Musings on Matrix 4

I don't think any film will ever be able to replicate the "whoa" factor of the Wachowskis' original The Matrix, which came out 20 years ago this year. Seamlessly weaving together cyber-punk, martial arts, John Woo amounts of bullets and philosophical questions about reality, I would argue it's the Star Wars of its time, a game changer whose influence is still being felt today. Its sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions doubled- hell, triple- down on the action and cerebral themes but received mixed reactions from audiences. It had been reported this past year that Warner Bros. was planning to do another Matrix film, with rumours suggesting it was to be a prequel focused on the Laurence Fishburne character of Morpheus. But just recently it was announced Lana Wachowski would be returning to write the fourth installment of the series along with novelists Aleksandar Hemon and David Mitchell (who wrote the novel Cloud Atlas, which was adapted by the Wachowskis); Wachowski will be directing, the first time a Matrix film was helmed by just one of the siblings. Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss are returning to reprise their roles of Neo and Trinity.

It makes sense to bring Reeves back for another Matrix film. When people think of The Matrix, they think of his surfer-dude delivery of "whoa" and "I know Kung-Fu, and the iconic bullet dodger. Along with the popularity of the John Wick films and Reeves persona as one of the nicest guys in Hollywood, it'd be remiss not to include him. However,  Neo's story did appear to be over at Revolutions' end, though his fate was left ambiguous; and Trinity's death was the big emotional scene of that film. Can they be brought back without seemingly undoing the emotional and thematic beats of the film?

It's the same problem with which the new Star Wars films have faced. Return of the Jedi had such a concrete ending to the Star Wars saga that the events of the new films have put a damper on the series' happy ending. Though unlike ROTJ, Revolutions' ending was more guardedly optimistic than fairy-tale perfect.

I do like we're not travelling down the prequel or reboot hole with the franchise, despite rumours of casting a younger actor as Morpheus. Unless this is like The Godfather Part II were we get flashbacks to Morpheus at the beginning of his journey to finding The One. The young Vito scenes in that film are in my opinion the best example of doing a prequel/origin story for a character. I do hope Fishburne because I feel the film would feel incomplete without his presence.

Regardless of the sequels' receptions there's a compelling story to be told about the trilogy's aftermath. The Wachowskis have always been audacious filmmakers, refusing to water down their vision for mainstream audiences, so I believe this will be daring and unexpected. Both Cloud Atlas and Jupiter Ascending make the Matrix films seem tame by comparison. But I do miss the simplicity of the original Matrix and wouldn't be against pulling back a little and returning to the more intimate scale of that film. 

So, what are your feelings continuing down the rabbit of The Matrix franchise? Comment below and let me know.