December 24, 2021 • 42 mins
This week from deep space w/ host Jon Justice
-Matrix Resurrections Spoiler Review
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-Matrix Resurrections Spoiler Review
SUPPORT MY NERD WORLD: PICK UP YOUR COPY OF THE EMBARK, THE SCIENCE FICTION SERIES
An exciting mix of Fast and Furious, Star Wars, Ready Player One and the sci-fi adventures of the 70’s - 2000’s
EMBARK: Book 1 and EMBARK: Treasure in Darkness (Book 2) EMBARK: The Vanishing War (Book 3) Gahan Corbijn and the Asteroid of Misfortune, The Rocket Queen (Book 5) are available now in ebook, paperback, audiobook and free on Kindle Unlimited!
EMBARK Fear the Dangerous Night (Book 6) is now available!
www.MyNerdWorld.net
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07K7LLFZY
Email: TalkShowNerd@gmail.com
Twitter @TheMyNerdWorld @JonJustice
Instagram TheJonJustice
Facebook Jon Justice
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
This is my nerd world, andwelcome to it. I'm your Space opera
podcast host John Justice. And beforewe get in to this week's show,
a Matrix Resurrections spoiler review. Now, first you might be asking yourself,
Matrix isn't a space opera. Well, I kind of think it is,
and I'll explain when the show getsunderway. But first, you're a podcast
(00:23):
listener. I'm a podcast listener,and there are millions of podcasts to choose
from, right. I often havea difficult time finding new podcasts, especially
when you're looking for very specific topicsthat you can relate to. But honestly,
what makes a podcast great is whenyou stumble across the show that is
so compelling that even if you're notinto that particular topic, it still is
(00:48):
totally worth listening to. And that'swhat I found with Bourbon Pursuit. Now
I'm more of a rum drinker,but I might become a bourbon and whiskey
drinker now after having found this podcast. Because the hosts of Bourbon Pursuit,
we're talking Kenny Coleman, Ryan Ceciland Fred Minnick. These individuals know everything
about bourbon, they know everything aboutwhiskey. And they love talking about it,
(01:12):
and it makes this an incredibly interestingpodcast. So if you are a
bourbon or whiskey fan, you definitelywant to check this out, especially if
you find yourself looking at all thebourbon on the store shelves and not knowing
where to start. You know,do you enjoy bourbon and want to know
more about the science, history andthe stories behind the label, which is
what I've really found compelling as I'vesort of begun a new listening habit in
(01:34):
Bourbon Pursuit, finding out about bourbonthat I never you know, things I
never knew about before, Right,So, like, did you know that
bourbon is a distinctive product to theUnited States? It can't be produced anywhere
else in the world. And no, not all bourbon is made in Kentucky.
Again, I learned this on thepodcast. This is the official podcast
(01:55):
of Bourbon Bourbon Pursuit and it's thebest source for news, reviews, interviews
with people making the bourbon whiskey industryhappen. They've got trends, great bottles,
they do taste testings, and again, the personality is behind your favorite
brands. And if you just wantto find out something new about a new
topic. This is a really,really fun and interesting podcast, three shows
(02:16):
a week. They have CEO's,master distillers, celebrities, industry influencers.
You can take your knowledge from beinga bourbon novice like me to a bourbon
baron wherever the good stuff is poured. Bourbon Pursuit is just a play button
away, So go to wherever youget your podcast, wherever you go get
your podcasts, subscribe and follow BourbonPursuit. Trust me, you will not
(02:39):
be disappointed. It is my nerdWorld, a space off for a podcast,
(03:00):
and I am your host, JohnJustice. Glad you're with the show.
I know it's been a while sinceI've put up a space opera podcast
episode, but I had need toget a few things off my chest over
the new Matrix Resurrections film, availablenow on HBO Max and also in theaters
(03:21):
as well. You can email meat any point throughout the show at Talk
Show Nerd at gmail dot com,or do you have a comment up on
YouTube if you happen to be listeningthere my nerd World. So first you
might be asking yourself, well,wait a second, John, I know
you started this podcast a while ago, and you know, like you just
mentioned you haven't put up an episodein quite a long time, and you
(03:44):
put up an episode, and nowsuddenly you're talking about Matrix Resurrections when that's
not a space opera. Well,I kind of would argue that it is
a space opera. In my view, the Matrix films, apart from taking
place on Earth, really do haveall of the elements that you would normally
(04:08):
find in the space opera. Thespace opera genre that I love, and
it's one of the reasons why Ilove the Matrix Trilogy as much as I
do. It's up there for mewith science fiction series like you know,
Star Wars and Star Trek. Iknow a lot of people have difficulty with
the second two films, and we'lltalk a bit about that as we get
(04:28):
into the Matrix Resurrections review, whichwill be filled with spoilers. And again,
i'd love to hear from you,because I really would get a kick
out of doing some more podcasts talkingabout the Matrix Trilogy and Matrix Resurrections.
