THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS

Even the action sequences and special effects pale in comparison to the ground-breaking work of the first film.

During the way too meta first half hour of The Matrix: Resurrections one of the characters notes that what made the original film stand out were its inventiveness and its freshness. Neither term can unfortunately be applied to this utterly superfluous fourth entry in the once influential sci-fi franchise.

Try as she might to hide behind metatextual ideas - overexplained in endless information dumps throughout the picture - director Lana Wachowski, working without her sibling Lilly for the first time, merely rehashes scenes and characters from the turn-of-the-millennium trilogy with none of the charms, thrills or fun intact.

While a few of the new cast members acquit themselves decently, the actors reprising their roles from the original Matrix films feel either bland or, in the case of lead Keanu Reeves - not bothering to change his now trademark John Wick looks - woefully out of place.

Even the action sequences and special effects that should be the movie's bread and butter pale in comparison to the ground-breaking work of the first film. So if this is meant to be a resurrection, there's not much life in it.

release: 2021

director: Lana Wachowski

starring: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff