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> This movie had to be a troll. Not so much a "troll", but there's a scene in the first act that literally lays out the entire premise of the production and th

> This movie had to be a troll. Not so much a "troll", but there's a scene in the first act that literally lays out the entire premise of the production and the creator's feelings about feeling forced to do it. There are "lampshade hanging" fourth-wall breaks in the production meeting scenes that make Deadpool look conservative. The Wachowskis didn't want to do more Matrix. Warner were going to do more Matrix regardless, so Lana Wachowski decided to do it herself and use it to deconstruct both their own movies and reboot/nostalgia cinema in general (looking at you Force Awakens, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Space Jam et al)

elpakal 5y ago
I don’t know if it’s true that Lana W was forced to do this. I saw an interview with her and she said she needed to grieve about something and that this was what she wanted to do (or something along those lines). maybe true that WB would have done it anyway, but she didn’t seem forced.
- oliyoung 5y ago
  You might be right, "forced" might be the wrong word. WB's been in pre-production on a new Matrix for years now, and maybe she saw the opportunity to use it.
sam0x17 5y ago
Hot take: I was a huge fan of the original matrix trilogy and the animatrix, and while it wasn't what I expected, I enjoyed the film. In the late 90s, we had this whole thing of the corporate drone. That's sort of dead now. Instead we have millennials and zoomers with their spunk and crippling anxiety and standups and fair trade and breaking of fourth walls, and meta, etc, etc. It just feels like the original trilogy were movies that matched the late 90s and early 00s, and this movie matches the 2020s. It is impossible to take the sincere authenticity of the first three films and transplant them into the 2020s without having an identity crisis. This is just the shit timeline we're living in. Movie was on point. Was delighted to see none other than NPH as the central villain. Would have been much worse without him, imo.
- geenew 5y ago
  I like this take. I actually really enjoyed the first ~half of the movie, even laughed out loud a couple of times (esp the 'warner bros will make the game with or without us so we'd better just take on the job'). The second half of action-soup was, for me at least, boring and as far as I can tell nonsensical. I think the movie would have done a lot better without trying to redo any of the gunplay/holodeck-type fantasy, and instead stuck to the more grounded storyline from the first half. At this point we need commentary in the popular culture on reboots, there is enough grist in that mill for 2 hours at least.
  - sam0x17 5y ago
    I should add, though, I did like the interesting tidbits on what happened with Zion, how the machines went to war with _each other_, and how a new Zion (I forget the name) was formed, but instead allying with exiled machines. I was fascinated and wanted to know more about that "blue" faction and the "red" faction of robots that are seen briefly fighting each other. That glimpse into the lore was worth it for me. This is also just a really good evolution from the central conflict of the first three films which is basically like "technology = bad, but we need it". This film shows us "technology can be bad, but we can work together with it to build something beautiful and brighter". Really good evolution there. I think what ultimately sank the movie for a lot of fans was the Agent Smith actor was replaced. Too bad.
    - geenew 5y ago
      Agreed, the robots fighting each other aspect was interesting, I perked up at that. In retrospect, it's a sensible prediction of how artificial consciousnesses would behave given resource constraints. It's a question that's ignored in the single-hive-mind view from so many other dystopian techno-futures.
- XorNot 5y ago
  Since the 90s the concept of the corporate drone has only increased. Swap out Neo in a cubicle for Amazon warehouse worker, and you've got "the Matrix is keeping you on a tighter leash now". I find it very odd that people swear the themes wouldn't work today.
brightball 5y ago
Honestly, I didn’t like the movie but after reading your comment and realizing you’re completely right…I like it better now. Thanks for that.
- oliyoung 5y ago
  Pleasure! I had reservations about it, and I was surprised how much I liked it and how on board I was with it. I mean, it's not perfect, the third act is soft and there are plot-holes you can drive a truck through, but that wasn't the point and once I settled that, I found myself really enjoying it. I honestly think I'd have been more down on it trying to be just another "Matrix" film

elpakal 5y ago

I don’t know if it’s true that Lana W was forced to do this. I saw an interview with her and she said she needed to grieve about something and that this was what she wanted to do (or something along those lines). maybe true that WB would have done it anyway, but she didn’t seem forced.

oliyoung 5y ago
You might be right, "forced" might be the wrong word. WB's been in pre-production on a new Matrix for years now, and maybe she saw the opportunity to use it.

sam0x17 5y ago

Hot take: I was a huge fan of the original matrix trilogy and the animatrix, and while it wasn't what I expected, I enjoyed the film. In the late 90s, we had this whole thing of the corporate drone. That's sort of dead now. Instead we have millennials and zoomers with their spunk and crippling anxiety and standups and fair trade and breaking of fourth walls, and meta, etc, etc. It just feels like the original trilogy were movies that matched the late 90s and early 00s, and this movie matches the 2020s. It is impossible to take the sincere authenticity of the first three films and transplant them into the 2020s without having an identity crisis. This is just the shit timeline we're living in. Movie was on point. Was delighted to see none other than NPH as the central villain. Would have been much worse without him, imo.

geenew 5y ago
I like this take. I actually really enjoyed the first ~half of the movie, even laughed out loud a couple of times (esp the 'warner bros will make the game with or without us so we'd better just take on the job'). The second half of action-soup was, for me at least, boring and as far as I can tell nonsensical. I think the movie would have done a lot better without trying to redo any of the gunplay/holodeck-type fantasy, and instead stuck to the more grounded storyline from the first half. At this point we need commentary in the popular culture on reboots, there is enough grist in that mill for 2 hours at least.
- sam0x17 5y ago
  I should add, though, I did like the interesting tidbits on what happened with Zion, how the machines went to war with _each other_, and how a new Zion (I forget the name) was formed, but instead allying with exiled machines. I was fascinated and wanted to know more about that "blue" faction and the "red" faction of robots that are seen briefly fighting each other. That glimpse into the lore was worth it for me. This is also just a really good evolution from the central conflict of the first three films which is basically like "technology = bad, but we need it". This film shows us "technology can be bad, but we can work together with it to build something beautiful and brighter". Really good evolution there. I think what ultimately sank the movie for a lot of fans was the Agent Smith actor was replaced. Too bad.
  - geenew 5y ago
    Agreed, the robots fighting each other aspect was interesting, I perked up at that. In retrospect, it's a sensible prediction of how artificial consciousnesses would behave given resource constraints. It's a question that's ignored in the single-hive-mind view from so many other dystopian techno-futures.
XorNot 5y ago
Since the 90s the concept of the corporate drone has only increased. Swap out Neo in a cubicle for Amazon warehouse worker, and you've got "the Matrix is keeping you on a tighter leash now". I find it very odd that people swear the themes wouldn't work today.

brightball 5y ago

Honestly, I didn’t like the movie but after reading your comment and realizing you’re completely right…I like it better now. Thanks for that.

oliyoung 5y ago
Pleasure! I had reservations about it, and I was surprised how much I liked it and how on board I was with it. I mean, it's not perfect, the third act is soft and there are plot-holes you can drive a truck through, but that wasn't the point and once I settled that, I found myself really enjoying it. I honestly think I'd have been more down on it trying to be just another "Matrix" film