Half in the Bag: The Matrix Resurrections

Definitely a meta movie unlike other stuff I’ve seen 🤔, definitely is hard to live in the shadow of one of the best action movies ever

Blue Cheese

Lousy action sequences aside, I loved the way Lana Wachowski hammered the audience and Warner Brothers. 3/5 stars. 6/10? No. 9.424777/15.707963 stars. Much better.

Paul Spence

Messy over-stylized crap is the wachowski brand. As much as I respect the sisters’ attitude and struggles artistically they are basically the post-modernist Michael Bay.

Thanks for another great review Just thought I'd let you know, that the other day I was rewatching your Star Wars Holiday Special review (because Christmas!), and after an ad for Papa John's Matrix Resurrections special offer played. I can't decide if it was worse than the Ghostbusters 2016 ad, it was pretty close. I think it's harder for me to imagine characters from The Matrix eating Papa Johns than Ghostbusters.

Mel

So after watching this video, I went back and rewatched the original Matrix... and noticed for the first time that when Neo is sitting in the Oracle's livingroom with the other potentials, NIGHT OF THE LEPUS is on in the background!!!! Killer bunnies in slow mo!

I smiled at a bullfrog once. It ribbited at me. I don’t trust bullfrogs anymore.

TheSingingBush

There was something strikingly different about resurrections. Couldn't put my finger on it, but then I realized. Neo smiles. Not just that, but he pops a smile like Keanu in Bill and Ted's. I guess that plays into the whole meta/self-aware thing. :D

Yngwie Tarantino

Also the graphics were terrible and the fight scenes were meaningless since we know all these people now (Thanks to the Martix MMO) are basically IDDQD the avatar they have. I also hated Jada Pinkett so when she's the first side character they brought back it was annoying.

WW

Good review, but I disagree RLM gang. The "quirky self aware" moment was irritating to me because WB are those people. They don't really seem to care about the product and just sit in a board room and someone throws a dart at a board and it says "Zack Snyder." They hand the guy important IPs and tell him to do whatever he wants. When they are those people they're making fun of its not funny when they do it this poorly.

WW

I'm kind of shocked nobody has mentioned the amazing end credit music, as seen before at the end of "The Western Ore Musical"! I love it.

John Kott

It's probably still woke garbage...

Manuel Johnen

This was a very thoughtful review. It made me want to see the movie. So many people are bagging on it for being "woke garbage" or whatever, but Mike and Jay really laid out why the movie works on certain levels despite having some glaring flaws. It's funny that the thumbnail is misleading.

Davey Cakes

I went to see this movie in theatres and I just had such a good time. I totally agree with everything Mike and Jay said but damn did I have a good time. I loved every meta joke and all the performances. Made me very happy to be back in a movie theatre!

Leah Dooley

Outside my other Rant... Love the Episode, part of reason for my rant is I like to look into the bts of movies more, like RLM does, so while I do rantt, you can blame it on RLM a little bit.. they inspired me with the way they research into Movies... Also I'm in preproduction of my first Movie and wanna once again thank RLM for inspiring me to gt off my arse and start doing something instead of saying "I will one day do something".

Munchman

You talking about the invisible comics? They're going to make a TV series out of that? That comic is straight up like a fever dream of Grant Morrison's

