 How freaking awesome is it that the Matrix is finally back, the Matrix 4? I didn't think it would ever come, honestly. After three amazing films, well, after one amazing film and then two other movies, I thought for sure this was a cash cow that were gonna milk dry. That was not the case though. We had the Animatrix, we had a couple video games, there was an online game where Morpheus apparently died, I didn't even know about that but it would explain why he's not in the new trailer or it doesn't explain it. I don't know what's happening in that trailer and that's good. I don't want to know, that's half the charm of the Matrix is figuring things out and puzzling through it with Neo together. Today I wanted to do a relatively quick video just talking about past Matrix memories, what the film franchise means to me, and where I'd like to see it go in the future. Maybe we'll relate. If you're new to the channel, hi, I'm Adam. I don't take things too seriously, but I do love movies and talking about them, so if you are as passionate as I am, maybe take the red pill. See how deep this rabbit hole goes. Sounded sexual. Just subscribe. That's what I'm saying, subscribe. The Matrix came out March 31st, 1999, yeah we're in the late 90s folks, it's gone back a ways and I remember it like it was yesterday. I still remember the marketing for this film and how bizarre the trailers were, showing very little. You had agents doing all sorts of weird body dysmorphia stuff. One dude with shades and a trench coat, dodging bullets. I have no idea what's happening, but I'm all in. I saw this in the theater opening weekend with a bunch of guys, my dad, my brother, cousins, like a bunch of relatives. I don't know, I think it was a fishing trip and we're like, let's go to the movies because screw fishing. The film was insane. We had never witnessed anything so crazy before. It made you think it was complex. But then on top of that, we had phenomenal action, a killer soundtrack, and state-of-the-art technology that would be mimicked and parodied for years to come. I still remember being a kid in the theater in that opening scene when Agent Smith gets out of the car and the cops are like, our men are bringing her down right now and Agent Smith doesn't even look at it and he's just like, no lieutenant, your men are already dead. It's so good, he's so good. But then we jump into that scene greeted to carry on Moss as Trinity. She goes up into the air, the sound effects are insane. She's running on the rooftops, jumping across buildings, the cops are trying to keep up. Oh my God, I loved it. And then of course it ends as all fights end with her going through a telephone. So many freaking cool characters, Trinity, Morpheus, Neil of course, Agent Smith and the other agents, the Oracle, Spoon Boy, and that's just the first movie. Once Neil gets plugged into a simulation that teaches him kung fu, I was basically dead. The movie overwhelmed me with how amazing it was. After the film was done, we had multiple discussions amongst each other about where the movie could go next, if there was a sequel, about what was actually going on in the matrix. I had to explain it to like a dozen people who didn't even get the concept. I would also go on to watch this movie two more times in theaters. I was that invested in the movie. Obviously, I bought a day one on DVD, annoyed the shit out of all my classmates with my nerdy friends as we recreated our favorite scenes from the films, pretending to run sideways on walls in the hallways of the school, randomly going into bullet time during class. Trinity, help. God, we were so annoying. I just know we were. I just know we were. If I could unearth some of the videos we made recreating the matrix fights or just make out our own versions, it would be quite the sight to see. Fortunately for everyone, that footage was lost to the world. The internet wasn't really much of a thing yet. It was taking shape. We had just shitty websites like built on GeoCities and Fire Angel or whatever that was called. Basically, those were the equivalent of WordPress or Wix today. They were sites where you could host images and text and not much more. I remember in computer classes just making multiple word docs full of images from the matrix, just opening up a file and just finding images online that I thought were badass from the film and just putting them in a centralized location so I could go, oh, that's the shot where they're fighting down in the subway and they have the guns and they're like, and you have the trail of the bullet and they're in like a circle. The flame of the gun goes. This is actually really crazy. I looked back and the matrix reloaded and revolutions were released six months apart in theaters. I don't know if that's ever happened before with the film trilogy or franchise. Maybe back to the future two and three. Hang on, I will go back and look just to be accurate. I stand corrected by myself. Back to the future two and three came out six months apart. So matrix is going off of that playbook. The movies were filmed back to back, which is kind of weird for back to the future, not to go on a side tangent, but three seems like the most disjointed of the trilogy. It feels like the ugly duckling in the corner. Whereas one and two feel like one extended film. Anyway, reloaded and revolutions definitely feel like one longer movie as opposed to the first. The first would be The Odd Man Out. And this is where the disappointment starts to kind of fester in. Matrix Reloaded, I think is awesome. I don't think it's as good as the first. It kind of lost some of its style, some of its coolness. I don't know why because there's plenty of cool stuff going on. The film is far less about freeing minds, though, as it is about saving Zion. And Zion sucks. Zion's just absolute shit. Which does lead to some interesting questions. Like, do we really want to be free when this is the world we have to look forward to? There's tons of metaphors, symbolism, biblical references all throughout this thing. It's up its own ass in it, actually, especially by the third. But I saw all of these opening night and I would not change a thing. Even Revolutions, which is definitely a disappointment for me, over the years I've grown, I guess, a little softer on it. I think Matrix Reloaded gets to have the most fun out of the trilogy. It doesn't have to worry about the beginning or end. It can just really focus on doing some wild stuff in the middle. That highway chase that goes on for like 45 minutes is so freaking good. The cameras are going underneath the cars. There's tons of practical effects