Introduction: Matrix Resurrections
Introduction: Website Terminology
Like any other science fiction movie fan, the original Matrix movie left me in awe. Unlike most who saw it, I was equally impressed by the second movie, for different reasons. It seems to me that those who were less impressed by Reloaded had unfair expectations for it. The main premise of the three movies - humans being fooled by a fake reality - was already revealed by the first movie. The second and third movies were not sequels, they were continuations of the first movie, much like the Lord of the Rings movies, all three of which were filmed at once. In Josh Oreck's The Matrix Revisited, editor Zach Staenberg confirmed this after shooting M1:
Everybody calls them sequels, but from the first time when we were working on Bound and Larry told me they told me they were working on The Matrix, they always thought of it and presented it as a trilogy. And so these next two movies are the second and third parts of a trilogy. It's really important to see the difference because you'll be able to watch all three movies together and see one big story.
|
Note: the opening text of Burly Man Chronicles contradicts this by referring to the second and third movies as "sequels." It would appear that BMC director Josh Oreck didn't remember the words of Staenberg in Oreck's own The Matrix Revisited documentary.
Joel Silver also says in Behind the Matrix:
I've been involved with sequels where the story ended in the first movie and the studio says, "That was successful. Let's make another." But this movie was designed as a piece of serial fiction. This story continued. The Wachowski brothers had it in their heads.
|
With this in mind, I don't see how the continuation of The Matrix could have been made significantly better. It had more action, more suspense, many more interesting characters, more mystery, more love, more philosophy, more everything. It did all we can expect a continuation of a story to do: it very effectively expanded the Matrix universe and continued adding interesting elements such as upgrades, backdoors, exiles, etc. The anticipation for release of the third Matrix movie rivaled that of any movie ever released in history, thanks to the mysterious and totally unpredictable twists found in Reloaded.
When I first watched Matrix Revolutions in the theater, my hopes of getting answers to the questions raised in the second movie were shattered. Not only were the questions from Reloaded still lingering, Revolutions seemed to create even more unanswered questions for me than I began with. I remember thinking, "That must be why it's called Revolutions and not Resolutions."
I was also extremely disappointed that the Matrix story seemed to do a complete 180-degree turn, leaving the realm of science fiction, where logical explanations can be found for everything, and entering the realm of religion, where miracles can be used as a way to make any desired plot line happen, no matter how impossible. It seemed the Wachowskis were given a science fiction movie-making gift that they promptly flushed down the toilet with the third movie.
I wasn't the only one who felt this way:
"Neo has left the Matrix only to land in an episode of Touched by an Angel. How did something
that started out so cool get so dorky?" - Manohla Dargis (LA Times)
|
However, as I watched all three movies in sequence several times and thought more about them, I noticed little pieces of the puzzle scattered throughout the entire trilogy - pieces of the movie that not even the best movie critic would ever get upon first or even second watching. Every time I watched the movies, I was able to fit more of these pieces together, and my previously unanswered questions made more and more science fictional sense to me. Now, the third movie no longer leaves me feeling unsatisfied like it used to. In fact, at first, the third movie did absolutely nothing for me emotionally at the end, and now I know why: my mind was too occupied and bothered by unanswered questions to "get into" the ending. But now that my mind is able to relax since the issues are resolved, I have found the ending to the third movie to be very powerfully moving.
Today, I can't help getting angry at many movie critics. On one hand, I realize they don't have hours upon hours to dig until they thoroughly understand a sophisticated movie. But on the other hand, if people who are paid to deliver educated, professional opinions about movies don't have time to dig into a movie, then who the heck does? And who should be punished for this failure? Unfortunately, it is the Wachowskis who pay the price for their own genius, while movie critics collect checks for each article they write, even if their articles dismiss works of art out of their own ignorance. This is a most frustrating punishment and reward system. The Wachowskis deliver the final movie in a masterpiece trilogy, and critics profit from demonstrating how little they know about it. I take refuge in knowing that I too felt the same way that these critics felt, and only my genuine curiosity and open-mindedness allowed me to expand my understanding of the movies enough to finally recognize how ignorant I was. Critics simply don't know what they don't know.
