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Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




I just finished it. It's up on HBO Max. It is currently receiving mixed to positive reviews and elsewhere the audience response is a bit more mixed. My overall impression is positive, but it is absolutely going to be a divisive film.

Non-spoiler elements:

The film is very meta to the point of being borderline fourth-wall breaking. I thought it worked, but YMMV.
The "new" Morpheus is a particularly divisive character, but I think I understood what Lana was going for with his role in the story and it worked for me.
The action scenes are inferior to the trilogy.
The dialogue is weaker than the trilogy. Even to the point that the film's vernacular is simpler. I wouldn't be surprised if even a cursory analysis of the script through a word counter or such would show that the reading level is lower in Resurrections than in The Matrix.

It is absolutely better than any recent sequel to a decade's long franchise IMO with the exception of Blade Runner 2049. The story is far more coherent than the Star Wars sequel trilogy, it never jumps off the deep end to the same degree as Star Trek Into Darkness, it actually attempts to make intelligent commentary unlike the new Jurassic Park movies, etc. The film's issue is in how it handles this in that it is going to be hit or miss.

Spoilers.

Spoiler:

I liked "new" Morpheus in that I found it to be a clever way for Neo to try and revitalize his memories and grasp of reality.

Jessica Henwick's character Bugs was solid. The wordplay of her being Bugs after Bugs Bunny will probably make some people groan. I thought it was light-hearted fun and inspired by the White Rabbit woman from The Matrix as she also sported a White Rabbit tattoo. She also threw out a "What's up Doc?" at one point.

I loved the new method of entering/exiting the Matrix as well as its use in traversing that world.

A lot of people disliked the Synthients apparently, but I appreciated them. I thought it gave the menacing robots of the trilogy more heart and humanity. The method for AI displaying in the real world was clever and solid CGI.

Naobi does come across as being bitter, but her behavior relates directly to the film's focus on hope and despair. She is very afraid of losing Io (or is it I/O?) for an uncertain future. I think people fail to consider that it has been 60~ years since Revolutions. She's spent over half her life helping to build a new life for free humans and machines.

The Analyst is an interesting counterpoint of a character to the Architect. He's focused on feelings, not facts. He's quippy where the Architect was dry. He's absolutely annoying, but I think he's meant to be.

The programmers at Neo's game company are phenomally obnoxious and will probably turn some people off from the film early on. I'm honestly impressed and just how annoying they were...it takes some talent to make characters that grating, which was the point. Their inane commentary during the montage with Neo popping blue pills helped sell him going insane.

Neo being a game developer for the Matrix instead of an actor in a film series worked much better for me. It's a natural progression to him being a developer in The Matrix. His office setup was 100% on point.

I liked the commentary in the film on sequels and nostalgia.

I liked The Merovingian's brief appearance. He nailed the old man raging at the sky about lost glories and how much the world sucks now.

New Smith was probably the most off character. He wasn't ever as menacing as Hugo Weaving, which was a loss.



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Nihilistic Necron Lord






I enjoyed it. The Meta commentary was a nice touch, pretty much straight mocking their own sequel. We’re making a forth Matrix. But the story was done. Yeah but the suits want another one.

Morphius’ character was generally cool, but felt weak. He’s supposed to have been an agent but never really displayed their level of power.

I’d agree with Smith being off. I think it comes down to attitude. Original was generally all about disdain and menace and rage. This one was more quipy and cheerful and bantery.

I very much liked the synths and wished we got to see more of them. Hell, I wish they talked.

But yeah, very good sequel that didn’t just feel like a nostalgia storm. It had new stuff to tell and ground to cover and ideas to pose. I’d say give it a watch.

 
   
Made in us
Norn Queen






I enjoyed it. It was fine. Decent enough explanation for all the things. Kind of a new AI big bad in the mix for them to explore if they make another one. Which they probably won't because this movie is going to bomb hard.

It's not just the HBO max release and all the pirating that implies. It's also the release on actual xmas weekend while Spiderman is still killing it in theaters.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/12/23 10:57:19



These are my opinions. This is how I feel. Others may feel differently. This needs to be stated for some reason.
 
