throughout the entire runtime of this film, i was constantly crunching the numbers, trying to keep my finger on the underlying principles that led lana wachowski to introduce epic soybants into the matrix trilogy. characters only repeat the word “mode” like 500 times, so i was able to surmise that this film is operating in a different (realistic) mode than the original trilogy, which does seem like a successful starting point for making a new matrix film. incorporating different cinematic modalities into the meta-text of the film was a pretty bold and creative move, possibly the best thing the film has going for it, although it does result in some truly weird disjunctions: i always took it for granted that the world of the original trilogy was a fantasy world, devoid of characters aside from the chosen few (that’s what the colour palette is all about, after all); so the fact that there are characters in this film whose turning point occurs after witnessing neo’s antics seems to go against the spirit of the original in a way that does not get smoothed over by the complicated layering. this film’s thematic puzzle gets me half-way to the point of forgiving the front-loaded, ironic meta-commentary on the film’s production, which is typically one of the most cringe and juvenile narrative elements an author has at their disposal; but is the film’s puzzlework just a distraction?
despite all the high-level calculus i was doing while watching—and desperate as i was to uncover the basis upon which the film justifies its use of soybants—the question is whether or not it all works. at the level of enjoyment, for me the film does not work. as unpleasant and jarring as it is to see the morpheus character delivering whedonesque dialogue, i can forgive that specific element because soybants are a cornerstone of contemporary culture, and therefore are a key element of the film’s narrative about how the machines are all-consuming liberalism. however—and this might betray my essential lack of regard for what constitutes the bulk of the matrix films, which are big, dumb, spectacular fights—most, if not all of the action in this one felt curiously impactless. i am choosing to believe this is another intentional choice on the part of the artist as further détournement of the matrix legacy. my favourite action sequences in the original were always the ones that combined fighting with a chase or otherwise interesting, dynamic set piece; rather than when the epic power scale of neo and agent smith’s rivalry becomes a matter of them trading blows toe-to-toe. the best action sequence in this film, for me, was the opening sequence.
whether it works at a narrative level is another question. over the two and a half hour runtime, i did become fatigued and at certain points released myself from trying to track what was happening, even on the surface of the long expository scenes. i did not find it as torturous as my gf, who left the room about a third of the way through; and it’s not quite so bad as to deserve opprobrium; but whatever thread holds the film together from beginning to end is incredibly thin, possibly designed to only be discernible through re-watching on the HBO Max streaming platform.