Movie Review - The Matrix - Resurrections

 

I want to start by saying that calling this film ‘The Last Jedi’ of the Matrix franchise is woefully simplistic (and probably just a marketing line to get ‘subversion fans’ to buy a ticket or HBO Max). It might even be straight out incorrect.

This is far more than that.

Last Jed was a non-sequel that consciously unraveled the threads of the previous installment to make a statement, and (giving Johnson some credit here) to make SW feel new again.

Resurrections presents as a deconstruction of the original Matrix trilogy on some levels, but it has the unsurmountable benefit over Last Jed of having one of the original trilogy’s writers on the script, as well as two less-known writers (Mitchell and Hemon) who have clearly forged a close creative relationship with the Wachowskis through work on Cloud Atlas and Sense8.

The result is a true sequel to the original trilogy that is packed with action, meta-commentary, a handful of very juicy reveals, and far less waxing philosophic than the originals. That’s not to say it’s lacking in depth. While everything may not be drawn out to the level that some critics may desire, the tease of concepts and underlying narrative structure is plenty enough to satisfy me. Plenty is left to the imagination and the commentary of Analysts (heh) far more proficient than I.

I like it a lot.

The best bit was definitely the first act, where, as indicated by the trailer, it seems that Thomas Anderson is once again ‘stuck’ in the Matrix. There was an instant sense of depth and mystery, with the opening sequence featuring new, younger redpillers who I think are included both to ‘be introduced’ and to give the sense that, yes, this is a movie about escaping the Matrix and not purely meta commentary on it.

Since this is day one, there are a lot of things I’d like to comment on that I won’t. I strongly recommend going into this film with as untainted an awareness of the plot and elements as possible. I will say that the world of the Matrix, both real and simulated, is expanded in ways that are fun and make sense.

Naturally it looks amazing. What big budget film doesn’t? There are even some new graphical gimmicks that I think were pulled of really well.

The actors are solid. Keanu is himself of course, sufficiently portraying a frayed at the edges Anderson who is rightfully questioning his sanity and who flinches at the merest hint of things being out of the ordinary.

‘Replacing’ Morpheus was a bit of an odd call (that’s not a spoiler if you’ve seen trailers). But Abdul-Mateen brings an interesting energy to this altered take on the character. Anderson’s boss, quite obviously meant to echo Agent Smith’s demeanor in the trailer, is well done too.

The standout performance for me was Neil Patrick Harris as Anderon’s analyst. As usual, Harris plays himself, but he does it as well as ever and fits into this iteration of the Matrix surprisingly well.

One thing I think will be on most of my readers’ minds is the political messaging in the film. Now I’ll freely admit there is likely a ton of messaging and symbolism that I didn’t get on the first watch, and may never pick up on until a more diligent analysis is shown to me, but I think fears of this film being overly ‘woke’ can now be allayed.

I’ll use one of the main themes as an example. The following element is also what elevated the last act of the film greatly for me, culminating in a beat that actually made me misty eyed…

That element is, surprisingly, the power of the male-female binary. I know, right?

Without going into too much detail, I can report that while there was mention of bits of humanity and reality existing on a spectrum, there was an undeniable focus on the contrasting of opposites and the ability of one ‘side’ to provide that which the other side lacks. This is demonstrated at various moments but could be boiled down in the fact that Neo and Smith repel each other, while Neo and Trinity are eternally drawn to one another. There’s a lot under the hood here and I’m excited to see how some other commentators pick it all apart.

Returning back to the Last Jed comparison to conclude, is Neo less than he was? Yes, but there’s a real reason. Is he emasculated, sidelined, and humiliated as Luke and the other men in LJ were? Absolutely not. His existence and desire drives the plot from start to finish.

I had a great time watching this movie, from the comfort of my home no less. Next time I’m up with baby princess twins in the middle of the night, I will surely watch again.

So that’s two thumbs up from me, in bullet time.

Villeneuve’s Dune - Flash Review

 

I am not a Dune purist.

The first time I tried to read it, as a teen, I had both LOTR and The Stand under my belt, and yet something about the similarly thick tome felt too dry.

I remember popping in the movie and not making it through, though I can’t specifically remember why.

Thus my exposure has been mostly secondary all this time, and Dune did not make sufficient contact with me during my formative years to be nostalgic.

