss), who has no memories of her past either. A group of rebels led by Bugs (Jessican Henwick) free Thomas Anderson and to become Neo again. There’s a new threat this time, and is keeping Trinity captive within the Matrix.
I wasn’t sure what to make of The Matrix Resurrections. A lot of parts I liked, a lot of parts were quite questionable and too on the nose for me. I’ll say this, I liked this movie better than Matrix Revolutions though. Reloaded had some of the best action sequences in an action movie so I can’t really fault the rest of the movies shortcomings. I don’t think nothing can beat the original movie. One could argue they should have just stopped there and not ruined a good thing.
I’m not sure why Lana Wachowski decided to show old clips of The Matrix, like we as fans wouldn’t remember it or something. It also felt like a tribute fanfic movie for some reason when that happened. I know Lana was paying tribute to the characters, The Matrix and to her parents who died so that part I get. I just wonder why these old clips were shown, like it was a clip show in a sitcom. Some things were a direct “deja vu” from the original movie, which was done on purpose but I just wish some things were completely new. The whole Warner Bros /video game thing was really weird too. It was a bit of a bummer that Don Davis wasn’t the composer again, that was one thing missing. Another was a mediocre cover of Rage Against The Machine at the end as well.
Once you got over some of those meta things, The Matrix Resurrections isn’t a bad movie and I enjoyed it for the most part. I liked the Morpheus stuff and how it was updated in a way. Thankfully there wasn’t a rave scene this time. You can’t help but smile seeing Keanu and Carrie-Ann co-starring again as Neo and Trinity, which made me not outright dislike the movie. I liked how Neo wasn’t fully himself like he was in the previous movies, and needed Trinity to balance out the powers of “The One.”
4k and Blu-Ray contain a bunch of featurettes, which should please fans. Seemed like there was about 2 hours or so of content. The video quality for 4k was outstanding, which obviously looks best on 4k on the disc as opposed to streaming. I originally watched the film on HBO Max but it looks even better on the 4k UHD disc. The extras contain a lot of interviews with the cast, the director, a featurette on Keanu and others training for the movie, as well as lengthy featurettes about Resurrecting the Matrix, as well as the cast & crew breaking down a bunch of individual scenes. There’s a lot of cool stuff to check out after seeing the movie, if bonus material is your thing.
I think the Matrix Resurrections will get better with multiple viewings. I guess it depends on how much you like this franchise. I recently re-watched all of the movies and I love the first movie, like the second but the third movie lost me a little. If I had to rank this, I’d probably put this after Reloaded. The acting is fine, the action is good, the special effects are excellent but there’s a lot of questionable stuff added to this movie for some reason. It’s quite divisive amongst fans and I can understand that. It’s still entertaining to watch but kind of forgettable at the same time.
Features:
No One Can Be Told What The Matrix Is
Resurrecting The Matrix
Neo x Trinity: Return to the Matrix
Allies + Adversaries: The Matrix Remixed
Matrix 4 Life
I Still Know Kung Fu
The Matrix Reactions
Video:
Codec: HEVC / H.265
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Audio:
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
German: Dolby Atmos
German: Dolby TrueHD 7.1
Italian: Dolby Atmos
Italian: Dolby TrueHD 7.1
French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Note: Spanish = Latin American
Subtitles:
English SDH, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
Bottom Line: A bit too meta for my liking but still somewhat entertaining
Running Time: 148 mins
Rating: R
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating:
