Spoilers Below
"They took my life and turned in to a video game" laments Neo (Keanu Reeves) at one point in Lana Wachowski's The Matrix Resurrections, her return, sans her sister Lily, to the universe that defined them. Neo has learned after his sacrifice at the end of The Matrix Revolutions he was resurrected and put back in to the Matrix, where he was given the identity of a video game developer who created the video game called...The Matrix. One of the big themes of The Matrix was choice of identity. The Matrix gives you an identity but it is not one of your choosing. In Resurrections Neo's identity has been robbed of him and his life has been reduced to entertainment. The Matrix took humanity's imprisonment and turned it in to mass entertainment created by the very man who attempted to free humanity from their virtual prison. It would be a cosmic joke except it was specifically manufactured by a computer program, the Analyst (Neil Patrick Harris), who took over the Matrix from the Architect, he of the "ergo" and "vis a vis."
Bugs (Jessica Henwick), a resistance fighter, tells Neo that the Matrix took something so important to her and others, Neo's story and "turned it in to something trivial. Were better to bury truth than in something as ordinary as a video game?" One can hear through Neo and Bugs' conversation Wachowski lamenting on what was so personal to them becoming so commercialized. Hell, The Matrix was turned in to a video game, one written and directed by them. So maybe there's a little bit of self-critique from Wachowski. The Matrix was so personal to them- it's often read as a trans allegory- so perhaps it was reductive to turn it in to a video game and make sequels from it.
It's no coincidence the film's title has Resurrections in it, acknowledging this is a dead franchise being resurrected, along with a couple of previously thought dead characters. The film is a meta-commentary on legacy sequels, nostalgia and the role of a creator. This is Wachowski grappling with the legacy of her creation and the burden of creating something so popular it almost becomes bigger than you.
The Matrix Resurrections was to be made even without the Wachowskis' involvement but Lana Wachowski came on to steer the ship along with novelist and co-screenwriter David Mitchell (who wrote the novel Cloud Atlas on which the Wachowskis' film was based.) Neo (Thomas Anderson in the Matrix), like the Wachowskis, is told by his business partner (Jonathan Groff)- who's actually a new version of Neo's old nemesis Agent Smith- a sequel is happening to his seminal game with or without him. Smith even name drops Warner Bros. Making a sequel to the game is largely about nostalgia and Wachowski is critiquing how legacy sequels are largely dependent and coast on nostalgia. There's also the irony, as I already mentioned, of humanity's imprisonment becoming a touchstone for a generation via this game.
The success of the game has plagued Neo as he is unable to separate his "real life" from his "creation," even almost walking off a roof, believing he could fly. As a creator you can become so defined by your creation that it becomes a curse. You're not able to completely move on from it and people keep asking for more, more of you that you shouldn't have to give, more of what gives them comfort from the real world. In the film's case the "real world" is in itself a virtual reality. When you're playing a video game you're enjoying a simulation within what you don't realize is a simulation.
Your creation can also be co-opted by people for whom it was never meant. Look at how the concept of the Red Pill was incorporated in to the alt-right philosophy even though The Matrix was made by two trans women, people whom that movement hates. While art is always open to anybody to interpret as they wish, certain people can attach themselves to and misinterpret your work.
Coming back to Neo being unsure of his own reality- when Morpheus (Yahya Abdul Manteen II) shows up Neo thinks he's going crazy. This Morpheus is a computer program created by Neo, an amalgamation of the real Morpheus and Smith. I like Manteen's laidback and chic cool cat interpretation of Morpheus. This version of Morpheus is a cool conceit and I like that he can interact with people in the real world via a new technology. But my favourite performance in the film may be Groff's. Groff doesn't imitate Hugo Weaving but instead invokes something about that performance, all while adding his own corporate cut-throat smarm to the part. And his "awakening" provides one of the film's most memorable moments.
When Neo is taken out of the Matrix and learns the truth he begins grappling with his own legend and questions whether his sacrifice at the end of Revolutions mattered, due to learning his whole life became a video game for mass consumption. He's a little like Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi in that regard. He has to be told that what he did indeed mattered, even if things didn't work out perfectly. There actually was peace between machines and humans until a civil war broke out between the machines over an energy shortage. The last human city Zion was destroyed but humans and their machine allies forged a new underground city called IO. And Neo reunites an old ally, Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith), who never believed in the concept of the "One" but believed in Neo. There's even a field of study encompassing his life called "Neology."
Neo is defined by his own legend, just like the Wachowskis are defined by their creation. He is a man who can never just be a man. He is the One, he is a legend, he's the creator of the most important video game ever. Whether in the Matrix or out he's burdened by expectation, just like the Wachowskis are expected to always return to this universe. The only thing grounding Neo is Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), who died in Revolutions but along with Neo was resurrected by the aforementioned Analyst, who was tasked with researching Neo. He discovered Neo's powers were linked to Trinity and he could run the Matrix based on Neo and Trinity's relationship. I'm still a little confused on how this all works. But essentially, with Neo leaving the Matrix, it has destabilized. Trinity was given the name "Tiffany" while in the Matrix and the Analyst made sure to keep her and Neo close together in the Matrix. Neo wanting her out of the Matrix puts him at odds with the Analyst who wants him back in the Matrix. While the love story between Neo and Trinity didn't quite work for me in the trilogy I found there was something genuinely touching about their reunion in this film.
As others have pointed out, the Analyst is essentially a cynical Kevin Feige- like studio producer who's vision of the Matrix is to give people what they want. "The sheeple aren't going anywhere. They like my world," he tells Neo and Trinity in the final scene. "They want to be controlled. They crave the comfort of certainty." Coming back to the title, he's essentially resurrected the franchise and its dead characters. But Neo and Trinity tell him they're going to rewrite the Matrix. This echoes the original film's ending which implied Neo could change the Matrix, which the sequels ignored. It's also commenting on change and creativity in a franchise a good thing. And I would hope if there is a Matrix 5 the Matrix should look very different.
I feel I'm liking this film more in retrospect, which I know I've said before about certain films. I do feel this a film that's more interesting than enjoyable. It perhaps loses itself in its meta-commentary to the detriment of being a satisfying entertainment. The reason the original film is still the best is because it was just a exceptionally cool action film, with its blend of philosophy, martial arts, cyberpunk and rage against the system energy. The first two sequels- particularly The Matrix Reloaded- doubled down on the philosophy and action, ending up disappearing up their own asses. Re-watching them recently what stands out is the thin and stretched out story. Most of the films' running time is dedicated to bigger action sequences and duller scenes of philosophical discussion.
The original film had the right amount of philosophy without losing the audience. It was simple and accessible. And it was one of those zeitgeist defining films, a film I'd argue is the Star Wars of its time. And It probably never should have never gotten a sequel. The Matrix films have become like the Terminator franchise, in that it's been difficult to continue on the story from the first film- though Terminator 2 is a terrific sequel. The Matrix Resurrections critiques its own existence but may not prevent more Matrix films. It may have even opened the door. But as Morpheus would say, the Wachowskis will be the ones who have to walk through it.
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