Matrix 4 / The Matrix Resurrections

[Ramza00]

Huh, no idea how those oddball characters ended up in there. Wasn't goin' for that.

Cool moving on.

Anyways, I think the impression that the sequels were not as good as the original is...fairly common, and the scenes I see complained about, well, there's a good deal of agreement.

There's one or two technical complaints as well...the CGI in revolutions where Neo is using a street sign as a staff to fight the many Smiths looks...really fake. But probably that won't be an issue in the modern sequel. Tech is just less likely to be a concern nowadays, but directorial choices are, well, always up for criticism. Being the director of a film doesn't make you immune to criticism or judgement, after all, Tommy Wiseau directed the Room, and pretty much everyone is up for poking fun at him/the film.

I would agree with those who say that Loki took the same basic concept, and executed it far, far better. See, I actually love the whole trope of the big adversaries having a big ol' talk off. Done right, it can be filled with suspension and tension. Problem is, if you're gonna have to have a big ol' block of talking, you need the situation to shift over the course of the conversation. In Loki, it does. Who has the upper hand shifts around, and of course, we even have shifting allegiances. With Neo vs the Architect, we don't have this. It is largely expository, and there is no real change in what each person wants, in their relative positions, nor in anything else. As a scene, it is remarkably static, particularly for its length.

Sure, it contains some information, but it's...largely already information anticipated by the audience. "more layers of control"....cmon, we'd all been speculating that there would turn out to be another layer of matrix layered over the original. We all *expected* the machines to have additional layers of control. It's literally what they do. Even the knowledge of prior iterations is not wholly news...we knew from the first movie that earlier attempts had existed from the Smith/Morpheus interrogation. The philosophy stuff is, well, not exactly deep, and largely not exploring any new ground. The whole control/free will thing wasn't much more than talking about themes we'd seen explored far more visually.

There's nothing wrong with a confrontation, but it needs to be handled differently. Perhaps the antagonist should actually care about the choice and stakes. After all, if this is just another tuesday to him, why are we, the audience invested in its importance? And why should it be just another tuesday when it is one of the rare points that his entire system depends upon to continue?

It was also the third talk off by a villain / antagonist character in a 2 hour movie, all 3 of them Narcissistic (Smith, Merovingian, and “The” Architect). Likewise we had other talk offs by non antagonistic characters like The Oracle, Locke, Morpheus, the old guy who is on the council stating we live with machines and there will always be mystery and obscura in the human cognition and thus he has problems sleeping, etc.

Comparing a 40 minute episode of Loki where there is only one talk off is once again taking the scene individually and not seeing how that scene is in a larger pattern. Part of the Architect thing is it at the end of a long two hour movie, and how he gives an answer but it is not the answer Neo wants (and Neo figured this out faster than the others), much like how all the monologues by antagonists and more neutral characters are not the answer Neo wants. The Matrix series “well this movie is about Kung Fu, intended for Philosophy Majors”. (This is a riff on a Patrick H Willems t-shirt about Star Wars https://store.nebula.app/products/pa...izards-t-shirt )

By ending all the monologues with the most condescending one, one with no charisma only with contempt it teaches Neo to stop looking for answers in the outside world. To now do action and to look for internal answers. More Kung fun and less enlightened. It is like that famous monk Linji Yixuan quote which I will not say for I am not sure how this forum would view Buddhism on the philosophy vs religion scale. (You can Google it)

The architect was merely there to close one door / path to give Neo the freedom to find his own path / way. No more oracles, no more architects, just a Kung Fu Hero tired of false prophecies and bad faith beliefs trying his best to save Zion, his people he has adopted.

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The Architect is no different than Ozymandias from Watchmen which I quoted earlier. He is a narcissist obsessed with his own creation / reflection. He may be “god-like” but he has killed thousands / perhaps far more to achieve his new world. That is a pejorative of a God “to see his creation move” whether it is Ozymandias, or The Architect, or He Who Remains from Loki.

What was that Roman historian quote about Caesars again (other Narcissists)

Auferre, trucidare, rapere, falsis nominibus imperium, atque, ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.

To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call “this” empire, and where they make a desert, they call “it” peace.

By making the KFC man, the Architect condescending and rude it taught us the viewers to stop listen to charismatic affect of the Narcissists like Smith and The Merovingian. We listened to the words which were true and we found them disappointing, philosophy is not always for enlightened and mystical experiences sometimes it is there to instill the reality principle. It taught us to act and save Trinity, or to be like Trinity and just threaten to shoot the French Man in his nightclub. To act not just to think or to feel.