work at play, believe it or not. But then you also have CG agents jumping on cars and breaking them and blowing them up. You have fucking Morpheus with a Katana and an Uzi. Taking out cars, fighting on the top, fighting on top of a semi-truck, as Neo's trying to rush over and help. Plus there's that burly brawl in the park. Half choreographed with real people, then we switch over to full-on video game. It doesn't age well at all. But we're in the Matrix, so kind of forgivable. Which is another nice thing about this trilogy. Since we're inside of a simulation, actors in real life that have actually died have to be replaced by other actors. Like the Oracle, for instance. She passed away between the filming of two and three. I do wish that Wachowski's knowing that they're inside of a computer program would have gotten a little bit more extreme with it. Instead of replacing the Oracle with another elderly black woman, they maybe could have replaced her with like a white kid or an Indian dude. Like something that's different. To really push home that point for audiences that, oh, I outgrew my shell, I needed to find a new one. There was many years where I was just sour on the third movie and I just didn't like it at all. Now I look back and I see what the Wachowskis were doing. I still would have liked to do the more free-in-mind sort of a thing and less about this whole Zion situation. But the other major storyline with Agent Smith is so cool that I forgive it now. The rain fights, the fact that Smith is a virus and he's ruining the Matrix, taking over everything, and they need to turn to Neo, the chosen one, to help stop him. They kind of make a deal with him that they'll do things better. They'll allow more minds to be opened. They'll let Zion stand. There's some really cool concepts there. And after watching it recently with my daughter for the first time, I got to relive all three movies over again through her eyes. It was such a cool experience. We brought home Chipotle. We're sitting down at lunch, eating, watching the movies, and I'm like half-watching the movie, half-watching her the whole time, just seeing her reaction and her response to things as she's getting blown away like I was in theaters. The first time Agent Smith seals up Neo's mouth, or removing the bog that's in his stomach, not like this. Not like this. How's he gonna be the one if he's dead? Mr. Anderson, we've missed you. Dodge this. Bzzz. I could have a panel on the Matrix and nerd out on it for like 24 hours straight without any breaks. That's how much I adore this trilogy. For good and bad. They did things that were so off the norm from Hollywood blockbusters and they went all in. They didn't sacrifice their vision for what they thought would work better for others. They just said, you know what? This is the course we're taking, whether you like it or not. So now all these years later, seeing the new movie, now directed by just one of the Wachowskis, not having the green filter, not having Neo look how he did before. No, Lawrence Fishburne as Morpheus. I need my fish. I need my fish. But some younger version of him, maybe, or maybe it's his son. Maybe it's just a guy that's cosplaying as him. I don't know. Why does Neo look like John Wick? Why is there no color grading on this thing? I know they say at the end of revolutions, which I just watched a few months back, that they, for the next reboot, the seventh reboot or the 10th, or however many that it's been, they do colorize the matrix more, how it used to be back before the sun was blocked out. They're trying to get it more accurate. So that would explain why we don't have the greens anymore. Now as for Neo's look, I don't know, we can speculate all day long, but it really doesn't amount to a hill of beans, as they say back in the 50s. I'm in touch. I'm in touch. Last time I checked, he also died in the original trilogy, along with Trinity. Morpheus, ironically, was one of the few that survived, and he's not even in this one. My guess is the matrix rebooted. These aren't even the same characters anymore. The computer told us that there's always a one that's going to save humanity, but that's just part of the construct, that's part of the programming. So it's very possible this is just a different version of Neo, and that's a different version of Trinity, completely different characters now. There might be some echoes, there might be some copying over, so that they can find what was once lost, and get those memories back. I don't know, there's all sorts of fun stuff they can do. I'm just gonna wait and see what they come up with, and then I'll bitch afterwards if it's not what I liked, because that's how this works. The matrix is really interesting because you have other properties like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, that continue to grow and flourish, and people dress up every year for Halloween as these characters. Constant TV shows going on at all times. I mean, Lord of the Rings has a new thing coming out on Amazon Prime, so this stuff's never really dormant or dead. But with the matrix, it kinda was. We had these amazing years of films, four or five really strong years. I'd say the matrix was relevant for a good almost decade, from the late 90s to like 2010. But then it just disappeared. It all changed, once the Fire Nation. And it's mind boggling because technology continues to grow and advance at an alarming rate. The matrix could have easily kept going with these ideas and concepts, but Warner Brothers or the Wachowskis or someone just completely dropped the ball. Whoever has ownership of that IP was just shitting it away. So I'm very happy it's back. There's so much you can do with this. There's so many stories you can tell. Much like Star Wars, they're going back to what they know. They're using Keanu Reeves again, Neo. They're using Karrion Moss again, which for fans like me, that's great. For us old timers that grew up with it, awesome. But I would like them to branch to different stories too because the matrix is massive, it's daunting. Do some other things with this story, with this world. And I'll be there. I think we'll all be there. Thanks for taking the time to listen to me talk about the matrix a little bit, make sure to effortlessly block and then hit that subscribe button. I don't know why you're blocking, but just jab the subscribe if you haven't. Stick around, I do a ton of movie content. Can't wait to talk more about the matrix in the future. And until then, just keep that red pill handy. Oh, you're still here. This is awkward. 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