The Matrix Resurrections / YMMV

Anvilicious: Complicated by the fact that a lot of people can't agree on what the message is even supposed to be, but between the constant jabs at sequels/reboots and social media, Neo's portrayal as a thinly-veiled Author Avatar, and sequences like Warner Bros threatening to make a sequel with or without Neo, it's painfully obvious that this film does not care for subtlety.
Awesome Music: The trailer and the film both make use of "White Rabbit", fitting perfectly with the franchise's allusions to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and of course an opening line that's actually about choosing between two pills. Additionally, there's the nostalgia factor from the reprise of Don Davis' main theme at the end, as well as a cover of Rage Against the Machine's "Wake Up" being played during the end credits.
Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: On its own, a scene where The Merovingian shows up wouldn't qualify. But a scene in which The Merovingian appears dressed like a homeless man, complaining about social media/bad sequels/reboots while a fight happens, then running away? Oh yes.
Broken Base: To put it mildly, the fanbase is severely divided on the quality of this film, torn between seeing it as an enjoyable and clever continuation of the story with interesting ideas or a pretentious and unnecessary B-movie that spits on the original trilogy's legacy.
Complete Monster: The Analyst is a manipulative and power-hungry program that usurps control of the Matrix. After he takes over, the Analyst conducts a purge of programs, killing the Architect, the Oracle, Kamala, and Rama Kandra, an event that orphans Sati. Reviving Neo and Trinity to power his new Matrix, the Analyst traps them in new identities and takes pleasure in his efforts to keep them separated. Assuming the guise of a therapist, the Analyst traps Neo within the Matrix, prescribing him blue pills to suppress his reality-questioning doubts. Upon Neo's awakening, the Analyst torments Neo by revealing his scheme before ultimately unleashing a horde of suicidal bots to kill an awakened Trinity. Defiant and lacking remorse for his actions, the Analyst arrogantly declares that he won't be deleted and demonstrates a firm belief in the superiority of control over freedom.
Contested Sequel: It's either a Surprisingly Improved Sequel compared to Revolutions, or an unnecessary Trilogy Creep. The Meta Fiction commentary, Lighter and Softer tone, and action scenes are particularly contentious.
Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory: The film has been interpreted as a metaphor for the Wachowskis and their relationship with Warner Bros. over the Matrix franchise, as the company has reportedly been trying to get the siblings to make another Matrix movie on a yearly basis ever since Revolutions. Proponents of this theory claim that the film is a deconstruction showing why a Matrix reboot couldn't work due to how technology, pop culture, and society have advanced; a demonstration of how any continuation would have to go to extreme lengths to bring Neo and Trinity back to life to continue their story; and that the film was intended to be bad because Warner Bros. was on the verge of rebooting or continuing the franchise without the Wachowskis, so Lana returned to torch the franchise and make sure it couldn't happen.
Franchise Original Sin: One of the criticisms against this film is that Neo has undergone Badass Decay in his fighting style: he relies on his telekinesis to beat opponents instead of martial arts, which makes him seem weaker, and it's been unfavorably compared to him "spamming one attack" like he's in a video game. Neo always had telekinesis in the original trilogy; aside from his iconic stopping bullets, he summons a pair of sai to his hands while fighting in the Merovingian's manor, blocks a sword blow with the edge of his hand and suffers only a cut, and in the real world could destroy Sentinels. However, his usage of telekinesis was merely implicit most of the time and only a handful of occasions made it explicit that he had this power, otherwise he stuck to martial arts. His telekinesis in this film is not only used more often in more obvious ways, but the effects represent it as a shockwave he emits from his hands and needs to use dramatic physical gestures to do it, instead of just calmly holding up his hand and willing things to happen, giving the impression he has to put in more effort to manifest this power in a "less clean" manner.^note.
It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: The film once again features Neo plugged into the Matrix, suspecting that reality is not as it seems, being rescued by Morpheus and a group of operatives, discovering a hidden human settlement in the real world, taught about the conflict between humans and machines, trained in the use of his powers, getting to know Trinity, facing off against Agent Smith and finally awakening his powers as the One, after which he gives a "The Reason You Suck" Speech to the machines. Even if some of this was intentional, it’s hard not to feel like the film hits the reset button on all the development from the original trilogy.
Memetic Mutation:
- "John Wick is in the Matrix now?!"^note
- Watching the original Matrix/Watching Matrix: Resurrections^Explanation
One-Scene Wonder: The brief appearance of the Merovingian and the Exile programs. From their ragged costumes, to the character's aforementioned frothing-at-the-mouth monologuing and cursing, it's an odd but amusing fight scene.
Paranoia Fuel:
- Were you afraid of living inside the Matrix before? In this new version, the entire world is well aware of what the Matrix is and how it works thanks to a popular sci-fi action trilogy, and yet are still unable to comprehend their true place within it. Sweet dreams.
- Unlike the agents, whose suits and demeanor announced who they were, anyone could be a bot. Your co-workers, your spouse and children, you...
Salvaged Story:
