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Keanu Reeves as Neo: The Seductive Power of Memory
Photo: Warner Bros.
The work of redeemers can only be successful in the long term if the redeemed repeatedly and diligently celebrate this work.
This is true of the Savior of Christendom, whose birth is celebrated at Christmas. And it also applies to the wanderer of the world, Neo, who at the beginning of the millennium recognized himself as the “chosen one” and as a living being in a simulation in the “Matrix” films - and found a companion with the Christian name Trinity. At the end of the third part, titled »Matrix Revolutions«, Neo made it possible for humans and machines to survive through his sacrificial death. That was almost twenty years ago.
Now the Neo, played by Keanu Reeves then and now, is back.
But his fighter job was long ago and apparently largely forgotten: At the beginning of the fourth film »Matrix Resurrections«, which will be released just before Christmas, Neo works as a burned-out game programmer with shaggy hair and a sad look in a company for which he is conceiving a game called »Binary« has.
He allows himself to be treated by a psychiatrist ("How I Met Your Mother" star Neil Patrick Harris) and first has to be harassed with memory visions by a resolute disciple (Jessica Hawkins) so that he can find his way back into the action and awakening business.
His new mission is to win Trinity back by his side.
"It is magically beautiful and elegantly constructed magic worlds into which the hero ends up in his new adventure."
"Matrix Resurrections" is stunningly intelligent and incredibly stupid at the same time.
The idea that all living beings are caught in a loop and are forced to repeat themselves is just as cleverly brought up in this film as the order from a company called Warner to produce a »matrix« continuation.
As in the previous »Matrix« films, people switch back and forth between the worlds at breakneck speed.
So between the alleged reality of the machines, ruled by an artificial intelligence, and that simulation of a modern big city, which basically looks quite similar to the world of most cinema viewers, but in which there is constant total alarm and turmoil.
It also reminds of trauma from the recent past and present.
Once upon a time, masses of human bodies fall from high-rise windows into the depths, which of course reminds us of September 11, 2001.
Or in the middle of the film, very surprisingly, people with mouth and nose protection appear - here as passengers on a Japanese high-speed train.
The distribution of power among the sexes is also up to date.
As befits contemporary action, the strongest character in the film is the woman in the hero's heart: Carrie-Anne Moss in the role of Trinity.
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It is magically beautiful and elegantly constructed magic worlds into which the hero ends up in his new adventure. You can see huge machine insects buzzing around and a wooden pile structure that is being dismantled in the middle of a jungle and water landscape. There are numerous kickboxing, kung fu and bone breaking duels. You admire incredibly well-choreographed choreographs and indulgent scenes of the battle of nations, which sometimes remind you of Hieronymus Bosch and sometimes of pompous fantasy quark.
As great as this film is to watch - unfortunately it has so little to tell. It most likely makes most viewers feel like they've been beaten up a bit themselves. But for what reason exactly here who is constantly hitting whom, shooting or firing grenades, does not seem to be particularly significant.
Lana Wachowski shot "Matrix Resurrections" without her sister Lilly, both are trans people and shot the first three "Matrix" parts together at a time when they were still called Larry and Andy.
In fact, the fourth »Matrix« film can in a certain way be understood as a festival of the art of metamorphosis.
But it takes place almost without a story.
To recapture the famous companion Trinity, who is unfortunately not able to make a decision for a long time, is an honorable, but also a bit dreary task.
"Matrix Resurrections" is therefore really remarkable, especially as a work of art from a shamelessly nostalgic retro cult.
In numerous flashbacks, this film conjures up images and encounters from the first »Matrix« works. That must be enough to drive the turbulence of the new adventure.
The film shows the aging of the most important actors without hesitation and tricks like the recently returned pop group Abba, who thinks they have to resort to avatars. He's not really interested in philosophical or epistemological ideas. He calmly relies on the seductive power of memory and a lively wink. Even the ancient classic pop song "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane, now used as a musical leitmotif, refers to the old "Matrix" cosmos in the title.
A little destroyed and delighted with the magic of effects, you stumble out of the cinema after more than 140 minutes.
It seems like the makers foresaw this impression.
"It's so easy to forget the noise the matrix pumps into your head," is said at one point in the film.
Which inevitably leads to the question: in the end, is this film itself just a simulation of a "matrix" film?
