The Matrix Resurrections (2021)

Few science fiction franchises arrive with the cultural weight that the Matrix series carries. When the original film landed in 1999, it felt like something genuinely new: a heady collision of Hong Kong action choreography, cyberpunk philosophy and bullet-time visuals that audiences had simply never seen before. The sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions (both released in 2003, directed by Lana Wachowski alongside her then-collaborator Lily Wachowski), divided opinion sharply at the time, though both have attracted a measure of critical reappraisal in the years since. The question of what, if anything, should follow Revolutions had been hanging in the air for nearly two decades by the time Resurrections finally arrived in December 2021.

This fourth instalment is directed solely by Lana Wachowski, produced through a partnership between Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures and her own Venus Castina Productions, and runs to a considerable 148 minutes. Lana Wachowski's return to the world she co-created is well-documented as a personal project, conceived and written during a period of significant loss in her life, and that biographical context colours some of the choices made here. Whether those choices translate into satisfying cinema is, of course, another matter entirely. The film revisits the universe established in the original 1999 film, bringing back the core mythology while introducing a fresh framing that is, to put it politely, self-referential to an unusual degree.

Keanu Reeves returns as Neo, and Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity, both reprising roles they last occupied eighteen years earlier. Alongside them, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II takes on a version of a familiar face in a new form, Jonathan Groff steps in as a polished but unremarkable antagonist figure, and Jessica Henwick provides much of the film's kinetic energy as a new recruit to the resistance. For fans of action cinema more broadly (and the Matrix series has always sat at the intersection of action and science fiction in a way that other genre entries rarely manage, as anyone who has spent time with films like another hard-hitting action film reviewed on the site will appreciate), the promise of Reeves back in a long coat ought to be enough to generate a certain excitement going in.

A painfully missed opportunity. After the wild, mind-bending finale of Matrix Revolutions (Matrix 3), there was actually a brilliant setup for a sequel: Neo, seemingly “unplugged,” still able to see the Matrix, still able to destroy machines with his mind. That should’ve been the first clue that he was never truly free and that maybe the rabbit hole went even deeper. Imagine a follow-up that leaned into that idea, Neo still plugged in, the Matrix even more insidious than before. A fresh philosophical trilogy was right there. But no. Instead, we got… this. A self-aware, nostalgia-drenched mess that spends half its runtime winking at the audience like it’s too cool to care and the other half rehashing old ideas with none of the impact. The plot holes are huge. The stakes are non-existent. The vibe is weirdly smug. Trinity’s back, Morpheus is… not Morpheus, and the new characters are completely forgettable. Even Keanu looks like he’s not sure what he’s doing here. This could have reignited the franchise with something bold and thought-provoking. Instead, it’s just a half-baked love letter to the original trilogy, especially the first film, and nothing more. Plug me back in. I don’t want to remember this one.

For me, the frustration is the kind that only comes when you can see, very clearly, the film that could have existed. The ingredients were there, the returning cast, the studio backing, and a director with a genuine emotional stake in the material. What I find hardest to shake is that nagging sense of a door left wide open and then, inexplicably, closed again. If you are going to bring an iconic franchise back after nearly two decades, you owe it something bolder than a knowing shrug. Sometimes the kindest thing you can do for a legacy is leave it alone.

Rating: ★★  | Year: 2021  | Watched: 2025-04-06

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Trailer

▶ Watch the official trailer for The Matrix Resurrections (2021) on YouTube

Where to watch

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More from Lana Wachowski: The Matrix Revolutions (2003) · The Matrix Reloaded (2003) · The Matrix (1999)
More with Keanu Reeves: The Matrix Revolutions (2003) · The Matrix Reloaded (2003) · The Matrix (1999)
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