If you are so inclined to wantto reach back out to me at talk
show Nerdi gmail dot com and shareyour thoughts on and I'll record another podcast
(04:51):
coming up again again next week.But like so many individuals having gone to
the theaters in the late nineties togo see the first Matrix movie and not
really knowing what to expect and walkedout of that film in one of those
rare moments in seeing a film,going that movie was not only fantastic,
(05:12):
but it's an instant classic. Andthat's what the Matrix was for many people,
and certainly certainly for me. Iam a huge fan of the entire
trilogy, and I understand people's complaintsover Matrix reloaded and Matrix revolutions. I
get that, but it follows apattern that a lot of other franchises do
(05:36):
that also have a portion of thefandom that liked the first film but didn't
care for the other two. Youhave this, you have this opening story
that is a new it's a newintellectual property, it's a new IP.
One of the examples I'm going togive kind of fits into this category,
(05:58):
and that's Pirates of the Caribbean,and to me, that's probably the best,
the best comparison in terms of atrilogy, and interestingly enough, with
Privates of the Caribbean four and five, especially five, it really does have
a same sort of field of asResurrections, and I'll get into that.
I'll get into that in a moment. But in my opinion, the Matrix
trilogy does what good trilogies do,and why not everyone is left happy with
(06:23):
the sequel films and it separates andthis is why I also Star Wars separates
itself out from so many of thefranchises. Okay, so when the rold
am I talking about before I getinto my thoughts on Resurrections. By the
way, I loved Resurrections. I'veonly watched it once. I'm on vacation.
I'm planning on watching it again.It was a very unique experience.
We decided to go and watch itat home. But it's one of those
(06:44):
films where I was so much anticipatingseeing this movie because of my love for
the original trilogy that I know it'sgoing to take repeat viewings for me to
really really submit my views and toto give you know, sort of my
my final thoughts on the film.On first viewing, I loved it,
(07:05):
but I get the feeling I'm goingto really appreciate it more on repeat viewings.
And there's a there's a reason forthis. So let's go back to
the original Matrix trilogy and I'm goingto use Pirates of the Caribbean as the
example, and we'll start with Piratesof the Caribbean. Pirates of the Caribbean,
that first film, right, wasa somewhat straightforward story, not very
(07:31):
convoluted. Right, storyline was simpleand had fantasy elements in it, but
it wasn't too over the top.I think it was more over the top
than most people realize. But becausethe story was so simple, it really
became a monstrous hit. You know, and opening films in in successful franchises,
(07:53):
right, they do that, theyhave a first you know, that
first film that's really solid, andusually it's solid because it's not convoluted and
it is very straightforward. And StarWars and New Hope is a perfect example
of this. And again I'll getinto why Star Wars kind of separates itself
out from these other films that I'mtalking about, but I can lump in,
to a certain extent, the DieHard series into this as well,
(08:16):
especially with franchises that have been awayfor a long period of time and then
have come back with a sequel attachedto the original three films, Ghostbusters,
Afterlife, the Harry Potter films versusFantastic Beats, Beasts Die Hard for as
well. So Priates of the Caribbeanhad that first film that was a huge
success in the box office. Sowhat happens, well, the directors and
(08:41):
the producers behind the film, theyend up with a lot more money and
it's decided they're going to go andtell more stories, and so they expand
upon that first film and they openedthe world up. And that's what I
love about particular trilogies, and certainlywhat the Matrix trilogy did, and why
I also love the Pirates of theCaribbean films because why so many people were
turned off because I think a lotof people have expectations that the sequels should
(09:03):
be more in line with that firstfilm, when in reality that rarely happens,
except in the case of Star Wars. And again I'll get back to
that, but I think a lotof people got lost with the Pirates of
the Caribbean films because they did openthe world up, and they did expand
on the fantasy elements of the film, and the story did get broader and
(09:24):
a little bit more convoluted. ButI like that, I'll always have that
original movie to go back to,right if I want to see something more
straightforward, like a Pirates of theCaribbean one or the first Matrix film.
But since I already have that,no, give me more. Let's blow
it up, Let's expand it.Let's open up this world and tell a
broader story. And I thought Piratesof the Caribbean did a fantastic job of
(09:46):
that, and I think that theMatrix Trilogy did an even better job of
that. I think a lot ofpeople went into Reloaded and Revolutions expecting that
they were going to get something morestraightforward and somewhat simple, or even though
the Matrix story isn't necessarily simple,the story in and of itself and the
arc of the story and the conflictof the story is fairly simple. But
(10:09):
the the ideas and the commentary withinthe Matrix trilogy are very very complex.
