The Matrix Resurrections is about to be released in theaters. It is a curious experience for fans of the original trilogy, who will see a new and unexpected chapter in the story. For now, both the director Lana Wachowski, like the rest of those involved in the project, they have kept a considerable secret about the plot.
Why have Neo and Trinity returned? Why has Morpheus rejuvenated? But beyond the obvious questions, there are hundreds about what is the world, place and year in which the story takes place. Much more so, are we facing a kind of prequel? A sequel? Both?
As anticipation grows and fans of the film await anxiously, we bring you a refresher on what you need to know about The Matrix. Whether you are one of the big followers of what happens when you follow the white rabbit, or if you are just curious. This review is ideal for you and everything you need to know to better understand the Matrix experience, again in cinemas. You’re dreaming? This is the reality? Again, it is time to analyze the meaning of one of the most powerful sagas of science fiction in history.
The Matrix Resurrections is right around the corner, which means it’s time to brush up on the franchise and prepare for another trip down the rabbit hole.
At first it was all about a curious messiah
In 1999, and with almost no details about its argument, it premiered The Matrix to surprise the world of cinema and cyberpunk fans. The story, which followed programmer Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) in the midst of what appeared to be a government conspiracy, soon took an unexpected turn.
After meeting Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), Anderson (known in the digital world as Neo), ends up discovering the truth. One that summarized several of the most powerful premises of science fiction nearly four decades. The world around him was nothing more than a virtual simulation, hiding the horror of a world dominated by machines.
The first film introduces the founding idea of The Matrix: reality unfolds and rebuilds. Even more astonishing, perception as a double-edged sword. It also sets the heroes and villains of the future saga. Neo will receive the astonishing news that he could be a long-awaited messiah. Morpheus, the confirmation of his hopes. Trinity, the demonstration of the singular symmetry of a world governed by singular parameters.
The movie shocked the world, became a cult classic and an unfamiliar viewing experience. One that also opened the doors to an entire universe.
The secrets of the Matrix under the secrets
Matrix Reloaded it is the immediate continuation of the founding story of the saga. Released in 2003, it has a strange commitment to expanding an already robust universe and providing new insights into the struggle between good and evil. Ambitious like few science fiction movies, the great mission of the film was to rebuild the original premise to include new elements.
He achieves it by halves. Reloaded (whose plot takes place six months after the original story) begins by raising new enemies. Also the fact that Neo has provoked a new perception about reality. That includes having changed the very fact of Agent Smith’s (Hugo Weaving) existence and showing that the simulation is perfectible. The Wachowski sisters added a whole layer that strengthened the idea that the argument of The Matrix it is philosophically, morally, and scientifically relevant.
In addition, the film includes three items of considerable interest. On the one hand, it reaffirms the existence of the Oracle (Gloria Foster) as something more than what might be supposed. It also presents the concept of Zion (the underground city in which the human species survives) as the core of the action. And if that was not enough, it presents the Architect (Helmut Bakaitis) as a fundamental piece and counterpart of the Oracle.
All prophecies are fulfilled
In Matrix Revolutions, the pseudo mythological, philosophical and experimental network of The Matrix reaches its conclusion. Perhaps, the film was more ambitious than it could cover, but in the end it is quite a challenge of the imagination. From the final battle for the fate of the human race, Neo’s showdown against the machines to the battle for Zion. Everything acquires mythical and extraordinary tints, which mix hundreds of different references to achieve an amazing version of science fiction.
With an open ending with religious overtones and a disconcerting conception about good and evil, Matrix Revolutions he fails to finish his big ideas. But at least, it opens the possibility of expanding the universe, exploring in so many others and conceive the idea of science fiction from a new point of view. Which, without a doubt, is the starting point for what will come next.
Video games based on the Matrix
Predictably, the mythology of The Matrix it ended up expanding in all directions. In particular, towards the world of videogames, perhaps the natural platform to delve into its historyto. It could be said that it is in the gaming environment, where we could find some clues to The Matrix Resurrections.
Enter the Matrix
The game began to be sold on May 15, 2003, just the same day as the premiere of The Matrix Reloaded. The adventure, directly related to the plot of the film, complete it and sublimate it. The digital experience allows the player to be part of the universe posed by the film and coexist in the midst of conflict.
The Matrix: Path of Neo
The game hit the market on November 7, 2005 and brings the novelty of replicate Neo’s experience as a unique character. Basically it is an action game that allows you to live the same experiences of the character in the first film of the saga.
The Matrix Online
The multiplayer role-playing game was released on March 22, 2005 and is perhaps the one that contains the key to understanding the future The Matrix Resurrections. The plot of the game begins at the end of the movie and sets the stage. According to the story, only human beings aware of the existence of The Matrix as a concept. That represents a slight subversion to the promise that the Architect gave to the Oracle at the end of the third film. As if that wasn’t enough the machines refuse to hand over Neo’s body.
In the midst of such a situation, Morpheus begins to discover the nature of large-scale simulation. To deal with the chain effect, the machines dispatch an assassin, who ends up assassinating Morpheus. The caveat could explain the replacement of the character in a new film.
An interesting point to keep in mind is that it is the first version of the story, which changes the general rules of the simulation. In the game, a human can survive his digital death. In the case of Morpheus, he does not succeed because the bullets used against him have a “code of death” incorporated. Will the concept be used for the new chapter of the franchise?
The world of series with The Animatrix
The anthology film of nine animated shorts Animatrix It was released between the Matrix and the arrival at the cinema of The Matrix Reloaded. The feature film is intended to tell the context of the films. In addition, narrate how the confrontation between the machines occurred and especially what happened after Neo assumed his identity as messiah.
Directed by Kōji Morimoto, Shinichiro Watanabe, Mahiro Maeda, Peter Chung, Andy Jones, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, and Takeshi Koike, the stories maintain the language of the original film. Each of the shorts is focused on a different topic, although they end up complementing each other.
The Final Flight of the Osiris it narrates the last of the voyage of the ship of the same name and provides details about the dreaded sentinels. The Second Renaissance tells what happened before the war between humans and machines. In both its first and second parts, it establishes the idea of the prolegomena of the future war. Kid’s story shows how someone can break free from the Matrix, without help. Program analyzes the same concept of good and evil from the first film.
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The most existentialist short of all, World record, narrates how little by little the human mind understands the limits of simulation. Beyond details the particularities of the fabric of reality according to the concept of the films. A Detective Story tells the background and context of the Trinity character. By last, Matriculated shows the world according to the eyes of those who have managed to disconnect from The Matrix.