   
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 Lance845 wrote:


It's not just the HBO max release and all the pirating that implies. It's also the release on actual xmas weekend while Spiderman is still killing it in theaters.


I also get the sense that the general response to the film's existence is a skeptical "really?" and not any particular excitement.

   
Made in us
Norn Queen






It looks like on it's opening weekend it's going to be #3 in the box office behind spiderman (#1) and sing 2.

Wah wah...


These are my opinions. This is how I feel. Others may feel differently. This needs to be stated for some reason.
 
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut





The Battle Barge Buffet Line

As cash grabs go, this one felt like searching the couch cushions for change when I first heard about it. The films got worse and worse after the stellar first (which frankly should have been a one and done with that awesome ending/resolution) and I can't think of anyone I know that was hankering for another. I don't have any interest in seeing it myself and will just put it on the HBO max bucket list when I sub to them for a month.

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SoCal

Will it make me feel as sad, old and tired as Bill and Ted Face the Music?*


*It was a fine movie, decently executed. But everything about it just made me feel so old, the character arcs made me feel so sad, and Keanu made me feel so tired.

   
Made in gb
Walking Dead Wraithlord






Yeah im not ven going to watch this probably

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Devon, UK

So it's basically The Matrix: The Force Awakens but, unlike EP VII, it acknowledges what it's doing hitting many of the same story points/revisiting locations.

I'm not sure I like the self referential in joking, but it's a choice and I'll respect it. I definitely didn't like Smith not insisting on calling Neo Mr Anderson. Mixed slow mo/full speed shots are apparently intended to be the new bullet time.

I found it a solid movie with stellar production values, but I do wonder what we might have got if we'd had both Wachowskis on board.

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Southeastern PA, USA

 Lance845 wrote:
It looks like on it's opening weekend it's going to be #3 in the box office behind spiderman (#1) and sing 2.

Wah wah...


WB films are never going to kill it on opening weekend as long as they're also premiering them on HBO Max.

I liked it okay. Was better than Revolutions. I liked the metacommentary, and even liked the new Smith. Honestly, I thought the full makeover worked much better (and was funnier) than rolling out Hugo Weaving again to growl some more lines at Mr. Anderson. What it really needed was one OTT bonkers action sequence.

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NE Ohio, USA

It wasn't bad, just nothing exceptional.
   
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 gorgon wrote:
 Lance845 wrote:
It looks like on it's opening weekend it's going to be #3 in the box office behind spiderman (#1) and sing 2.

Wah wah...


WB films are never going to kill it on opening weekend as long as they're also premiering them on HBO Max.

I liked it okay. Was better than Revolutions. I liked the metacommentary, and even liked the new Smith. Honestly, I thought the full makeover worked much better (and was funnier) than rolling out Hugo Weaving again to growl some more lines at Mr. Anderson. What it really needed was one OTT bonkers action sequence.


Arguably thats the end on the bike. Especially when
Spoiler:
they start suicide bombing bodies.


Pretty over the top there.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/12/27 10:50:14



These are my opinions. This is how I feel. Others may feel differently. This needs to be stated for some reason.
 
   
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5th God of Chaos! (Ho-hum)





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 Lance845 wrote:
 gorgon wrote:
 Lance845 wrote:
It looks like on it's opening weekend it's going to be #3 in the box office behind spiderman (#1) and sing 2.

Wah wah...


WB films are never going to kill it on opening weekend as long as they're also premiering them on HBO Max.

I liked it okay. Was better than Revolutions. I liked the metacommentary, and even liked the new Smith. Honestly, I thought the full makeover worked much better (and was funnier) than rolling out Hugo Weaving again to growl some more lines at Mr. Anderson. What it really needed was one OTT bonkers action sequence.


Arguably thats the end on the bike. Especially when
Spoiler:
they start suicide bombing bodies.


Pretty over the top there.

Whole family enjoy'ed it.

Especially all those reflections of different persons tidbits and the almost breaking the 4th wall stuff. They could've really ruined the movie with all that, but surprisingly made it work pretty seemless.

Also:
Spoiler:
Holy gak that bots suicide bombing in the city, that was disturbing as feth!

