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BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated The Matrix Resurrections (2021) in Movies

Dec 31, 2021

Unnecessary

And now from the unnecessary sequels department…

And, that, pretty much sums up THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS - a title that is a confession of a studio and creator that is looking to milk a few more bucks out of a dormant franchise.

Written and Directed by Lana Wachowski (one of the creators/directors of the original Matrix trilogy), MATRIX RESURRECTIONS drops us back into the Matrix that is the same, yet different, and - intriguingly enough - brings us back to Neo and Trinity, 2 characters that died in the 3rd film.

Of course, this being Science Fiction/Fantasy, no one needs to stay dead, if another story can be built around them.

Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss are back as Neo & Trinity (this film would not have happened if they didn’t say yes to this) - and they are the best thing in this film. Their chemistry is strong and any film that can bring back Carrie-Anne Moss as a lead in a film, is okay by me.

The best newcomer in this film is Jonathan Groff as “Agent Smith” (Hugo Weaving was set to reprise his role, but had to drop out due to Theater Commitments). Groff channels his inner “King George” (the character that he was Tony Nominated for in the Stage Musical Hamilton) and it works well in this film.

As for the other “character/actors” - like the characters that Jada Pinkett-Smith (the only other returning actor from the original trilogy), Yahya Abdbul-Mateen II (playing a version of Morpheus), Thelma Hopkins, Jessica Henwick and…yes that IS Cristina Ricci - they are all pretty generic and serve as plot machinations to get us from one action set piece to another.

And, of course, there is Neil Patrick Harris as “THE ANALYST”, it’s an interesting, pivotal, role in this film and would have been better served being played by someone less “well known”. All I kept thinking as I watched this performance was - “it’s evil Neil Patrick Harris”!

As for the special effects/set pieces, they are “fine” but nothing “special”. The first Matrix film was a brilliant, groundbreaking and mind-bending piece of filmmaking that introduced cinema (for good or ill) to “bullet time” - a Special F/X that has been en vogue ever since. But this film is just a mismash of CGI that is neither brilliant nor groundbreaking and the dense mythology plot of this film is not “mind-bending”, it is more like “headache-inducing”.

Do yourself a favor and skip the Resurrection of The Matrix and, instead, check out the brilliant 1999 original - it holds up well (and is the subject of my January podcast).

Letter Grade: B- (thanks to Reeves, Moss and Groff)

6 Stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)

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Darren (1599 KP) rated All Superheroes Must Die (2013) in Movies

Jun 20, 2019

Story: All Superheroes Must Die starts as the superheroes Charge (Trost), Cutthroat (Till), Shadow ((Merkley) and The Wall (Valmassy) all awaken with an implant in their wrists with a message from the villainous Rickshaw (Remar).

Rickshaw sets the heroes tasks they must complete to save innocent lives of their city even if it means break their own rules along the way. We are left to watch as our heroes must work together as they are torn apart by this mastermind villain.

Thoughts on All Superheroes Must Die

Story – The story is simple and all it needs to be, we have vulnerable superheroes finally against a villain who has a play that is solely against the superheroes. Each test feels like a genuine threat to the heroes with the villain safely out of danger which only adds to the idea that the film is giving us. The idea theses heroes must learn to fight without their powers also adds to the concept behind the film. The story really does take the superhero genre to a new direction and one we haven’t seen before.

Sci-Fi/Thriller – The world is filled with superheroes with powers we don’t get to see put into action but the thriller side of the film really does keep us guessing from start to finish.

Characters/Performance – The characters are all created well to feel like superheroes in everyday life with the villain as always needing to be the stand-out character of the film outsmarting the heroes along the way. Performance wise everything is good with each star becoming their character almost effortlessly.

Settings – The settings are all inside a small town that has different stores for our heroes to complete their tasks inside which shows us the number of victims there could be if the villain wins.

Special Effects – We have good special effects for the budget which is all good for the film which tries to make everything practical effects.

Final Thoughts – This is a refreshing take on the superhero genre that brings us into the story to see them take on a villain that isn’t afraid to kill.

Overall: Enjoyable superhero film that fans can enjoy

https://moviesreview101.com/2017/05/02/all-superheroes-must-die-2011/