Drs Dictums: The Matrix is back

So how do you bring back a film and characters when you tied up their stories super tidy like? It is the reason that TV shows end their season with cliff hangers, the story must always go on.

Matrix Resurrections opened in December and since I saw it I have had many people ask my thoughts. Well here you go, I thought it was pretty good. It is very hard to bring something back this many years later and not have everybody judge you for it. They beg for you to make the film and then when you do they ask why you just didn't leave it all alone.....ie see all Star Wars films after Jedi. I thought that the premise was reasonable enough....(some spoilers coming)....the characters had some purpose to come back and it wasn't making fun of any of the previous movies or just existing for the fandom.

The premise, that the machines fought each other after their war ended with man and there is still a need for energy and humans hooked up to a VR world is still the best they got. Not all machines are believers in it so you have machines working right along side man. Neo and Trinity have been saved and rescued by the machines and having them hooked up makes the batteries work better (I know I very much simplifying it). Humans are still hiding and they are still trying to release minds and they need the return of the saviors.

Enter the need for the characters. Without a good premise why would we need Trinity and Neo? You run the risk of making their sacrifice meaningless or creating something silly just to have them come back. The film succeeds in not trivializing the original trilogy or insulting the viewer with some random thing happening just to bring back the heroes.

Now, there is a lot of action for those who liked the first films and there is great effects. There are some tongue in cheek winks at the original that could have been taken out and been just fine but it is far from 'The Last Jedi' which tried to make fun of everything Star Wars and take down the foundation of a franchise.

If you haven't seen it I would advise you to see it in theaters if you can because that is the best way to see something like this. The film is not the same as when I saw the very first Matrix in the theater years ago and it isn't changing cinema forever but it does a great job of bringing back characters that people love and continuing a story that people want to see.

The Dr