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Made in ca
Ragin' Ork Dreadnought




Monarchy of TBD

Great film, and excellent explanation as to why the character replacements appeared as mere shadows of their former selves- especially newMorpheus. newSmith had the impossible task of outmenacing Hugo Weaving. So it appears they didn't even try, and we got a stand in phoning it in from retirement, which works. Fun, and inoffensive to old fans and new.

We didn't care about the new crew anymore than Neo did- humanity? I guess it's fine... our stakes are much lower and more personal here.

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Southeastern PA, USA

 Lance845 wrote:
 gorgon wrote:
 Lance845 wrote:
It looks like on it's opening weekend it's going to be #3 in the box office behind spiderman (#1) and sing 2.

Wah wah...


WB films are never going to kill it on opening weekend as long as they're also premiering them on HBO Max.

I liked it okay. Was better than Revolutions. I liked the metacommentary, and even liked the new Smith. Honestly, I thought the full makeover worked much better (and was funnier) than rolling out Hugo Weaving again to growl some more lines at Mr. Anderson. What it really needed was one OTT bonkers action sequence.


Arguably thats the end on the bike. Especially when
Spoiler:
they start suicide bombing bodies.


Pretty over the top there.


Well, it's OTT in the sense that it's raining bodies. I don't know that the actual action stacks up to the best scenes from the trilogy.

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United Kingdom

I downloaded a dodgy copy of it, and liked it enough that I'm going to see it at the cinema.
Yes, it's not as 'smart' or ground-breaking as the first one but it's still a good movie.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Spoiler:
Was Smith the 'original', or a recreation like Morpheus?

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/12/28 23:15:18


 
   
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Longtime Dakkanaut




beast_gts wrote:
I downloaded a dodgy copy of it, and liked it enough that I'm going to see it at the cinema.
Yes, it's not as 'smart' or ground-breaking as the first one but it's still a good movie.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Spoiler:
Was Smith the 'original', or a recreation like Morpheus?


Original.

Spoiler:

I think him behaving somewhat differently works. He changed during the trilogy and after so manys years it makes sense to me that the character wouldn't behave identically to the way he was before. He's had a lot of time to contemplate.

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Fixture of Dakka





Wasn't all that gone on the previous films but this one was quite good and actually made me miss the world of the The Matrix.

As much as I'm not that struck on the series overall, it does work well as a universe made for the big and small screen. It was quite the champion film of vfx artists back in the early 2000s and while I doubt the Wachoskis will make another one, I do hope that they explore the peace era in a second Animatrix anthology, and maybe as VR shorts.
   
Made in us
Blackclad Wayfarer





Philadelphia

It was alright - I rewatched 1+2 and really liked those

I really liked animatrix upon a rewatch

eh I probably wont revist it but for an HBO straight to video movie it was alright

   
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Norn Queen






This would have been better as a Disney + style series where there more interesting concepts had room to breath.


These are my opinions. This is how I feel. Others may feel differently. This needs to be stated for some reason.
 
   
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SoCal

RLM just called this film “the new Gremlins 2”. So now I have to see it.

   
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 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
RLM just called this film “the new Gremlins 2”. So now I have to see it.


I don’t know what that means…

 
   
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Yu Jing Martial Arts Ninja




North Wales

 AduroT wrote:
 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
RLM just called this film “the new Gremlins 2”. So now I have to see it.


I don’t know what that means…


They were referring to the film's self awareness. Apparently, all the criticisms that people will come out with - cash grab, member berries, soft reboot, what the punters want out of another Matrix film are already referred to.

There are even lines about how it was going to get made by WB, with or without them (presumably referring to Lana Wachowski).

RLM have intrigued me to the point that I'm no longer going to totally avoid this film.
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

As is customary, I have not read the thread at all yet, but here are my initial thoughts on the film.

1. The movie started really strong and really meta, but then got less interesting as it went along. I would say, the climax was very unsatisfying.

2. Bots were not nearly as cool/threatening as Agents. However, I guess it is a closer riff to the Video Game "mythos/canon" they were going with/riffing on in this one.