I did read about half before something in my tbr pile shifted and I started in on indie reviews, and I plan to finish (actually meant to before the movie), but ultimately I’m not equipped to nerd out on this one, so know that my thoughts come from the place of a SFF fan but not a Dune guy.

I have been looking forward to this quite a bit, as it’s been a long time since I sat down for a big budget event. Even better - I get to watch at home, so pants are optional. Let’s go!

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Since this is an adaptation of a time-tested and beloved story, I think most people will be concerned with faithfulness, quality, and overall experience.

As explained above, I can’t speak too much to faithfulness, but my general sense while watching was that everything made sense and felt Honest. I’m going to guess that it’s reasonably faithful.

Even I noticed there were scenes missing, but that’s to be expected in a 2.5 hour movie. For the most part, it seems to be complete.

My initial thoughts on quality were that the film is predictably beautiful. Nothing with a budget in the hundreds of millions should ever be anything less. Your mileage may vary with the ship and structure designs, but I enjoyed them.

The spacefaring ships in particular have a massive, imperial presence and I really appreciated the many shots that highlighted their scale vs. the humans.

Fashion is not my area of expertise but as far as I can tell the costumes are quality. I didn’t see anything gaudy or out of place. Overall though it’s a typical far-future imperial style, not much different from Apple’s Foundation series.

The CGI seems up to par but I think my lackluster screen may have taken away from realism to some degree. Someone watching in 4k might be able to speak better to the ultimate quality.

Visually my main impression was one of confidence. Design choices felt deliberate and well thought out. This kind of confidence goes a long way for me in selling the overall product, be it books or games or film. Even if there were a few designs that didn’t strike me, everything is consistent and works together to build a believably epic world.

Which brings me to the emotional presence of the film. There’s a definite ‘emo’ quality to it, and a minimum of lightheartedness. When that’s what you’re in the mood for, no problem! But I did think there could have been a little more humor worked in, as overall the film came off slightly dry. Now this is a tricky thing to ask for, I realize - Dune is not a place for Whedonisms.

Still, some a carefully crafted humorous edge could have brightened the experience.

In a similar vein, the washed out color palette left a little to be desired. Slapping grey on everything is the go-to nowadays for Serious Film and TV. And a dreary paint job is to be expected on a desert planet where lots of people die.

But a little more vibrant color here or there would have been more than welcome. Perhaps pieces of jewelry or ornamental hems on the costumes that could have been as saturated as the blue eyes of the Fremen. Or more contrasting colors for the thrusters of ships. Incongruous lights dotting the city, or any other element that juicier colors could have been worked into.

For all that, if you’re in the mood for a somber watch, this film has you covered.

I’m a terrible judge of actors, but to my sight everyone did just fine. Timothee seemed to slip right into the role of Paul, and it was an interesting surprise to see him being proficient in combat despite being a stickman.

One standout moment for me was Gurney hollering into Paul’s face about taking Arrakis seriously. Nice, visceral moment.

Let’s wrap up with story. Obviously the core is solid. The movie’s split point felt right, if slightly anticlimactic after the tragedy at the palace. I can definitely say that even if I had no prior knowledge of Dune, I would be excited for part 2.

My main hope is that we don’t have yet another bait and switch, where the second portion of a story is twisted to ‘please modern audiences’ with inverted morality, messages not present in the source material, and all of that bad jazz. For now, the adaptation seems to be faithful and it was quite refreshing to sit down for a quality epic film after months or years of serious lack on that front.

So, is it worth your ticket? Yes! Get out of the house!

Or stream it pantsless and enjoy the breeze.

Godzilla v. Kong - Flash Review

Really it's more just some quick thoughts about it, for various reasons, one of which is that it's hard to say anything new about the cheeseburger everyone else has already chimed in on.

And that's really what the movie is. It's a popcorn kaiju flick that really belongs in the summer months.

A very small percentage of films like this (not just kaiju, but other potentially 'brainless' genres) will hit the scene with unexpected depth or artistry, such as the original Gojira, Shin Gojira, and perhaps a few others. Most exist to give monster-lovers what they want - big monsters fighting and destroying things.

This movie does that, and does it reasonably well.

The human plot is predictably (and understandably?) simple, using them primarily as an excuse for us to have POVs in the story's various locations, and secondarily as a source of humor.

