I LOVE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS!

Admittedly, this movie can be a convoluted one! However, it is a treat for die hard fans.

The new and "exciting" trend in modern movies today is to have a lot of Meta Humour (lol you're reading a review!) that breaks the fourth wall. Matrix Resurrections satirises this heavily and it can be annoying, however that is kind of the point.

Matrix has always been a dark cynical look at society, the original movie was about fighting against corporations (Agent Smith) and how they want to control us for profit (Machines turning us into batteries). The movie fit the tone and Humour (Mouse's comic relief chops) for the time and it still holds up as a modern classic.

Times have changed though, nowadays movies and social media loves memes, to turn everything into a joke and parody. Matrix Resurrections uses this opportunity to turn Neo's past into "A joke" or "Something trivial" - (as quoted by Bugs and Neo). The Analyst (played by Neil Patrick Harris) has created a fiction where Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) created the original trilogy as a hit video game. Thomas is a over worked and under appreciated game developer with bosses who want to remake and exploit his original creation because Warner Bros want a new Matrix Reboot (see what I mean about Meta Humour). With this in mind, whenever Thomas remembers his past, he is laughed off as being a crazy fool who has become delusional because his game is based off of himself. This is the new nightmarish hell he finds himself in and the game developers he works with are annoying and cringe worthy Millennials.

However, when he escapes this new Matrix, the film's tone takes a more serious shift like the original trilogy. Now casual fans may find the scenes outside of the Matrix to be a bore as we basically watch Neo catch up with old characters and visit the new Zion. We learn more about the changes that have taken place since the end of Revolutions. We learn about Morpheus and how he became an icon after his death. Some machines are now allying with the humans, and programs from the Matrix can now interact with the real world outside too by becoming humanoid holograms. A lot of information is revealed to us, but these scenes can drag on and mostly consist of characters talking for a long time. As a die hard fan; it was a joy to learn about the changes, but I can imagine a more casual audience finding these scenes a chore. This is not a pop corn flick (despite it's amazing action scenes).

The film ends with a final mission to awaken Trinity from The Matrix, like how they rescued Morpheus in the fist movie. This is where the plot takes a back seat and we are presented with a grand finale full of awesome special effects, explosions, swarms of Analyst possessed citizens, a epic shoot out followed by a great escape on Trinity's Motorcycle while Neo uses his bullet time and super powers to defeat the big baddies, it's really cool and excellently done. Say what you want about the plot, the cringey meta humour, or how pretentious the movie can be, you can't deny how excellent the action sequences are in this movie (which in my opinion are worth the ticket price alone!) I think I may end the review here as I don't want to spoil any more.

Ultimately this may seem like a bit of a messy movie that may not make sense unless you're deeply invested into The Matrix lore and I don't think it'll be a very good experience for people who are only casual fans. As a die hard though; I am more than happy to watch this film again and again. You should probably watch the first three movies before entering The Matrix: Resurrections though.

4/5 Stars: Meta comedy didn't always work. The film has a lot of fun twists and turns. Action is fantastic. The plot is fascinating, albeit a bit confusing.