- In the original trilogy, Redpills had to, with almost no empathy, harm and kill Bluepills, such as cops and SWAT officers on the basis that "it's us or them". Granted, said Bluepills are trying to stop them, dead or alive, and any of them can become extremely deadly Agents, which jeopardizes the whole "free everyone from the Matrix" plan. But most of these Bluepills are just as much victims of the Matrix as the Redpills once were, completely ignorant that they're plugged into a simulated world to be harvested for energy and made to believe that the Redpills are criminals and terrorists, hence why some viewers think of the Redpills as Designated Heroes. In this film, new programs called Bots are introduced that mitigate the impact of the Redpills killing Bluepills because here, these enemies aren't people plugged into the Matrix but computer programs designed to become hostile at the flip of a switch.
- A frequent complaint of the original movie is the Machines using humans as an energy source broke physics in multiple ways. Resurrections provides an answer by having Machines attempt to harness the potential energy caused by Neo and Trinity's separation. How this works is anyone's guess but it's now established the Machines have the ability to harvest esoteric fuel sources.
- A divisive aspect of the prior two sequels is the amount of philosophical discussion that permeated the dialogue. This film tones that down considerably, still having that but making the dialogue more clear and straightforward. Not to mention the increase in humour that helps with the complaint that the sequels could be too self serious.
Tear Jerker:
- Just the fact that the original Morpheus and most of the other people Neo and Trinity had a kinship with (Link, Ghost, Locke, Kid, Roland, the Oracle) have passed away after the final battle at Zion. Niobe is the very last one left. This is especially one to those who loved those iconic characters.
- The process of Neo and Trinity being forcibly brought back by the machines and replugged back into the Matrix, kept apart and used as energy sources. The capper is when they're desperately trying to reach out to each other, crying out the other's name. Thankfully, Earn Your Happy Ending does get them back together.
They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: The initial reaction to the recasting of Morpheus (formerly played by Laurence Fishburne, now played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and Smith (formerly played by Hugo Weaving, now played by Jonathan Groff). While both of the new actors are popular in their own right, and many had praise for their performances as their respective characters, the absence of their predecessors is felt.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
- The appearance of the Merovingian and the Exiles could have served to enrich the worldbuilding with how they had to survive after the events of The Matrix Revolutions. The Merovingian in particular could have shown some depth in how he was once important but is no longer such in the new Matrix. Instead, the Exiles are introduced by Smith as fodder for Neo and friends to fight, while the Merovingian spends his entire screentime in a meta rant during the fight.
- Likewise, his wife Persephone neither appears nor is she mentioned. If she is among those purged, her disappearance could give the Merovingian more depth by showing how her loss has affected him.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
- In the new Matrix, Trinity is married to another guy who calls her "Tiffany" and they have kids. She realizes that he's not real when he calls her by the wrong name one last time while saying that their son has been hospitalized, and that convinces her to accept Neo. While the husband is revealed to be a bot, it's left ambiguous as to whether the children are either bots or Bluepills, and no one discusses that possibility and the implications and ethics of abandoning such children (though in the case of the latter, she does express disgust with how the kids were used by the Analyst).
- Given how close Niobe and the real Morpheus were, there are no scenes of her reacting or interacting with the modal Morpheus.
- The modal Morpheus and new Agent Smith are loaded with potential and one would think that the recasting would lend itself to the film's Meta Fiction themes, but instead they do virtually nothing of note and just serve as plot devices with little-to-no Character Development. They seem to mostly just be there because it's obligatory for a Morpheus and Smith to be there.
- The Machine Civil War and the alliance between the survivors of Zion and the machines who wanted to uphold the deal struck between the Architect, the Deus Ex Machina, Neo and the Oracle. There's never any indication of any distrust between humanity and their new machine allies despite decades of waging war on one another, and it’s mentioned that the Machines only began to turn on one another when their energy supply (humans) was growing scarce. While the Analyst does bring up that the machines had to turn to alternative sources for energy supply, the implications and ramifications such a significant event would have on humanity, and the machines that allied with them, are never explored, and the civil war itself is only mentioned in passing as Bugs brings Neo up to speed on everything that happened after his death.
Trans Audience Interpretation: In addition to elements carrying over from the previous films, this film also features Neo and Trinity being literally seen as someone they are not by the people around them, and the villain is a therapist — a conversion therapist, if you will. While not strictly a trans parallel, Trinity's situation of having been forced into the role of a married woman with three kids also parallels heteronormativity in that some LGBT people are pressured to take on roles society expects of them.

YMMV / The Matrix Resurrections

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