Matrix Resurrections Is Trolling Itself

Does Matrix Resurrections have a self-loathing problem?

Matrix Resurrections is chock-full of meta-commentary about the legacy of the franchise, and the culture industry at large. But is the commentary ultimately successful, or just a little bit too self-deprecating? Let’s find out in this Wisecrack Edition: Matrix Resurrections Hates Itself.

=== Watch More Episodes! ===

00:00 - Intro
01:34 - Matrix on The Matrix
03:44 - Death of the Author
06:26 - Auteur Theory and Collective Authorship
08:28 - The Culture Industry
10:23 - Conclusion

Written by Dean Varga
Hosted by Helen Floersh
Directed by Michael Luxemburg
Edited by Mark Potts
Produced by Evan Yee
Additional Production Assistance by Olivia Redden

Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound

#thematrix #matrixresurrections #redpill

© 2022 Wisecrack / Omnia Media, Inc. / Enthusiast Gaming

[randallb.]

I thought this movie was going to be about the truce between Zion and the machines that Neo brought about. That's where the story left off. Instead, this movie was about how Lana is trapped in the Hollywood matrix.

[jordanowen]

To me the underlying meaning of the new movie was very simple: everyone involved in making it wants you to know that they hated it as much as you do.

[ThePete]

Half way through the movie I realized this it was just about how they didn't want to make this movie.

[AynenMakino]

Perhaps it's time to explore the concept of 'Death of the audience'.

[MelodicQuest]

The worst part about all of this is the fact that there were actual good plot points that would have made great movies on their own.

- Some machines have become sympathetic to the human cause

- Trinity realizing her own strengths that aren't tied to Neo

- Smith acting as an eternal opposite to Neo

- The politics of the Machines and the new city of Io

[wentianwang]

I was unexpectedly entertained before Neo wakes up again from his pod. All the gaslighting and mental fuckery put on him and thus the audience was pretty fun to watch, as well as Wachowski's dissection of not only the trilogy itself but also her view on the business now. Unfortunately everything kinda just went bland after that, even though it is possible that Lana did it intentionally. Filming intentionally bad to give a mid finger to WB is fun, watching the end product as a fan of the franchise, on the other hand, is not.

[DabbyDom]

Every time they showed a clip from the first movie, it made me want to stop watching Resurrections and turn on the original.

[TheAsylumCat]

There's a disturbing trend in Hollywood of people not wanting to make the thing they're making and their contempt bleeding into the product.

[martinbundesen]

Realising Wachowski intentionally make a movie that is shit by industry standards and a big middle finger towards reboot culture, I think it's one of the most baller moves ever made.

[davidv.]

My thoughts on the Matrix: Resurrections: even Abed from Community would say that this film is too meta.

[MSHNKTRL]

Have you ever met someone that constantly denigrated themselves, and (surprise!) they're not fun to be around? THAT is Matrix 4.

[JoMiHoppe]

I have not been very impressed by the tongue in cheek "we are roasting our own legacy" thing. It worked for 22 Jump Street but that had the added benefit of being able to actually joke about all the cliches because it's actually a comedy.

[yo]

I think the movie had a completely different tone than the rest of the series, and the aesthetics that were chosen were also odd. It was filmed like a vibrant CW tv show and the comedy was similarly off putting. It did not feel like a Matrix movie. The story really dipped in quality around 30 minutes in and the action got worse with every take. It’s also very difficult to watch when you think of Keanu Reeves’ recent action work in John Wick. I don’t know what happened, but it was not good.

[reececaldwell]

The movie kind of freaked me out honestly. Because of the implications of the whole “isn’t this stupid” thing. The first movies were obviously kinda mind blowing, and I think an audience member probably should have come away with a feeling of “I need to understand how the powers that be control my life and perceptions.” However this movie sort of makes that theme a bit hopeless. Like “lol we don’t wanna make this movie, but Warner brothers is gonna do it anyway, let’s make fun of it!” WB: “yeah sure you do u. As long as it makes us money” (which it did). Basically there’s kind of a weird power move here on WB’s part where it’s essentially outright saying “we can force creators to make something, and we can shove it down your throats, and you’ll buy it.” It’s kind of anti revolutionary I think. It feels less like a realization/way out, and more like an acceptance that we “can’t get out of the matrix” lol. Which ironically might be a more accurate depiction of beudrillard’s work that inspired this, but still felt strange actually coming from a corporate film studio.

[venicec]

I thought the director had intentionally made a really bad movie so that way the studios wouldnt be incentivized to make another one

[thedudewhoeatspianos]

It's not a very good movie but hating itself and believing it shouldn't exist makes it very interesting. I'm glad to see someone pushing back against the endless parade of sequels and cinematic universes that dominate our media landscape today.

[Amy_Dunn]

Idk, something about the whole movie felt like a Matrix fan fiction got a greenlight from WB. Also I'm a little sick to death of snide, meta, cometary/callouts in movies that absolutely won't age well at all.

[glenis]

The Matrix (1999) = Cinema. Matrix (2021) = Content.

[Doughy_in_the_Middle]

I had friends who were in the "hated it for another piece of woke Hollywood garbage", down to one who merely said "I wasn't impressed."

I on the other hand enjoyed it, the hype leading up to it, the meta introduction in the first act of it, the Easter eggs throughout, and every bit of heavy-handeness it tried to utilize. I wholeheartedly believed that the premise of this generation of The Matrix wasn't working fully because it didn't contain Neo and Trinity properly, and was doomed to fail. It's something that was established from the first movie.

The problem is when Lana is trying to say she was trying to take back "red pill" and that the movie was some sort of "gotcha" against the fans.

They pulled the anti-capitalist angle. They pulled the Big Corporation is Evil angle. They didn't come of as progressive or subversive, they came off as a classic love story in a technological environment, but eradicated much of the good metaphysical viewpoints they worked ardently to insert into the first three movies.

So in light of it all, I did what was truly natural to the Neo who gave two middle fingers to Smith in that interrogation movie in the first movie:

I unashamedly pirated the movie online and didn't give Warner Brothers a dime.

[eh]

At no point during the movie was I rooting for the heroes; I was rooting for the end credits.