Belated Matrix: Resurrections Wishlist

It's that time of year again where everything is winding down, yet somehow building up to the chaotic farce that is New Year's. Regardless, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! Let's try and make 2022 our bitch. 

me rn

Well...this is a pretty dumb article considering that The Matrix: Resurrections has been in theaters since December 22nd, and I write this on December 27th. I haven't had a chance to watch it yet, and thankfully I've avoided potential spoilers. There must not be some big mind-bending twist at the end, because if there was, I feel like it would become an instant meme, a la the Thanos snap. 

Let's admit it guys, Marvel is more meme than movie.

It's safe to say that there won't be any major twists in the new Matrix film. So what can I hope for? To wrap up 2021, here's an easy breezy top 3 list of things I want out of The Matrix: Resurrections.

1. Better Neo / Trinity Romance

One of my favorite tropes: the battle couple.

I have a thing for when badass women fall in love with the chosen one. Blame Anakin and Padmé for that one.

Seriously though, when I was a kid, I didn't think much of the romance between Neo and Trinity. I assumed it was going to be one of those things I learned to appreciate as I grew up. Something that I didn't understand yet, because I wasn't old enough to get it. But then again, that didn't stop me from "getting" the romantic attraction between Belle and the Beast, or between Aladdin and Jasmine, or other nostalgic romances. 

It's a joke that Neo and Trinity's romance is very forced - a mere box to check off when writing movies: there must be a female love interest to compliment the male protagonist. Not to say that I hate male protagonists or even heterosexual couples in media. In my last blog entry about the atrocious web cartoon High Guardian Spice, I discussed the current failings of LGBT representation. I think that straight couples need better written romances as well. I just think that media in general needs to get its shit together when trying to write a love story, gay or straight.

I hope the new Matrix film will give us insight into why Neo and Trinity are attracted to each other. I want to see better chemistry between their actors. I also want to see them developed outside of each other, having epic solo scenes showing their independence. 

2. I only need to see the first Matrix film

I've seen the first Matrix film, like, at least five times. I've only seen clips of the two sequels. Knowing how Hollywood is treating blockbuster film series more like television shows than films (thanks again, Marvel), one can assume that the new Matrix film will try to build off of all of the ones that came before it. But seeing as this is a franchise reboot, I hope that the story will start somewhat clean. The Matrix is a perfect standalone film, and in my mind, the sequels aren't cannon. I just hope that the producers shared my sentiment and decided that The Matrix: Resurrections can be understood and enjoyed without having to see all of the films that came before it.

Don't watch The Matrix sequels. Watch The Animatrix anthology instead.

3. New Hot Takes, Please

To anyone who's taken a course in philosophy, it should be obvious that The Matrix exercises metaphors for different Platonic and Eastern philosophies. Thinking about thinking, awakening your mind to the reality beyond you. Neo's powers aren't mystical like the Jedi's power over the Force, which taps into the world around you. Neo's powers are over himself and his own mind. 

Also see: the allegory of the cave.

The first Matrix film also poses some harrowing ethical situations. One story beat that blew my mind as a kid was when Morpheus' crew was betrayed by one of their own, because he no longer wished to be aware of the real world. He preferred the synthetic world of pleasure, and wanted to go back to his ignorance. This is an ethical situation that everyone deals with on a daily basis. Do we become hedonists living for ourselves, or do we educate ourselves on the difficulties in the world and try to be better people?

That being said, I hope that the new Matrix film will have an untapped element of philosophy to explore. I know that the Wachowskis are capable of good writing, despite what the film Jupiter Ascending will have you believe. I hope that The Matrix: Resurrections will leave me not only enthralled by action, but chewing on some moral question by the end of it.

Don't let me down, old love.

So there you have it. The end of a bizarre and numb year is also the rebirth of a begrudgingly beloved franchise. I hope it's good. While it's fun to write a heated take-down like last month's blog entry, I really do want the world to be filled with good art. There are no guarantees for what the future holds, but I hope next year will be full of more things that make us happy. 

See you all then!