The Matrix Resurrectionshas a totally different visual style than the original trilogy, but there’s a reason the fourthMatrixmovie has its own aesthetic. 18 years after the release ofThe Matrix Revolutions, Lana Wachowski finally returned to the franchise for a fourth film. Warner Bros. had been clamoring for anotherMatrixmovie for years and, as Wachowskipointed out inThe Matrix Resurrectionsitself, the studio essentially threatened to make aMatrixmovie with or without her. Wachowski co-wrote the script for the fourthMatrixfilm withCloud Atlas’ David Mitchell andThe Lazarus Project’s Aleksandar Hemon.
At the beginning ofThe Matrix Resurrections, Thomas Anderson is reintroduced as a video game developer.The Matrixmoviesare revealed to just be a video game series that Anderson conjured up. In its opening act, the film toys with the notion that all the previous movies’ events didn’t actually happen. Eventually, the movie reveals that Anderson is, indeed, Neo and that he did, indeed, escape from the Matrix and end the war between the humans and the machines.The Matrix Resurrectionsstill doesn’t look like the previous movies, but there’s a reason for that.
The Matrix Resurrections Takes Place In A New Version Of The Matrix
The Matrix Has Been Rebooted
At the beginning ofThe Matrix Resurrections, Bugs learns thatthe machines are running old code of the Matrix on a loop. Neo is back under the impression that the simulation of the Matrix is actually reality. As far as he knows, Trinity is just a married mother, who he sees at his regular coffee shop. His therapist, The Analyst, has convinced him that the events ofThe Matrixtrilogy all happened in his imagination. When Bugs shows up, she reveals that the Matrix is real after all, and the original trilogy really happened.
A newMatrixmovie is in development with Drew Goddard attached to write and direct.
But this isn’t the same version of the Matrix seen in the original trilogy. This isa new, rebooted version of the Matrix. This explains why the fourth movie looks so different from its predecessors. The green-tinted visuals of the original trilogy reflected the look of that particular simulation, the one created to reflect the pinnacle of human society in 1999. The brighter, more varied color palette ofThe Matrix Resurrectionshighlights thatthis is a totally different version of the Matrix, one that reflects a totally different society.
The Matrix Resurrections Is Meant To Feel Different From The Original Movies
It’s A Meta, Non-Traditional Sequel
The Matrix Resurrectionsdefinitely has a different feel than the other movies, but that’s intentional — and not just because it takes place in a new iteration of the Matrix.The Matrix Resurrectionsis supposed to be a non-traditional sequel.The Matrix ReloadedandThe Matrix Revolutionsare sequels in the most traditional sense. They continue the story that began in the first film, build to an epic climax, and wrap up the saga with a definitive resolution of the ongoing conflicts. By comparison,The Matrix Resurrectionsis a very different kind of sequel.
10 Harsh Realities Of Rewatching The Matrix Resurrections Almost 2 Years Later
It’s been nearly two years since The Matrix Resurrections torpedoed the franchise’s canon, and the most glaring flaws stand out on a rewatch.
The Matrix Resurrectionsis a meta commentaryon the franchise itself, and the concept of sequels in general. It starts out with Anderson being told that Warner Bros. is demanding a sequel toThe Matrixtrilogy. There’s a whole sequence in which Anderson and his team of writers sit around a table and pitch ideas for what a newMatrixstory could entail. Clearly,The Matrix Resurrectionsisn’t a typical sequel.The altered aesthetic reflects the fact that this is a totally separate work from the original trilogy; it’s its own thing.
The Matrix Resurrections' Different Tone Might Have Played Against The Movie
It Might Have Made The Matrix 4 Too Different
In hindsight, the different tone and visual style ofThe Matrix Resurrectionsmight have worked against the movie. It wasalready a radical departure from whatMatrixfans were used to. It toyed with the notion that the entire original trilogy was a figment of Neo’s imagination, it recast two ofthe bestMatrixcharacters, and it revealed that Neo’s heroism inThe Matrix Revolutionswas ultimately futile because the machines and their enslavement simulation eventually came back in full force. It takes the story in directions that no one was expecting.
If The Matrix Resurrections had felt a bit more like the original Matrix movies, with high-octane action and green-hued visuals, then those radical narrative decisions might have gone down a bit more smoothly.
It may have been a bridge too far to tell that story in a completely different style with a new tone and aesthetic.It was missing all the hallmarks of aMatrixmovie: the digital rain was redesigned, the action sequences weren’t as exhilarating, and the pacing was much more cerebral. IfThe Matrix Resurrectionshad felt a bit more like the originalMatrixmovies, with high-octane action and green-hued visuals, then those radical narrative decisions might have gone down a bit more smoothly.
The Matrix Resurrections
Cast
Set sixty years after The Matrix Revolutions, The Matrix Resurrections is a sci-fi action movie that sees the return of Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne moss nearly twenty years after the release of the previous film. Neo has become a game developer who struggles to grasp reality, and his concerns are validated when a new visage of Morpheus arrives to free him from his prison - a newly created Matrix. Learning that Trinity is alive and being held prisoner, Neo will join a new rebel force to save her and confront a new, dangerous foe known as the Analyst.