If you want to feel the same about the movies, read this site. I can't change your personal taste, so if you didn't like the cyberpunk theme, if you didn't care for someone's acting, etc., then this website probably won't change any of that. But if you think the third movie was worse than the other two movies, I guarantee that you are gravely mistaken. Read this site.
I truly believe the Wachowskis have produced perhaps the best set of movies ever made. The trilogy, judged by standards within the movie genre, is easily analagous to the greatness of any Beethoven sonata judged by standards within the music genre. And when I say this, I refer only to the surface level (premise/story, acting, directing, CGI, music), which is what this website is mostly devoted to. When one goes beneath the surface, I couldn't say it any better than this quotation from this Sparknotes article:
The Matrix films abound with references to pop culture, philosophy, religion, classic literature, myths, and other films. In making the
Matrix trilogy, the Wachowski brothers drew on imagery and ideas from Greek mythology, Gnosticism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Nihilism, Taoism,
comic books, the works of René Descartes, Homer’s Odyssey, Jean Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation, Kevin Kelly’s Out of Control, and
Dylan Evans’s Introducing Evolutionary Psychology. Actors from all over the world contributed their efforts to the films, and the cast is
meant to represent a wide cross-section of humanity. In this mishmash of ideas, cultures, religions, and nationalities, cultural
theorists of every stripe, religious scholars of all religions, and sci-fi fans all over the world have seen their own pet ideas reflected.
The Wachowski brothers insist that the trilogy is not meant to reflect one consistent set of symbols or any single religious or
philosophical system. Instead, they claim, the films draw upon an eclectic array of sources in order to forge a new, universal mythology.
While the Matrix films have also been remarkably influential in their own right, they have spawned several collections of philosophical essays, semester-long college courses, and endless debates and discussions. The “bullet-time” special effect pioneered by visual effects supervisor John Gaeta was instantly mimicked in television advertisements for cars and other products and has been spoofed in parodic films, both animated and live action. The Matrix films inspired an onslaught of commercial products, including video games, clothing, and comic books. The Matrix DVD became the first release to outsell its VHS copies and was instrumental in fueling the development of a burgeoning DVD industry. The Wachowskis were attuned to the cross-market potential of their films, and between The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions they created a series of animated shorts called The Animatrix, some of which give important background information for the films, and a video game called Enter the Matrix. With its countless references, cross-references, riddles, and enigmas, the trilogy seems to raise more questions than it answers, creating a sense of frustration that the filmmakers gleefully acknowledge. The Wachowskis have said that one of their primary goals was to make an action movie that would make people think, and because the movie is based on the idea that knowledge frees us, we are left to figure much of it out for ourselves. The directors are careful not to produce clear-cut answers to the problems they raise. Sometimes understanding the Matrix films is less about knowing exactly what’s going on and more about knowing what questions you’re supposed to ask. As Trinity tells Neo when she first meets him, “It’s the questions that drive us.” |
References to The Matrix are everywhere - from philosophy courses at York College and University of Washington in Seattle to search engine optimization marketing e-mails, The Matrix has become a true part of American and even world culture.
To further appreciate each movie, realize that each one satisfies a different part of our cinematic cravings:
On April 18, 2018, I was interviewed for about 15 minutes for the Nightlife program of ABC Australia (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), which is Australia's equivalent of UK's BBC. It aired on Saturday, April 21 as part of a "Cult Movie Obsessions" episode. I would have provided a link to the episode, but I have been unable to find the episode on the company's website. (EDIT on 6/20/19: I think I found the episode page, but the audio has expired.) Luckily, as it so happens, I didn't create this website in order to achieve fame and eternal glory, so I am fortunate enough to still be able to sleep at night despite this disappointment. Allowing this website to remain a contribution to humanity is satisfaction enough for me.
|
Introduction: Matrix Resurrections |
Introduction: Website Terminology |