The Matrix Resurrections: What Fans Are Saying About The Keanu Reeves Movie

News
By Eric Eisenberg
published

Are fans taking the red pill or the blue pill?

Neo with Bugs go into a door in The Matrix Resurrections
(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

The Matrix has long been a divisive franchise. While the original released in 1999 is almost universally hailed as a modern cinematic masterpiece, the two sequels released in 2003 – The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions – didn't get anywhere near the same kind of response, and the last 18 years have seen movie-goers regularly debate their merits. This in mind, it wasn't surprising in the slightest to see the new film, The Matrix Resurrections get a definitively mixed response from critics when reviews arrived online early last week.

Now, however, fans have gotten their opportunity to make their own opinions about the film – which is now playing in theaters and streaming on HBO Max – and they have let their respective voices be heard on social media.

Searching around Twitter, a great deal of the reactions to The Matrix Resurrections have been on the positive side of the spectrum, with the blockbuster getting warm responses from members of the movie-going audience most excited to check it out (as indicated by their speed to watch it).  A common theme has been an appreciation for its inventiveness and that it isn't a copy of what we see from a number of major film franchises: 

With the film available to stream on HBO Max, some have already found time during the holiday weekend to watch The Matrix Resurrections more than once... or specifically six times in the case of one Twitter user:

The Matrix Resurrections features a number of stars from the original trilogy, including Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Jada Pinkett Smith, but it also recasts some of the key parts – featuring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Morpheus and Jonathan Groff as Smith. Groff in particular has earned a fair amount of love from social media with a number of posts like these:

Just because the responses to The Matrix Resurrections are positive doesn't mean that they don't include some criticisms. For example, you'll find one individual below who didn't quite click with the first half of the film, but appreciated the film by the end:

That being said, there are also a number of Twitter users who seem to love absolutely every single frame and choice in The Matrix Resurrections. The individual below, for example, went to go see the film in their local theater and ended up expressing adjectives including "fantastic," "beautiful," "amazing," "transcendent," and "perfect."

Also starring Jessica Henwick, Neil Patrick Harris, and Priyanka Chopra-Jonas in addition to all of the actors mentioned above, The Matrix Resurrections is now available in cinemas everywhere, and if you have an HBO Max subscription you are just a few clicks away from hitting play. To see all of the films that are set to hit the big screen and streaming in the coming year, check out our 2022 Movie Release Calendar.

Eric Eisenberg
Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.