It is difficult for today's generation to imagine the impact the original film had in 1999, catching us almost unawares as the build up to the eagerly-anticipated Star Wars - The Phantom Menace was in full swing! This unexpected and hugely belated fourth entry in The Matrix series got lost in the pandemic to some extent, but it was also not really needed after the epic wrap-up of the original trilogy story and - as it turned out - not really wanted by cinemagoers. Here, something is afoot in The Matrix game, whilst in the (seemingly) real world Thomas Anderson (Keanu) is a world-leading but troubled game creator; with Warner Brothers demanding a belated sequel to his property in the film(!), this initially meta-driven tale soon gives way to the Matrix world, and its intricacies demand attention and an in-depth knowledge of the franchise from the start. Familiar action beats are delivered well but offer nothing to raise the bar. At the film's core is a consideration about what The Matrix really is and -unexpectedly - becomes a love story, as Neo/the audience grapples through a pick-and-mix remix and alt-staging of scenes and characters from the first three movies. Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss return and are terrific as expected, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Jonathan Groff work well as the 'new' Morpheus and Smith (with another great duke-out scene with the latter), and Neil Patrick Harris is good in the interesting role of Thomas's psychiatrist. Resurrections is a clear nostalgia-grab that fulfils that role but also carries with it some of the weaker aspects of the second and third films, it is visually beautiful and sporadically interesting, and it frequently disappears up its own backside, and while it is interesting and diverting enough, it really could have done with more of its own individual identity as a late sequel.
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