Can you say that again

TheSingingBush

Just FYI, the whole speech about the Previous movies requires some extra info. TThere is a comic called the Invisibles by Grant Morrison, many MANY of the scenes and even most of thte over arching theme of The Matrix is ripped off from that comic, NOW bfore you light the torches LISTEN, The Matrix is still it's own thing, and the Wachowski's did "make it their own" HOWEVER it is for all intents and purposes an Adaptation of Invisibles. Now I'm not pointing the finger, not having a go, coz in reality THAT is what the Wachowski's accel at. When they do Adaptations they do them really well, remember V for Vendetta? Yeah! Howevr in regards to Matrix 2 and 3, well here is what happened, when they were filming Matrix 2, it came out about the Invisibles comparisons and Warner Brothers knew that it could lead to a lawsuit, even though tthe Invisibles creator Grant Morrison, said all he wanted was a note in the credits on the VHS/DVD saying "insipred" by him, which just for the redcord if you read the invisbles ther is LITERALLY the entire jumping between building scene, WORD FOR WORD the Same and even the Pill scene is lifted pretty much wholesale. Anyway they had started filming 2 when WB flipped the shit and handed down a mandate, NO REFERENCES TO INVISIBLES!!! The problem was, well they were A. Using elements from Matrix that were from the Invisibles, and B. were using some more elements for that, in realiy they actually were veering more away from Invisibles but now it was mandated, so what do? Well they did their best but ther def ARE more references, but since tthey had to rewrite and even reshoot some scenes, it ballooned and well that's why 2 has the Clunk Factor. So what about 3, well in 3 they had to COMPLETELY avoid Invisibles and hence... the fact it sort of retcons a buncha shit, basically they had to right a ship all coz WB wouldn't fucken give Grant Morrison an "inspired by" in the credits... BTW my sources are all over the internet, you can literally read comments by Grant Morriosn, including thsi pearler after he saw Matrix 2/3. They were okay, but really, they shoulda just stuck to ripping me off, then the movies mighta made more sense. Good stuff. As an aside, they are gonna do an Invisibles TV series, so get ready for peole saying "They ripped off Matrix", No... NO! Wachowski's did it first and ultimately Grant even said himself, it's not a crime to rip someone off, as long as you make it your own thing it's fine, hell everyone does it whether they mean to or not, plagerism on the other hand is not okay, there is a difference, if you don't now what that difference is, you maybe shouldn't be making comics (movies, tv shows, etc). Point is the Matrix IS it's own thing, but scenes were lifted completely, you cannot deny this, the wacxhowski's didnt' do anything specifically wrong, in the end the Matrix is not a 1 to 1 to the invisibles, many themes and elements are different, to the point it is it's own thing, but many of the overarching themes are def from invisibles, so to me it's an adaptation, and as I said Wachowski's are great at that, it's when they try to do their own thing like... Jupiter Ascending, we see that they sadly are not good at coming up with original work. Anyway this is my rant, enjoy or don't feel free to dispute me if you want, I love the Matrix, the first one, enjoyed 2, not big on 3, gonna most likly avoid 4, unless it just comes up, then most likly just watch it just coz... it's funny I just realised I've seen all three OG movies at Cinema... Ah, Memories.

Munchman

After all is said and done, more people will have watched the review than the movie itself anyway...

Manuel Johnen

Trying to decide if I should watch this video before M4. If it’s as bad as I hear, should I just skip it and watch this spoilery video instead? I know this video will be entertaining for sure.

Mike St Louis

Last comment

TheSingingBush

I miss the New Years Day live streams :)

VHS VCR

We got some OHL Heads over at RLM!

Sarah Low

Congrats on the 200th episode!

Michael Matzat

No "They Live", no "Matrix"... no "eXistenZ", no "Matrix"... no "Dark City", no "Matrix"... no one million sci-fi-short stories probably that I don't know about, no "Matrix"...

Manuel Johnen

The OG Matrix owes a great deal to Ghost in the Shell. No Ghost in the Shell - no Matrix. The country I'm in doesn't have HBO Max so I had to see this movie in the theater. Cue that "bummer tuba music". Happy New Year! Thanks RLM. Looking forward to more Star Trek TNG stuff!

Tony C

I missed out on seeing the first Matrix back when it was more, idk, culturally groundbreaking? So my response to it was pretty lukewarm. I might go through and watch them all though now that this one's out, your guys' review has me more interested than I was initially. Also speaking of Joe Dante I watched Innerspace a few days ago for absolutely no reason and it was way more fun than I anticipated. Dunno if either of you have a take on that one. Oh also happy new year ❤️

Rhea

I remember liking the first Matrix alright but thinking back then that a) it was a letdown after "Bound" which is still the Wachowski's best movie imho, and b) what more "intellectual" directors like Kubrick etc. might have done with this philosphically interesting idea. The 2nd and 3rd Matrix I thought were both comically bad and I stopped watching both half way through. But hey, I will watch the new one before watching the episode...... the things I do for you guys!! Well, having seen the movie now I agree with Mark Kermode's review. Yes, the self-referentiality at the beginning is cool and as Kermode put it, it would have made for a great short film. But, well, there is long film afterwards and that DOES fall into the "Matrix regurgitation" trap it mentions itself. Not as bad as it could be and it remains self-aware throughout, but still.... as a Matrix movie it's just not that good. Better than 2 and 3 imho but that isn't saying much. Meh.

schopi

Happy new year bro

run_away

Office Hours + RLM = a great start to 2022.

Alek

I fell asleep during the first Matrix, woke up midway through, and have never cared about finding out what I missed. I was just...bored. I can appreciate the aesthetics of the movie but that's about it. Anyway, Happy New Year to our fearless leaders and to everyone here; y'all always make it worth the trip. Cheers!

Lisa

I don't know which of you fine gentlemen are writing the intro or the YouTube description, but it is solid gold. Also, I believe I was promised a Pizza roll years ago...

Bort Ward

I’m curious about Mike’s HBO Max watchlist.

andrew

Happy New Year dear RLM crew and audience!

Peter Varga

I think I see a VHS box cover of Star Trek Generations on the TV table. Has that always been there or is Jay trolling Mike?

Jared

Why does it look so bad? Is that a meta thing too? They should just stop making movies, say they are still making movies and if you don't get it you are stupid and you don't understand art. That's probably the future.