That bit is one of my biggest complaints about the script. The humor is terrible. I'd prefer the cheese of goofy Japanese side characters to this style of humor any day. Despite being set up as hyper-competent in their fields, the two male leads are framed as clueless goofballs, a quality which emasculates the African American Brian Tyree Henry somewhat more than his counterpart, to the movie's detriment. The main issues there are that 1. I would have liked a strong male lead and 2. while scientific and engineering geniuses might be awkward, this is not the type of humor you'd expect from them.

The adult female lead, Ilene, doesn't fare much better in the character department. She escorts the only character that matters, Jia, and doesn't do much else.

It's easy to have empathy for Jia of course, especially as a parent. Small, deaf, child, big eyes. That's really all it takes. But she plays her part well enough. If anything should have been expanded in the human department, it should have been her relationship with Kong. There is a solid tradition of children connecting with the monsters of kaiju films, and it might have been interesting to see a deeper dive with good writing.

The teens are forgettable and pointless. Millie was wasted and given an unlikeable character.

The villains are villainous, and that's just fine. It was a little bothersome to me that Maya, the villain's daughter, and most attractive character, existed only to reveal the predictable twist and then die. Not that eye candy is much of a thing in most kaiju films, but it never hurts.  I'm not a sensitive viewer but I did note that she was also shoehorned into the 'evil Asian girl' trope. Whoops.

The hollow earth and conspiracy angles fit nicely in this Monsterverse setup, and I enjoy that kind of stuff anyway, so it gets an A in the writing department.

One last bit concerning the script I'm tempted to critique is the amount of Godzilla in this Godzilla movie. Kong is really the protagonist, with Godzilla framed as the villain. It works, but I'm a G man and would rather an excuse for them to have equal time, even to the detriment of the plot (which I wouldn't consider a given).

On to what matters - the kaiju themselves.

Visually it looks good enough, probably better in a theater. While the CGI is decent, there's something about suits and models that computers can never touch. Overall, Shin Gojira was more visually believable, and if I'm not mistaken that movie leveraged both types of visual effects.

If anything bothered me visually, it was that Godzilla seemed to have been scaled down to Kong's size rather than the other way around. I understand various reasons for that, such as wanting Kong to be able to hold onto a skyscraper or two, but it nagged at me seeing Godzilla as being small. Especially after the apparent scale of the kaiju in King of the Monsters, this was sometimes jarring.

Minor spoilers in the next section. Skip if you don't want to hear fight details.

The fights are good too, with some real tension over Kong's submersion in the ocean, where Godzilla is right at home.

It bothered me that depth charges would not be enough to wrench Kong from Godzilla's grip in the ocean, and if they were, they'd have injured the monke too.

The Hong Kong fight is the best one, both during the main fight and after the final 'twist' which was actually spoiled in a trailer. I was surprised when some of the action in the main G v K fight pulled me in as well as it did. The monster posturing, roaring, and really hammering their strength home was all very enjoyable. Naturally it did my atomic reptile heart good when Godzilla broke some dumb monke ribs, but I was truly impressed at the fight choreographer/animator's use of Kong's flexibility and speed to disrupt, dodge, and stunlock Godzilla's fire breath. Even as a G fan I had to smile at Kong's moves.

Now, should something that big be able to move like that? No, but we don't mind. This is not a place for realism.

The 'twist' fight was also great, if a bit short. Kaiju teamups are always welcome. The 'twist' looked nice as well, though I would have preferred a more traditional rendition - more Megazord style and less Transformers. Still, his special moves and laser breath looked awesome. I'd love to see him come back.

Really, that's it. It's an above-average kaiju film (if that makes sense with the number of them that we actually get in a year) and a solid installment in the Monsterverse. If you like kaiju movies, give it a shot.

You know what else has a hollow earth and kaiju?

How Black the Sky is a fast-paced tale of heroes coming together to face a threat from deeper in the earth that they don't understand. Magic, fighting, monsters, violence, betrayal, and transcendence. 

Buy your copy today!

Hero’s Metal Book 1: How Black the Sky 

Justice League - Snyder Cut Flash Review

I was walking past the TV store window and the Snyder Cut just happened to be playing, so I dutifully stood there for four hours and watched it in its entirety.

Here are my thoughts in brief.

First off, I think the film is notable for its unusual nature - that of a cut not simply released due to demand, but finished and probably iterated on in response to that demand. If this has happened before with a film, I am not aware of it. Viewing the product was at the least a curiosity.