3. My favorite scene is when the Dev Team was all trying to riff on what the first Matrix was about. They mention a lot of theories, but none of them mentions Trans Allegory that I recall.

After the Wachowski's coming out, it makes it much harder to watch all the Matrix films and NOT see the Trans allegory for me.

4. Once we are introduced to IO, the movie does a very poor job of laying out the stakes of the conflict and this is where the movie begins to run out of steam.

5. The action was... lack luster.

6. Reverse Bullet Time was boring. Even if the apple scene was pretty cool.

7. NPH was an interesting take on the new Matrix creator. Focusing on fiction and emotion rather than the Architects approach. As always, the Matrix is trying to say something about the time we live in now.

8. This movie slots surprisingly well with the previous 3.

9. The post-credit scenes was funny, but not worth staying for.

10. Always love seeing Christina Ricci on screen.

11. This would be an awesome RPG! Where is the RPG/Movie tie-in like Dune got?


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MN (Currently in WY)

I went back and watched the first three, and there is a huge and noticeable drop in action quality between them and this one. Like, off a cliff levels of dropping.

I know the actors are older, but they brought in a new and young human crew to supplement that, and well.... it tried. I think the loss of the original action choreographer was the big driver here. The new one isn't terrible, and is close to the material but just doesn't have that same affinity for wire-fu.

There is also a huge drop in music/soundtrack quality in this one. Sure, the stakes are more personal and less earth shattering, but they are not nearly as grounded in that cyber-punk (whatever genre of music that is) sound in the Matrix 4.

I was also really expecting a NPH song-and-dance number to get show horned into this film and am somewhat disappointed we did not get one. Perhaps, I have seen a Harold and Kumar movie recently and that is causing me the above issue?

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Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




IMO, this movie exists for two reasons. The first is that WB was going to revive The Matrix franchise with or without the Wachowskis and the second is that Lana was only involved due to the death of their parents. I think the initial Matrix film was a product of the Wachowskis love for Akira/GitS and their love/desire for filmmaking. The followups were similar to Star Wars in that it became an unintended trilogy. From a strictly creative/artistic standpoint I don't think there was a reason to ever turn the first film into a trilogy, let alone follow up the trilogy over a decade later. For me Reloaded was a decent enough sequel, especially considering the circumstances surrounding it's development. Revolutions fell flat. Ressurections, while lacking in action, was about as interesting as I could hope for considering it's creation.

In summary, I think the most interesting aspects of Resurrections are the questions meta-textual questions about franchises, sequels, and reboots, particularly in this day and age with the MCU, questionable attempts at a DCU, and the ever-growing Star Wars franchise. In terms of on-screen entertainment value it falls short.

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Leicester

So, just got round to seeing it last night and…I liked it.

The meta commentary front half was funny, tragic and intriguing all at the same time. I thought that the Analyst was an interesting antagonist, but the ending was a bit weak. It seemed to wrap up because it was time to wrap up, rather than for narrative reasons; someone made the suggestion above that it might have worked better as a short series and I think there’s something to that.

I thought the action was fine, but not stunning, high point was the train fight for me, but I think they made a conscious choice to dial it back. The Matrix revolutionised action in western films and there’s no way your going to touch that, so better not to even try.

I really think they missed a trick by not exploring the AI civil war and human allied synthetics; they hinted at some really interesting themes of free will, choice and the machines being just as trapped by the system as the humans are. There’s a much more interesting film in there for me; maybe next time, if they decide to do more now?

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 Zed wrote:
*All statements reflect my opinion at this moment. if some sort of pretty new model gets released (or if I change my mind at random) I reserve the right to jump on any bandwagon at will.
 
   
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Italy

Saw it yesterday, after a friend of mine who desperately wanted to see it recovered from covid.

It was bad, really bad. By far the worst movie of the franchise.

Plot was idiotic, characters totally uninspiring, especially the villains (old and new), and the action sequences looked like amateur work.

Critique towards WB was the best part of the movie and I got the impression that Wachowski made a terrible movie on purpose just to prove the point that she was forced to direct it and Matrix should have stayed a trilogy, as she desired.

Maybe they really should have made Catrix instead .

 
   
 
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