So, I really liked the new Matrix movie. I thought Resurrections was well-made and interesting. The first and second act were stronger than the third. And I only say that because the third act felt a bit like a victory lap at times (I’m okay with that, it just wasn’t as compelling as the lead up).

I liked all the new characters they introduced; esp. Bugs and Shepherd. I thought the new “Morpheus” worked really well.

SPOILERS HERE

I also feel like one of the problems with this new movie is that it introduced so many new ideas. The robot civil war, the Analyst and his views of humanity, the Sentients, and the need for Neo/Trinity to exist.

This story deserved to be its own trilogy (or a limited series) that had six hours to explore all these ideas instead of two. As it was, the story was rushed and never had a chance to breathe.

I also really enjoyed the virtual lives that Neo and Trinity were living in the new Matrix and how they were developed. We find Trinity in a very “gendered” role as middle-age soccer mom and as more details are revealed we find out it’s not quite that clear. We find Neo as a middle-aged man with mental illness and a sense that something is missing in his life. This phase of the story deserved more time to breath.

The commentary in this movie was more “on-the-nose” than in the previous trilogy but in a way that I found effective. Especially considering how the message of the original movies seems to have been lost on a significant portion of the audience.

Oh, and a trans creator telling a story where the very white male protagonist can’t be complete without fully embracing their feminine counterpart? Maybe it’s not subtle but it was effective for me. And if you go back to the original trilogy and watch again, the seeds of this story are planted all over the place.

In the end, the Matrix was armchair philosophy-cyberpunk-wirefu for white people. It also seemed to understand that. And that’s why it worked. So love it or hate it, I still think that the new movie is a worthy, if short-changed, addition to the story and I liked it. I wish we had gotten more time with these new ideas and characters.