My experience with AAA games brings to mind some issues that could arise from this practice, but that’s something we might tackle later on. 

If you find yourself asking whether the effort put into this rerelease was worth it, I would have to say yes, with a qualifier.

The qualifier is that the millions spent on this massive correction to the record could have been spent on something new and shiny rather than a recut. Alas, I am not the producer, so this notion shall die here.

For what the movie was, it worked.

It made vast improvements on the Whedon cut by setting up each character’s motivations, including - or perhaps especially - our villain’s. While none of these were particularly special or new (Cyborg’s was the best), they provide a flow to the narrative that was previously missing.

Naturally this accounts for a large portion of the increased runtime, which begs the question of whether the thing feels too long.

I am one to enjoy extended cuts. In fact I rather love it when I can find a free day to watch LOTR extended editions all in a row. Thus going in knowing that the movie was going to be mostly crescendo with occasional peaks, my expectations were reasonably set. Really it has a good pace and gains enough momentum so that it doesn’t feel like a slog.

I felt none of the type of mental exhaustion that I might watching something like a Transformers movie, nor was I bored.

So let’s do some quick hits on the high points.

The expansion of Cyborg’s role and story felt the most like new material to me, though to be fair I don’t have a clear recollection of the original cut. I felt for the character and would happily follow him into another adventure.

If I’m not mistaken, Batman’s role in the finale was expanded, and it was great fun to watch. Batfleck looks so solid and burly, it’s just satisfying to watch him (or his CGI double) commit bone-crunching violence against the baddies.

The movie really loves Wonder Woman, almost to the point of cheese, but it treats her respectfully enough and shows her strength with fun visuals.

Steppenwolf was a huge improvement, even shining through my blurry memory of the original. His design is better if not perfect and his action is enjoyably brutal. Again, though his motivations are simple - pleasing his master to regain favor - they help in providing a reason for him to do what he’s doing beyond mere destruction.

The teaser of Darkseid is cool. I appreciated his aura of menace and the depiction of his Omega Beam. But this brings me around to our low points.

At four hours, and with no plans that I’m aware of for a direct sequel to this iteration of the JL, Darkseid should have been brought into full play. We could have edited some of the setup and various other scenes, ditched some of the copious slo-mo, cut the epilogue that felt like a vestigial appendage, and gained enough time to include Darkseid in at most another plot thread (perhaps he’s working at odds with Steppenwolf or about some other villainous business) and at least a second boss fight. He wouldn’t even have to die.

I don’t get the sense that the teaser will actually bear out into a real sequel, so I fear that DC fans will miss out on the resolution of this Darkseid’s plot.

Other cons.

The casting of Flash is not my favorite. I know these movies have a hard time crossing line between TV and Film, but Grant Gustin’s Flash is a great fit (or was last time I watched a few seasons back) and he should have been pulled in for this. He knows the character, people love him. It just makes sense.

Aquaman is still underdeveloped. There is no other solution to this than to have released his movie first.

And of course, Superman is underutilized. Characters like this are very difficult to write into team situations. Captain Marvel suffers the same issue in Avengers Endgame. I have a few characters of my own who need careful management in order to keep from making everyone else on the team irrelevant. 

In fact this is a theme in the Arc Legacy.

But needing to perform a macguffin ritual to resurrect him is one of this story’s greatest flaws. 

I would have much preferred if his return was more similar to the comics run after his death in the 90s, where he himself takes action and eventually returns. This way we get to see him doing things and still get him coming in as the cavalry charge.

Instead we get a contrived and confusing process involving the motherbox. While this does provide action for Flash and Cyborg, and allows for the ‘Superman is crazy’ fight, I still just don’t think it was worth it.

Finally, despite my overall enjoyment of the viewing experience and the pleasure of seeing a work improved, the film isn’t more than a one-watch movie. The story is too simple to require repeat viewings from someone who remembers plots - if not all the small details - very well. So rent it or buy in the bargain bin, if you buy it at all.

So is it worth your time?

If you feel like sitting down to watch a high-budget superhero epic with the director’s passion for the project on full display, then yes.

If you’re already weary of superheroes or accustomed to the tight writing of MCU films, probably not.

Either one of you will enjoy my novel RawJack of course, in which plucky superheroes take on the elite blood magic practitioners of a society dominated by sorcery. 

Heroes, magic, a futuristic city, call it superhero magipunk!