WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Matrix Resurrections, now in theaters and on HBO Max.

Heavily awaited by fans of the franchise, The Matrix Resurrections is sadly something of a disappointment to certain members of that fanbase. This follows the trend of none of the sequels measuring up to the original's quality, but the lack of fanfare for this movie instead stems from how little it's interested in even existing.

The newest Matrix is filled with meta-commentary on unnecessary sequels, but instead of justifying its existence, it tries to insult Warner Bros. by just how terrible it can be. Though the joke of The Matrix Resurrections seems to be in being as bad as possible, the fans aren't laughing. Here's how this film lets down those wanting to truly see the series revived.

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The Meta Callousness of The Matrix Resurrections

neo and bugs at a door in Matrix Resurrections

The main fourth-wall-breaking aspects of The Matrix Resurrections hint at a less than positive desire to make the film, with the eye-rolling at its very premise not being on the nose so much as outright up the nostrils. There's an outright boardroom meeting discussing how to make a new Matrix installment within the movie itself, with the surreal storytelling destroying any sense of distinction between its world and ours.

A new character introduced in The Matrix Resurrections is Bugs, who goes looking for Neo, the hero of the previous trilogy. The character's name, as the film itself points out, is a not-so-subtle homage to Bugs Bunny, again representing how Warner Bros. is intent on digging up Neo for another Matrix movie. Even worse, the meta-commentary seems to suggest, through its equally blatant allusions to real life, that director Lana Wachowski was "forced" to continue the series in a way, or else Warner Bros. would have done it themselves. The result is the overall sense that the movie was made more out of obligation or frustration than dedication, with the story doing nothing to dissuade viewers from believing so.

Lana Wachowski supposedly made the movie to get back in touch with old friends Neo and Trinity. This was meant to be a comforting coping mechanism after the death of Wachowski's parents, though this suggests that the final product would be a lot more heartfelt and interested in the franchise than it actually is. Keep in mind that when the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the movie's production temporarily, Wachowski was more than fine with shelving the project entirely. Given that other movies and shows' production eventually went on just fine during the pandemic, this is further evidence that Matrix 4 was a movie Wachowski was utterly uninterested in making.

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How the Fourth Matrix Fails the Franchise's Fans

matrix 4 resurrections morpheus pills

Unfortunately, what Wachowski did create doesn't have the desired effect. By focusing so much on these cheap jabs at Warner Bros., entertainment production and the idea of nostalgia-driven sequels, not to mention retreading similar ground to the first movie, The Matrix Resurrections is in many ways far worse than the two previous sequels. For as disappointing as they were, they at least pushed the story forward and took the franchise in new directions.

Thus, the attempt to "get back at" Warner Bros. falls completely flat, especially since The Matrix Resurrections is everything that it criticizes and worse. Warner Bros., one way or another, will likely still make money off of the film, and it was, if nothing else, a way to further boost HBO Max. The only ones who were truly insulted by this were the fans, who wanted to see actual progression in the franchise's story instead of a movie that can't make up its mind on whether it wants to do that.

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Projects such as The Animatrix and Enter the Matrix showed how to organically expand on the franchise's story and mythos without retreading the same ground. This was especially the case with the former, which had very little input from the Wachowskis. A new Matrix movie could've gone this route, using nostalgia while telling a new story to truly protest so many films doing the opposite. Better yet, given how conclusive The Matrix Revolutions was, why not do an actual reboot and begin things anew? A completely restarted story could've even made some of the hamfisted Warner Bros. and Hollywood criticism work, as it wouldn't have wasted the return of Neo and Trinity to simply use them as a vehicle for it.

For as soulless as it may have been, why not let Warner Bros. make a sequel without Wachowski, given how little the director seemingly cared about this entry? After all, the siblings gave their blessing for others to continue the franchise via the game The Matrix Online. Sadly, with the movie outright bombing, it's unlikely to get a much more well-made sequel. For fans who wanted a sequel truly worthy of following up the legacy of the original film, it seems that The Matrix should not have been resurrected.

To see how far down the wrong rabbit hole it goes, The Matrix Resurrections is now playing in theaters and on HBO Max.

KEEP READING: The Matrix Resurrections Made Its New Morpheus Better (and Worse)