ReelBob: ‘The Matrix: Resurrections’ ★★

By Bob Bloom

Watching “The Matrix: Resurrections” was like déjà vu all over again.

The movie felt like a “best of” compilation of sequences, situations and characters from the original “The Matrix” and its two inferior sequels.

“Resurrections” covers the familiar territory of discerning reality from illusion, of heroes finding their paths and a treatise of free will vs. herd mentality.

As long as people feel comfortable, content and safe, they don’t care if their lives are artifice, the older and slower Neo (Keanu Reeves) is told.

Reeves, at the outset, is reintroduced as Thomas A. Anderson. He now is a software programmer, famous for developing a hit video-game trilogy called The Matrix.

That is the first of many self-referential moments sprinkled throughout the movie.

Anderson is seeing a psychoanalyst, played by Neil Patrick Harris, because of the psychotic episodes he is experiencing in which he believes he is Neo, hero of the video game.

The analyst prescribes Anderson regular doses of a blue pill to control and lessen those moments. And we know what those pills signify.

Anderson begins to crack when his boss, Smith (Jonathan Groff), informs him that Warner Brothers wants the company to create a new Matrix game.

Also, Anderson, who seems to sleepwalk through every day, constantly visits a coffee shop, Simulatte, where he sips his drink and spies on a woman named Tiffany (Carrie-Ann Moss), who is married and has two kids.

She has no idea she is Trinity, Neo’s love in the trilogy, but Anderson believes they have a connection.

Soon, Anderson meets a new, younger Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), who offers Anderson a red pill — and we are off to the familiar terrain covered in the original trilogy, which, if you have not seen, may make you feel a bit lost.

From that point, “Resurrections” is straightforward — no surprises and no big reveals.

“Resurrections,” like Reeves — who is now 57 — feels a bit tread worn. The fight sequences lack the verve and speed of the originals. Reeves himself seems tired and uninspired. His Neo fails to ignite any fervor and passion in himself or the audience.

Director Lana Wachowski who, with her sister, Lily, created the franchise, works solo here. And it seems she has gone to this well one too many times. She cannot climb to the “wow” moments that made, at least the first movie, so memorable.

“Resurrections” comes to life when Neo and Trinity are finally reunited, but that is simply one blip late in this 148-minute feature and it cannot drive the movie.

And, yes, the special effects and fight sequences are very well choreographed, but, again, they add nothing new — most looking too similar to the originals.

Did I enjoy “The Matrix; Resurrections?” Not really. I found it interesting but familiar, like picking up an old dusty book to read again after several years. It’s satisfying, but not extraordinary.

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap substack and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.

THE MATRIX: RESURRECTIONS
2 stars out of 4
(R), violence, language