Juan Calvo

As a born hater, their somewhat positive reaction is kind of infuriating to me tbh.

I agree with you guys on this one. Love it or hate it, I think there's a lot of interesting things about it to make it a worthwhile recommendation, so long as you'll be satisfied with something other than the type of Matrix movie you'd expect. I thought what this movie was saying was ambitious. The *movie* is the simulation, and the 'system' is the film industry, with both the studio execs and the audience themselves as part of the system of control. It was an interesting take on what The Matrix is, both as a story and the very thing it's telling the story about. I think the meta-awareness and 4th wall breaking is sort of a perfect way to use a Matrix vehicle, because it plugs into the themes of the original Matrix so well. Control, freedom, creativity, simulation, etc were all strong themes of the original film, and I found this movie made me think about these same things in a new light that is actually a bit more profound than the original movie in one key way. As an audience member watching this movie, *you are in the Matrix*, because *this Matrix is the film itself*. The original movie made you wonder if it were possible you were really plugged into a computer, which made you go 'whoa' when you considered it. But this movie takes it to the next level. The 'simulation' we are trapped in, to placate us and keep the machines ('the Suits' that NPH references, the execs behind the studio) running, is the medium of storytelling (by the studio system) itself. NPH even describes it as a product in the film, and not so transparently talks about how expensive it was to resurrect the characters and how his quarterly numbers are up, etc. He talks about what keeps people happy and complacent by giving people the emotional elements they want, and how keeping people agitated but never allowed to have a payoff keeps the system going with greater 'profits' than ever. He says that people will never be happy with what Neo and Trinity can give them, that people don't want that sappy bullshit. In a way it seems he's right. One thing I was surprised that they didn't mention was the Merovingian's crazed ranting in his scene - I had to go back with captions, but he's crazily ranting about how his old world of art and culture has been ruined, and this new world is a nightmare of reboots and sequels, and he even calls out Mark Zuckerberg as one of the ills of society. It's interesting that the original trilogy was about Neo breaking an endless cycle of the Matrix being rebooted over and over, and this movie has commentary to say about the reboot/sequel/rehash culture. So no, I don't think this movie was exactly a 'middle finger' to Warner Brothers or 'bad on purpose', exactly, but I do think the reasons a lot of people don't like it were deliberate choices that were made to make this a story about breaking that cycle. A lot of complaints are about the action, the color grading, etc. The things people expect in a sequel or reboot. Things like bullet time were deliberately subtracted from the film - not to intentionally have 'bad action', necessarily, but to make a meta-commentary on sequelitis and rehashing. The most meta thing about the movie is the commentary that the new 'wool that is pulled over our eyes' is the media system erected around us that feeds off us, as the Machines do, as the Matrix does in the film. Keep the viewer placated with the comfortable rehashes and nostalgia and expectations they want, and they won't rebel against the system, and the system will thrive with profits. The first Matrix film asked, 'What if we were all living in a simulated reality under a system of control, exploited by those who wish to profit off us?' This movie says, 'We all live in a *mediated* reality, under a system of *placation,* exploited by those who wish to profit off of us.' In a way I think this film is more ambitious than even the first film in delivering this message - the SAME message - by making it almost interactive and literal. I wanted some cool-ass kung fu as much as anyone, but I think I appreciate the deliberate choice to *not* rehash that stuff more in service of the themes of the film. This is the story of the first film - about breaking out of that shell of control - but told in only a way a Matrix film can do, by making it a Matrix film about a Matrix film. Reinforcing the themes of the original, but demonstrating how those themes apply to us and the world we live in - the mediated reality we live in is perhaps not so far removed from the idea of the simulated reality posited in the original. In a way, we do live in a literal Matrix, with a system of control guiding us and thriving off us. For that, I loved it. It gave me a lot to ponder over for days after watching it, which is what the original film did as well. Once again, I'm thinking about stuff like Simulacra and Simulation for the first time in 15 years, and the absurdity of a map so detailed that it contains everything within it that it represents.

Don't blame you guys for not seeing Spider-man, the most annoying people in the world are flocking to see it

Connor Williams

Many times, I assume when they don't review a popular movie that the reason is A) they really don't have anything to say about the film or B) they simply don't want to watch it. Either way, that's RLM's decision and I try not to complain if they don't do a review of whatever is popular or hot. I'm not saying you are either, it's just my perspective about RLM chooses to review.

AllGoodNamesRGone

Genuine question, if people supposedly just want the same thing over and over, why have so many of the Alien and Terminator sequels failed? I'm not saying sequels have to be every fan's wet dream, but after Star Wars and Star Trek, I'd like more than "we hate our fan base, fuck the system, we're so quirky, give us money" in my movies. The only people who wanted a fourth Matrix film was the studio execs. That said, never put together the New Hope / Matrix connections. Too bad they didn't stick to a similar path with 2 and 3.

