Movies that connect with audiences in different ways are always the biggest hits and The Matrix is the perfect example. On the surface, it’s got plenty of action, romance, and sci-fi mythology, as well as a dense, entertaining story. For most movies, that would would be enough — but The Matrix goes deeper. A lot deeper. Below the surface there are allegories for almost anything you want: oppression, revolution, self-expression, gender issues, the list goes on and on. And it’s those enduring themes and emotional connections that not only have let The Matrix endure, but will extend to the new film.
The highly anticipated fourth instalment, The Matrix Resurrections, opens December 22 and in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, writer-director Lana Wachowski talked about the choice to go back to the Matrix and to keep those core mysteries and allusions going. “Art is a mirror,” Wachowski said. “Most will prefer to gaze at the surface but there will be people like me who enjoy what lies behind the looking glass. I made this movie for them.”
The film’s star Keanu Reeves added that it was Wachowksi’s ideas about where the story would go next that really convinced him to come back. “We had filmmakers who you wanted to say yes to,” he said, before adding “[we had] material that you wanted to commit to, to give everything that you could to.”
That includes a showdown with a new character played by Jonathan Groff; so far, we’ve only glimpsed him in the trailer, but the EW article confirms he will indeed fight Reeves’ character, Neo. “[Keanu] taught me so much about the agreement of two people to hit each other, but not hurt each other,” the Mindhunter and Hamilton actor said. “When our fight was over, I felt deeply connected to him in a physical way.” Groff found himself connected to the script in an emotional way too. “When I read the script for this movie I cried, because the idea of watching these two iconic actors in these two iconic parts coming back and fighting to have their love again just wrecked me,” he said.
There’s much, much more in the article too. Like how actress Jessica Henwick, who plays new character Bugs, had to choose between auditioning between Matrix and Shang-Chi. Or why Carrie-Anne Moss felt trepidatious about playing Trinity again. Plus, plenty of Reeves being Reeves to hype your excitement: “It’s throwing down the Matrix gauntlet again,” he said. “It’s super smart, clever, entertaining, suspenseful, and funny.” Read more at EW.
The Matrix Resurrections opens in theatres December 26.