The Wachowski's that created this world always get my appreciation. The way they subvert their audiences is great to watch. It may not work all the time like in Jupiter Ascending. However, they have been part of some of my all-time favourites like Speed Racer, Cloud Atlas, V For Vendetta and of the course The Matrix franchise.
With only Lana Wachowski involved in this one, I was intrigued to see how this would follow on from the event of Revolutions.
The first 20 minutes or so was strange, intriguing and quite meta all at the same time and I was surprisingly enjoying this opening act. It was quirky, it caught me off guard and had me thinking what was the reason for all of this happening in that typical Matrix way. Some of the additions that was linking in with past events I was on board with. As for the rest that I was unsure of, I was hoping that it would eventually win me over.
Sadly for me, I don't think it did. The longer the film went, I more I realised that I just wasn't getting into it despite some interesting aspects that the story had to offer. Some of the choices made in its story as well as its general style just felt the wrong thing do for a Matrix film.
There were some bold yet off-putting changes and choices that didn't have much of a journey to warrant the respective destinations. It felt it confused itself with its own lore despite having moments of clever self-awareness.
Plus, some of the performances of new or reprising characters didn't help either. That being said, Keanu Reeves I felt did a decent job at carrying the film. The world loves Keanu in every way and you can see his commitment to the material and that he wanted to give this story the best chance possible.
It was nice to see Carrie-Ann Moss again. It is a shame she isn't in enough films as she has a strong and powerful presence that many films could use to their advantage.
The way Yahya Abdul-Mateen II was used didn't feel justified for me and his performance wasn't strong enough to mask that initial distraction. The same is said for Jonathan Groff, who was always beginning with an uphill task. He gave it his best shot. But he never felt threatening and the way his character was used felt like a side note or annoying pest at best.
However, I think Neil Patrick Harris was a fun addition. His character was the most interesting, he gave the most charisma and engagement to the story and was clearly the best part of the film.
I'll give credit to Jessica Henwick as well. It was a solid performance and her character was interesting enough to have me wanting more.
There were some other nice unexpected surprise appearance that I won't spoil. But overall, the acting felt below average. It wasn't helped that there were plenty of forgettable minor characters.
I was sad to come to the conclusion that even the choices made in the technical department didn't work. While the visual effects served its purpose well, the camerawork was disappointing. The previous Matrix's just stood back and let the action speak for itself and it made you appreciate the large amounts of training involved for the combat sequences. It also paid homage to the martial art genre in its choice of camera positioning.
However in this, it felt too close to the action, with many cuts and even some shaky-cam moments which should not be at all considered in this particular franchise. The cinematography for me was the biggest disappoint, as it was this aspect that for me made it fail to be a Matrix film.
That is why I cannot give this a pass which I am really sad to say. Like with all Wachowski features, there's great ideas in there. But for this one, not all of them stuck the landing for me. I think on paper, it sounded better. But the finished product just didn't seem like the right one in the end.
You can see that it's really trying to be something and I do like a fair amount of it to stop seeing this as a total loss. So I won't be surprised if it gets some love. Just not quite from me I'm afraid.
I still believe in The Wachowski's. Not everything they make works. But I always appreciate their ideas and never going down the typical blockbuster formula. Despite now making consecutives misses now, doubt is creeping in that they could be past it now. But hope does remain. Their vision still has a place for modern audiences. With the right people, we can still have another cult classic.
Rating: 6/10
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