8
by emmanuelle cunt
There is a lot of happening here:
(mild spoilers I guess)
- a lot of meta / self-awarness, Matrix the game in thus film is (obviously) an avatar for Matrix the film in real life, while Matrix 4 the film could be partially a commercial for Matrix the Game
- I was thinking "wow, this got made" quite a lot, with Lana Wachowski obviously putting a lot of her dealing with Warner Brothers and I guess her life in various dialogues ("so we got told the fourth part is happening with or without us"). Keanu has a middle finger standing next to the Trinity figure on his desk - i think it is a messageto Warner Brothers. All of this was more intriguing than cringy to me
- however the characters straight out of the SNL skit and obvious nods to audience / internet memes were cringy
- in the spirit of Matrix sequels the logic of how it all works went well past me. What exactly is Analysts role? What is the business with reconnecting mind of a person who is in the Matrix to the body of a person who is supposed to be taken away from the matrix? etc.
- I found the story (these two just gotta be together) charming in its simplicity
- I HATED the lighting and color scheme. Everything in the Matrix (the world outside of Matrix looked like in the prequels but better) was full of colors and way too bright which made it look cheap, like Matrix on a tv budget - and that in spite of car crashes and explosions looking very good on their own. I guess the overall look made sense 'logically' as Matrix 3 ends in this kind of lighting (when a little girl creates a sunrise "for Trinity" - I know because I've watched it recently. It is still bad) but holy shit, cinematography-wise it doesn't hold a candle to the originals.
- it also felt like the this film was made by a different crew than the originals? Cinematography was uninspiring, shooting and fighting scenes were stock and meh (especially shooting).
But overall I enjoyed it more than I thought, 5-6 out of 10? Cautious NC