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AI´s perhaps self-ironic response to the prompt "Neo, Trinity and Morpheus"! |
So I finally watched "The Matrix Resurrections", the sequel to the Matrix trilogy. The film reminds me of installments two and three in said trilogy, but also adds a peculiar twist. It´s actually self-ironic. And if there´s something "The Matrix" concept never was, it´s self-ironic. Welcome to...the Meta-Matrix?! The film even makes fun of the conflict between Warner Brothers and the Wachowski sisters concerning the future of the franchise!
The plot is set sixty years after the original films. Thomas Anderson is a succesful game developer living out his life in a bustling early 21st century metropolis. Anderson´s most popular game is called "The Matrix" and is freely based on strange and apparently delusional memories he tries to suppress by consuming blue pills recommended by his shrink. He also has an inexplicable crush on an MC-obsessed woman named Tiffany.
Of course, it soon turns out that the memories are real (but we knew that already). Tom is really Neo, while Tiffany is Trinity. Anderson´s boss is none other than Agent Smith, while most inhabitants of the big city are zombified bots (but I´m repeating myself). The evil machines have rebuilt the Matrix, the gigantic interactive computer simulation which keeps humanity in thrall. They managed to resurrect Neo and Trinity from the dead and re-inserted them into the system. When Morpheus also comes back from the dead in the form of an avatar and frees Neo from his bondage, the stage is set for yet another confrontation between man and technics.
Some things are different, however. Some machines have sided with the free humans. Agent Smith has less of a grudge against Neo than usual. The previously classy Merovingian looks like a tramp. And despite the constant humorous jabs at the old franchise, the underlying tone actually seems darker. One central idea in "Matrix Resurrections" is that humanity as a whole is easily manipulated and really doesn´t want to be saved. As already noted, the humans have been possessed by bots and become a kind of zombies. This is an obvious nod to the NPC meme. Funny, since the Wachowski brothers-cum-sisters didn´t like how the Alt Right appropriated the "red pill" from the first movie. But the idea that most people are NPCs is of course also associated with the Alt Right...
Note also that the chief crook is The Analyst, who is indeed a psychoanalyst. This could be interpreted as psychology or psychiatry being evil for holding us back from our divine birthright, instead "adapting" us to the mundane existence of post-modern civilization (and boredom). Not sure why this plays such a prominent part of the plot, though. Sounds a bit too much like Scientology!
In the end, love conquers all and the liberated Neo and Trinity fly away sky-bound, perhaps awaiting their next resurrection...