Jessie Zimmer

I was hoping you guys would bring up the Joe Dante connection because I thought of that too. Also yeah, that RATM cover at the end was fucking awful. Maybe the director was parodying slow covers of famous songs that movies have done since Gary Jules' version of Mad World. Thanks again RLM and happy new year!

AllGoodNamesRGone

I've pretty much stopped watching movies, but I'll keep watching RLM forever.

Zachary Snowdon Smith

Louis C.K. directs in Pull-It Time.

Ian Stewart

I have no interest in watching this movie, but I do feel slightly special for having seen the RLM review as a special patron guy before the unwashed rabble. Well, at least 12 minutes of it so far.

Nathan Marciniak

Hi guys. I'm just wondering if there's a facility to direct my Patreon just between Mike and Rich? I don't mind supporting alcoholism and mild sociopathy but Jay's degeneracy is making me concerned.

it felt like a super condensed down highlight movie of an entire season of an HBO Matrix show. This would be better and more interesting as a show.

Oscar Williams

Is this video based and redpilled?

Jadusable

It's funny: A critic that I'm a fan of notes "Writing ‘the proverbial’ in front of a cliché does not excuse it. It only worsens the offense by demonstrating the writer’s awareness of it." That is to say, just because you’re doing jokes about being a cash-grab doesn't make the movie less of a cash-grab.

Daniel Frank

No review for No Way Home? Holy shit that means they liked it.

Voidscribe

I think this is the best of what RLM can do. Pay homage to what makes a movie good, acknowledge to what makes it bad, see it on a technical level, see it on a thematic level, come at it with multiple perspectives, and do it all with charisma and humor. The media landscape would be so much poorer without RLM.

run_away

Hearing Mike say the first "Matrix" is "genius" and "perfect" is the fitting end to this dumpster fire of a year... :)

Manuel Johnen

Interesting themes, so-so execution: The Last Jedi. I appreciate the “It’s critic-proof…” assessment.

andrew

Now I want to see Boss Baby Agents

David Liao

I'm pretty much mostly totally on the same page as you guys here except I'm a sheeple person that went and saw and enjoyed Spiderman: No Way Home at the cinema.

Michael Parker

Meh. It’s just an objectively bad film.

Daniel

Looking forward to watching this

Daniel

This movie was baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad, thank you

Dr Trash

Thank you for another year of RLM entertainment! Thank you for your Star Trek and Twin Peaks/David Lynch movies re:Views. Also thank you for the Plinkett Reviews, I rewatched all of them over the holidays, they're still entertaining and insightful. Happy New Year everbody, in this webzone and every other RLM webzone too.

Marvin Falz

listening to mike, i wish he would see Animatrix, it think he would love some of it. Exploring truly interesting ideas in a very artistic, short way.

Loved this episode

the entire film is a trans allegory, almost every line has a double meaning. now, that doesn't necessarily make it a *good* film (i had fun with it, but it's definitely not a masterpiece) but it's a lot more interesting through that lens and has already meant a lot to the trans community. there's a very distinct line between cis people who didn't like it and trans people who loved it. i watched it twice, and my second go through i wrote four pages of notes just on the trans stuff. lots to digest, i could write an essay on it. now i'm gonna sit back and wait for the hateful replies i'm probably gonna get.

Ashley Wintermute Williams

...INCLUDING the original one.

Manuel Johnen

Happy end of 2021. Didn't watch the review yet, but going on a limb here, I'm assuming it's going to be more entertaining than all Matrix movies bar the original one.

Bill Wilson

Also please please guest on Stabby Stabby (podcast) I need that chocolate to meet that peanut butter

Daniel Yowell

Of all days not to make a Betty White joke

Daniel Yowell

that thumbnail is perfect

Dez

Finally! I had a feeling this would be your New Year's Eve gift to us.

Michael Parker

Lana was so pissed at the 'red pill' movement, she wanted to disarm whatever a new Matrix writing/direction team would do. Her statement was, 'Subtext is for cowards'.

Adam C.

Surprised you guys didn't do a review of the first three in preparation for this.

Joshua Mannix

Perfect new years gift

Harry

Happy new year you beautiful bastards!

Lelio Mulas

The second Matrix was so bad I was never able to finish it. As a result I never saw the third. I'm going to watch this one new knowing it's probably awful. Happy new years everyone!

Conor

Whoa thanks!!!

Damon Killian

Hmm, do I really want this to be the last thing I watch in 2021...? :/

Manuel Johnen

Thank you for your work.

Benway23

Too bad the dislike button is gone on youtube, I wanted to see if this was gonna be a repeat of their Black Widow review

Logan O'Brien