OR, THINGS I LOVED ABOUT THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS

i loved...

...neo as a pacifist. neo never picks up a gun in the entire film and only fights when forced to. his fighting style/choreography is very defensive, not offensive -- he seems to try and fight with an open hand, pushing people away rather than striking them. i loved the original film when i saw it as a teenager but i hated the "neo and his big gun" movie poster that never properly represented the character or story. i definitely never wanted it on my wall. the RESURRECTIONS poster depicts neo giving a peaceful gesture, that same open hand. (...andikindawantitonmywall.)

...all of our tech and habitual developments since 2003 including texting addiction, our collective loss of sanity, and our belief in feelings/fiction over fact being due to a complete matrix reboot designed by the analyst; all because this more dramatic existence leads to more power for the machines. i like how this plays into the (perhaps accurate) idea that our species peaked in the '90s, just as agent smith implied in 1 at some point.

...that the exiles are now a homeless theater troupe led by the merovingian.

...that there's a baby groot in this movie, but they didn't shove it up our ass like disney would've.

...the evolution of machi--sorry, synthients and programs, and their beautiful co-creation with us, the city of IO. i want more side stories about this, i want more comics and short stories, more animated short films... anything!

...how it was all. so. pretty.

...that the score is an absolute banger of a blend of CLOUD ATLAS and THE MATRIX, as those are both amazing things.

...ALL OF THE SENSE8! (from the cast to "starring lito rodriguez" to the 8 in the hair)

...that lana wanted to tell a simple, low stakes (in relative terms) story, and that no one forced higher stakes or more focus on action upon that story. yeah, some may miss the mindblowing stunts, but that's not what this movie is about. they've already saved the world.

...this cast! keanu, carrie anne, yahya, jessica, jonathan, jada, and all the sensates killed it.

...that in a strange way, positions have reversed. in the story thus far, the machines were thriving, the matrix was functioning efficiently, and zion was struggling to survive. now, the matrix is the same hot mess our own world is, the machine world is apparently getting there too, and it's IO -- the one place we're all working together -- that is thriving.

...niobe's old age makeup! if being this good is possible, why is it usually so bad?

...that sati lives in a cute lil bug.

...that the now complete arc of smith went from (1) a closeted man enforcing the rules of the system, angry at those free enough to flaunt those rules, to (2, 3) a scared, bitter man who has the choice to live free but would rather destroy everything, to (4) a fully realized queer man, living free, realizing he can let go of his rage. through all of these stages (1, 2, 3, 4), he really loved neo.

...how in a movie that added beautifully to the story there was only one alteration of the existing MATRIX canon: the red pill now feels like an acid trip to the taker. i am so into this.

...that i think one of the background characters we see presenting as male in IO later presents as female in the matrix? considering this idea was removed from 1, it is heartwarming to finally see it in RESURRECTIONS.

...seeing yet another naked yahya CGI creation. yay, naked yahya, yes!

...that the second disc of the soundtrack is an entire album of club remixes of the score. the only thing my heart felt was missing from RESURRECTIONS was a new rave/sex scene, and it's as if lana, tom, & johnny knew that if they gave us the music to do it, we could make our own.

and now this post is over, because despite the many more things i loved... that's what i'm going to do.

2022.01.16