A franchise out of time
Tinashe Kusema
Well, the good news is that the trailer of Matrix 4: Resurrection has finally been released, and looks to be holding steady at roughly 32 million views after just a week.
It’s not an out and out reboot, there are a few familiar faces like Neo (Keanu Reeves), Trinity (Carrie Anne-Moss) and Niobe (Jada Pinkett-Smith) who all look like they have aged.
The action is vintage-Matrix with crazy fight scenes, walk crawling shenanigans, and mind blowing stunt and graphics.
The actual plot details are sketchy at best, with all the trailer reveals is that time has passed, everyone seems to have gone back into the Matrix after saving Zion, and now something happens that requires our heroes to get their memories back and go back into the real world.
Hope I had mentioned the brainwashing or memory wiping thing.
Gushing over the movie is not what this particular installment is about, quite the opposite.
Rather than wait until December 22 and then review it, I wanted to get something off my chest.
It’s been weighing on me ever since the new Matrix movie was announced and began shooting.
This is a movie franchise we neither wanted nor asked for, and this particular project could very well be doomed right off the bat.
Why you may ask?
Well, for starters, 18 years is a long time to wait for a movie.
There has been an entirely new generation in-between the last Matrix movie (Revolutions) and this particular movie.
And, this is an entirely new set of movie fans, all of whom have no idea what the matrix is.
All they probably know is Disney, Marvel and DC, which is both a good and a bad thing.
Good in that they probably don’t have that bad taste in their mouth, caused by the last matrix movie Revolutions.
That was and still is a bad movie.
For those old enough to know about the matrix trilogy, it’s going to take some convincing to sway them back into the fold.
The first movie was iconic, trendsetting even, and birth what promised to be one of the best ever movie franchise or trilogy in history.
Unfortunately, all that work was undone in part by the sequel (Matrix: Reloaded) and then finished off by the third (Matrix: Revolutions)
Still on the subject of time, a lot happened during the period between the two last matrix movies.
America had its first black president, and then went to elect a mad man after.
Kanye West married a Kardashian, had four kids (two of which are named North and Saint) and then lost his marbles.
The world population reached seven billion, Twitter birthed so many movements and stuff.
However, the most important thing to happen during said period was the establishment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
The MCU has broken every single record there is in the business, grossing over US$22 billion on the box office.
The Matrix is currently 52rd on that list.
Also, “Matrix 4: Resurrection” will be released on December 22, which means it will come up against “Spiderman: No Way Home” (Dec 17), “The King’s Man” (Dec 22) and Robert Downey Jnr’s new Sherlock Holmes movie (Dec 22).
One couldn’t help but notice Keanu Reeves’ new hairdo in the matrix trailer.
It didn’t really scream Neo and Matrix, but it yell at the top of its lungs JOHN WICK.
That is another thing that has happened during the 18 years the matrix was off the radar, Keanu Reeves finally managed to wash off the sting of the Matrix: Revolution.
Not only that, but he managed to reinvent himself.
Now, the first thing people think about when they hear his name is JOHN WICK.
With the fourth, and rumored final, installment of the John Wick movie franchise due for release May 27, 2022, I scheme they didn’t have time to give him a haircut.
Reeves was expected to start shooting (pun intended) for the John Wick movie upon finishing his commitments to the Matrix movie and so the long hair was probably a dealer breaker.
I can just see them now, scratching their heads and finally deciding, “We can say the long hair is to show the passage of time”.
While I am obviously excited about the new matrix movie, I cannot help but draw comparisons between this particular film and another movie that waited too long between installments- “Bad Boys for Life”.
Fun fact: both Matrix: Revolutions and Bad Boys 2 were released in the year 2003.
I still cringe at how old both Martin Lawrence and Will Smith looked in “Bad Boys for Life”, it ruined the movie for most.
A fourth “Bad Boys” is rumoured to be in the works, and I am willing to bet my last dollar that they are not going to wait another 17 or 18 years to release it.