Is Resurrections The Best Matrix Sequel?

Warning: Spoilers for The Matrix: Resurrections.

Is The Matrix Resurrectionsthe best sequel in The Matrix franchise? Critical and audience reviews for The Matrix Resurrections have been pretty divisive, as some believe that the sequel is too scattered and meta for its own good, bereft of the magic of the original. On the other hand, The Matrix Resurrections has been praised for its innate brazenness, and its grounded focus on a romance that imbues the narrative with great emotion and depth.

The Matrix Resurrections is undoubtedly no match for 1999’s The Matrix, as nothing can ever replicate the ingenuity of the film’s concept at that point in time, along with the cementing of an aesthetic integral to the cyberpunk subculture. Every Matrix sequel, no matter how promising, has paled in comparison to the original, which warrants evaluation of its successors on the basis of completely different parameters. While the storytelling of The Matrix Resurrections is convoluted and flawed, the film stays true to the franchise’s core legacy and imbues greater meaning to the choices of its main characters.

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The Matrix Resurrections continues the saga of Neo, plunging audiences into the illusory world of the matrix, evoking a mix of self-targeted humor and scathing social commentary. As Neo struggles to discern what’s real and what’s not, Bugs and Morpheus, along with the crew of the Mnemosyne, find a way to extract him into the real world, reminding him of the reason he kept fighting for so long – Trinity. Here’s a look into whether The Matrix Resurrections is the best Matrix sequel, along with the possible reasons why it fares better than Reloaded and Revolutions.

How The Matrix 4 Continues The Wachowkis’ Original Story

The Matrix 4 resurrects the Wachowskis’ original saga in fresh and interesting ways, given the fact that both Trinity and Neo are dead at the end of Revolutions. While there were concerns that Neo and Trinity’s return would cheapen their sacrifice within the ambit of the story, Lana Wachowski’s sequel maintains a delicate balance between honoring the past and paving a better future. After Neo is extracted into the real world by Bugs and Morpheus, he laments that his actions, along with Trinity’s death, have been in vain. However, Bugs explains that every choice made by the two of them mattered in the end, as the duo’s presence in the Machine city greatly impacted the relationship between humans and a handful of synthients. Thanks to Neo and Trinity, thousands of blue pilled humans were able to choose freedom, and IO was able to flourish due to sentient-human cooperation.

On the other hand, The Analyst’s decision to dishonor Neo’s truce with the Machines by resurrecting him and Trinity depicts the cold, calculative side of the Machine world, as not everyone seeks out peaceful coexistence. By positioning both Neo and Trinity as integral to the functioning of the matrix, The Matrix Resurrections manages to bring the threads of its predecessors to a neat conclusion, granting agency to the act of love, rather than a preordained anomaly under the guise of the ‘One’ – a philosophy that dominated Revolutions and Reloaded. While the sequel does not help answer all questions, it attempts to offer glimpses of the intricate worldbuilding, with the aid of flashbacks to the inter-machine wars and the presence of exiles such as the Merovingian, albeit in a meta, tongue-in-cheek style.

What The Matrix Resurrections Does Better Than The Original

There are several things The Matrix Resurrections does not do better than the original, key being the absolutely breathtaking action sequences in the 1999 film, along with the profound layers of meaning granted to complex characters such as Agent Smith. However, The Matrix Resurrections improves upon the original’s focus on the concept of the One, which is immediately dismantled by the end of Revolutions, and absolutely restructured in the latest sequel.

While The Matrix has always been about love, as evidenced by Trinity’s life-affirming kiss that brings Neo back to life in the first film, Resurrections drives the point home in a sincerely emotional and grounded manner, connecting the two main characters in ways that were only hinted at in the original trilogy; their love for one another was central, but The Matrix Resurrections builds upon that relationship and makes it integral to the longevity of the matrix itself. The addition of Bugs is another triumph, as her character is a living testimony to the events of the trilogy, and how they shaped the individuals freed after Neo’s sacrifice in The Matrix Revolutions.

Resurrections Fixes 3 Major Matrix Sequels Mistakes

The Matrix sequels have been less well-received in comparison to the original, despite containing solid narrative threads and expertly-crafted action sequences. The sequels failed to capture the magic of the original, depending too much on CGI, marring the organic beauty of the hand-to-hand combats in the first film. The Matrix Resurrections remedies this to a great extent, as the fight sequences, although haphazard and nowhere near the original, feel more personal, such as Morpheus and Neo’s sequence in the dojo and the bathroom fight sequence between the upgraded Agent Smith and Neo. The sequels, especially Reloaded, introduced a plethora of new characters who were neither memorable nor worth rooting for, while introducing almost no fresh ideas to move the plot forward.

This is easily remedied in The Matrix Resurrections, as the film manages to not only reinvent iconic characters in different avatars (Morpheus, Smith) but also grants newer characters who are interesting in their own right, such as Bugs and The Analyst. While Revolutions was a pretty dense sequel rife with the themes of choice, sacrifice, war, and what it truly means to be the ‘One’, the unceremonious nature of Trinity’s death was pretty shocking for fans of the character. Revolutions ended with the bold decision to kill off its main characters, leaving tons of unanswered questions in its wake. Resurrections manages to pick up right where it left off without retconning its canonical decisions, building and improving upon its choices instead. Bringing Neo and Trinity back in a manner that justified the past as well as the present is no easy feat, and it is something the sequel accomplishes with much grace.

Why Resurrections Is The Best Matrix Sequel

Although thoroughly flawed and definitely inferior to the original, The Matrix Resurrections is the most worthy sequel in the franchise due to a plethora of reasons. Not only is Resurrections bold enough to scrutinize its own legacy – such as the heavily misconstrued notions associated with the idea of red-pilling – but also manages to peel back its meta layers to reveal something innately genuine. Resurrections, through its exploration of the concept of binaries, identity (both real and projected), and the pitfalls of a power-hungry system, reinforces the multiplicity of interpretation, be it as a trans allegory, a love story, an anti-capitalist manifesto, or all of the above. By democratizing the powers of the One between Trinity and Neo, Resurrections brings a beautiful finish to a groundbreaking tale, one that might either be a tough pill to swallow or a gateway to new beginnings via a giant leap of faith.

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