The Matrix series has been the exception and has caused breakthrough in the Cinema industry. I saw The Matrix 1999, when I was in my 9th Grade and prepping board exams. I couldn't had thought or imagined the influence it would has had on everything back then... I don't believe that the action movies have ever been the same since, because the Matrix influence is so obviously visible and I believe it was the first step in Hollywood realizing that science fiction films didn't have to be all about mindless violence and spaceships. As I said could had been the first step... I would say that Battlestar Galactica that came out a few years later, and then The Expanse followed a few years after that can be counted as pivotal moments as well. But, let's not get ahead of ourselves, I could be overly hopeful, and these things do seem to run in cycles at the end. We never know which movie will set a new anchor point in the vast ocean of movies.
(The Matrix Series (1999), Wachowskis, Warner Bros. Entertainment)
Matrix as a series deals with one thing, the knowledge hidden deep within an individual and to understand this, we might need a light bit of philosophical understanding.
Various religions have claimed that all knowledge is hidden deep within each human, each in their own way. "The Kingdom of Heaven dwells within," the Bible says. "I am the entirety," and "I am that, you are that, all this is nothing but that." ancient Sanskrit texts say. Modern scientists now believe that you, like everything else in creation, are one with the unified field – the source of everything. To put it another way, you are the source of all knowledge.
(Obeisance to Nature - Spiritual Abstract Art is a piece of digital artwork by Modern Abstract which was uploaded on January 1st, 2015.)
People's awareness of this truth is hidden deep within them, obscured by their identification with life's surface. The surface of existence was referred to as a dream by ancient Shamans. Similarly, ancient Indian sages used the term "Maya" to describe one's relationship to the surface of existence (illusion).
"The world is a drama of divine consciousness," Swami Muktandanda remarked.
The Matrix also depicts everyday existence as a deception. Though few people realize it is an illusion, everyone knows it deep down inside where all information resides. That deep inner awareness is echoed in The Matrix. As a result, audiences have a strong emotional connection to the film's central premise. It's as though the film serves as a reminder of people's genuine natures and the nature of the planet.
Morpheus is a character in the film that represents a seeker of Truth, someone who has awoken or become enlightened. His purpose is reawakening the film's hero, Neo, to the Truth. Morpheus gives Neo the option of taking a blue or red tablet at one point. He returns to the delusion if he takes just one pill, forgetting he ever met Morpheus. If he takes the other pill, his eyes will be sufficiently opened that he will never be able to abandon his quest for Truth, or, as Morpheus put it, "seeing how deep the rabbit hole goes."
(Morpheus training Neo, The Matrix (1999))
"You believe that's air you're breathing?" Morpheus questions Neo at one point during his training. Of course, it isn't air, according to the ancient Seers. It doesn't exist in the actual world. It's an element of the Maya dream, yet again raising the question, is everything an illusion, is reality itself a pigment of a transcended beings virtuality or is it a simulation in a virtual space controlled by someone else reality.
The Oracle tells Neo that he or Morpheus must die at some moment. This 'death,' for Neo, entails letting go of his identification with life's surface. That identity (who he believes he is) must perish. To put it another way, he needs to wake up from his slumber. The hardships that follow are representative of the struggles that all people face on their journey to enlightenment. Neo must break free from illusion's hold (the matrix).
It's not only that the movie follows the journey to realization that makes it work. It works because everyone knows, or at the very least suspects (though nebulously), that this is the way of life. The film serves as a reminder of this deep inner awareness. It aids people in remembering the ultimate goal and secret of existence, at least for a time.
Thats been some deep talk on the fundamental nature of Matrix as a movie and as a concept and its effect on the human nature. Let's get back to something that most of us were excited for in December, no it's not just Christmas, Lana Wachowski in the form of Santa derived us the last piece of Matrix (or is it.) To many this movie was a major let down, personally I enjoyed the movie, the new jazzy Morpheus, the confused and old Neo, it was a fun experience but for sure nothing compared to the old movies. Let me tell you the in short what the movie is about. [SPOILER AHEAD]
(Matrix Resurrections, Lana Wachowski, Warner Bros. Picture, 2021)
Matrix Resurrections is about Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves), you might know him as Neo. He is back in the Matrix. This time he is a game designer who actually designed a game called, yeah, The Matrix. He works at a game company called Binary, and he is really not happy. His therapist (Neil Patrick Harris) says he has made great progress. If he would just keep taking his medicine (blue pills). Yeah, you get the picture right… and then they go on an adventure.
I’m not going to tell you the details about Matrix Resurrections because it's something that you are going to have to experience it to understand what it is.
Matrix Resurrection probably was intended to be a bigger, better and more crazies movie as compared to the old ones. If that was the case, then yes it failed it purpose. The finish has a couple little fractures in it. I'm not going to sit here and tell you how wonderful everything is. Some of the effects aren't as good as they used to be (I just finished watching the entire trilogy a few month ago, so I'm not going by recollection).
Keanu Reeves appears to be a little disoriented at first, but he finally gets his footing as the film progresses (Neo's old age has been well depicted here which for many became a monumentally stale performance, but to me it wasn't, it simply depicted that the Neo we knew has grown old ). This could be due to the fact that Thomas gets lost at the start of the movie. That's all right. However, to be a game designer, you must be a "chatty Cathy" in general. As a result, his early game performance as one falls a little flat. Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity is better than ever, and I only wish she had a bigger role in this film because by the end, I felt like she was really coming into her own but well they flew to a happy place at the end. I WANTED MORE...
(Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) as a Game Designer)
The film is beautifully shot, with many wide-sweeping vistas to give viewers a feeling of scale in each scene. And, as always, the soundtrack is a wonderful accompaniment for the action. I can't express my gratitude enough for the technical work that was done here. With the exception of the combat coordinator, who I believe may have slipped up a little. At the same time it also raised the question to me, did Wachowski intestinally do this, was it to show old age, was it to show the time for Neo's simulation is coming to an end?
Everything is about this movie, from its press release to its reviews, it seems Wachowski saw everything coming. The amount of time this movie breaks the 4th wall to talk to the audience makes you more immersed in the world, it makes you feel as if you are in a simulation and the matrix is it's reality. Wachowski diss's her own film making via the movie, makes fun of the characters, culture, and even recognizes that the movie will potentially be a fail in the viewers eye, well not for me. It's a beautiful master piece that ends abruptly. But still it shows potentially for the next Matrix. Even if there isn't another movies, its a satisfying end to the series but as my human nature states, I WANT MORE.....