Henry Neilsen (He/Him)

Ok I just saw the fourth Matrix movie and I have some seriously mixed feelings it was plumbing nostalgia to attack nostalgic filmmaking at the same time as taking the absolute piss at the same time as telling a real story about social media at the same time as being kinda... Bad?

Like I genuinely don't know how to feel but I am doing a big think and it kinda feels like even doing a big think about a film like this is the kind of thing the film was making fun of.

But at the same time, it kept talking about how often things aren't about a binary, that often it's neither. Or both. Or something else entirely.

So I don't know. But I definitely had a think about it.

#movies #moviereview #thematrixresurrections

Jul 9, 2023 at 2:45pmWeb
Show threadkaterbergJul 9, 2023
@henryneilsen I loved the first third so much and thought it was as good as anything they’ve made. But the last half was so generic and bad that it made the whole thing sour for me
Show threadHenry Neilsen (He/Him)Jul 10, 2023

@katerberg I agree, but also! I think that was kind of the point? It seems to have this constant thematic thing about how much it hates the weaponisation of nostalgia, and the fact that it's so self aware. Like, it *starts* with a shot for shot remake of the opening scene, and then agent Smith staring into the camera and saying "Warner Bros made me do it", after *bugs bunny" pulls him out of retirement. So the rest of the movie, where it's a tired thing with lame quips and lackluster straight to DVD action scenes, makes complete sense.
Yet it remains the tired thing full of lame quips and lackluster straight to DVD action scenes.

But THEN it's talking about how things don't have to be a binary. So it can be an extremely clever deconstruction of the concept of a zombie franchise reboot, and kind of a bad movie at the same time.

Or I'm just being the exact kind of nerd at the start of the movie that Lana Wachowski was making fun of.

Show threadkaterbergJul 10, 2023

@henryneilsen I can totally buy that that is what was intended, but even then I don’t think it makes it a good movie :(

The first third had the potential of not just making the thing a reconstruction, but instead an active critique of the problem. I think She-Hulk’s final episode did this quite well, but that’s an easier format for it too

Show threadHenry Neilsen (He/Him)Jul 11, 2023
@katerberg that's fair. It gave me very mixed feelings.