The Wachowski's really really opened up theMatrix world, and I think that's highlighted
in Matrix Reloaded. When you know, we're we're we've got we've got the
Matrix portion of the film, andthen we have the real world, right
(10:30):
that is this you know dystopian postapocalyptic scene right very much a lived in
universe. Reminds me actually again alot of Star Wars. It does have
a lot of elements. You takethe Matrix trilogy and just put it in
a different galaxy, on a differentplanet, and just have it take place
on its efferent planet other than Earth. I think it absolutely qualifies as a
as a space opera. But whenthe Nebuchadnezzar shows up at Zion and suddenly
(10:52):
you realize, oh, there's amuch bigger story being told here. You
know, there are hundreds of thousandsof individuals living deep underground. It really
does open up the story beyond themain characters, which of course then creates
a larger world that I think alot of people weren't really all that keen
to see because they really just lovedthat particular story of Neo UM. I
(11:15):
loved those films for that. Iloved both of those movies, how ambitious
they were, how unique the fightsequences were. The commentary within those films
is rich, it's relevant, it'sit's got a lot of depth to it.
Um In revolutions. That final battlein Zion is one of the best
(11:39):
UM action battle sequences sets um thatfrom any film right took to me.
The Battle of Zion against the Sentinelsand the Machines is really up there with
you know, the the Star Warsspace battles that I that I love so
much. Star Wars was unique inthis because the original Star Wars and New
(12:01):
Hope was a very straightforward story,right, and it was one of the
things that I tried to achieve whenI was writing my book one in my
Embark series, and my Embark storieskind of do this. You know,
I have I have that original storythat's grand in scope, but it's a
very simple you know, these areyour your dual protagonists. This is what
they're up against, and this iswhat they have to accomplish. And then
(12:22):
as I wrote the other five storiesand now I'm on the you know,
through book six and seven, youknow, the story gets bigger and broader
because you know, you've got toadd more characters, You've got to tell
you know, you got to keepit fresh, you gotta keep it you
got to keep it new. Andagain, that's what I love about that
original Matrix trilogy and the fact thatit really did tell a complete story,
(12:46):
and I love that story especially thelove story aspect of the original trilogy.
With Star Wars and New Hope,you had that very first story that George
Lucas made that was basically the firstpart of one story that he split up
into three stories because the original treatmentwould have been too much to make right
in all one film. And thenwhen you get into The Empire Strikes Back,
it opens up the world a littlebit, but not too much,
(13:09):
right And the same thing with theReturn of the Jedi. There's a consistency
in all three of those films,and definitely that same kind of consistency in
the prequel trilogy, from The PhantomMenace to Attack of the Clones to Revenge
of the Sith. They are verysimilar in terms of pacing, in terms
of tone, in terms of action. There really isn't a large deviation from
(13:30):
the previous films, and I thinkthat's why Star Wars has been so successful,
and even the sequel trilogy, Ithink maintained that it maintained a bit
of that consistency. The Force Awakensis a again more straightforward story, but
the Last Jedi kind of keeps withthat, right, does it. It
kind of keeps it grounded. Itdoesn't get into a sort of a larger
(13:54):
storytelling within the Star Wars universe,to say, the prequels did, and
certainly with the Rise of Skywalker.In my opion, it broadens out a
little bit with some elements towards theend when you get to Exagle and the
cit Eternal, which again I thinkis why a lot of people didn't like
it, because it did what thoseother trilogies and specifically the Matrix did and
(14:16):
parts of the Caribbean did. Itadded some elements that weren't in the other
films, and I think a lotof people get turned get turned off by
that. For me personally, it'sone of the things that I love about
the Matrix trilogy. There's an arcthere in the storytelling that grows and grows
and builds to a fantastic and uniqueand compelling climax in the Matrix Revolutions,
(14:39):
which brings us to Resurrections. Resurrectionsdid exactly what I expected that it was
going to do, and what otherfranchises and intellectual properties have done when they
had a successful franchise successful doing thatthing with my fingers. There's many years
that go by and the studios decideand the directors decide, Hey, we're
(15:03):
gonna make another one. And againI'm going to point to those movies I
mentioned a moment ago, the HarryPotter films, and then suddenly you get
the Fantastic Beasts franchise. It isHarry Potter, but it feels different,
right, There's some distance between theHarry Potter films and the Fantastic Beasts films.
(15:24):
There's a difference in the way thatthey look, in the difference of
the filmmaking. The better examples,I think, in my opinion, would
be Toy Story four, which againyou can go and take parallels, and
this is the first one that poppedin my mind when I was talking about
resurrections in the Toy Story franchise.With all three of those films, the
(15:46):
films themselves sort of grow in ashort period of time as technology grows,
but they still have a level ofconsistency from one, two to three.
There is a story through line thatis relevant in those three films, and
certainly at the end of three inthe Toy Story series of that trilogy,
(16:07):
there is a rather definitive climax thatdoesn't necessarily lend itself to a fourth film,
The Matrix does that right, Sospoiler aller, you know, at
the end of the Matrix you've gota dead Neo and you have a dead
trinity, and even though you stillhave these two elements of the Machine world
and the Matrix, they're at peaceand there's an understanding there where it doesn't
(16:27):
necessarily require another film. Diehard fourvery similar. Those three die Hard movies,
in my opinion, are very They'renot not necessarily a through line apart
from John McLean and him getting himselfinto trouble, but in terms of tone
and action, they're all very consistent. And then you get into two die
(16:47):
Hard four, Live for Your Diehard, and you have a lot of distance
between Diehard three, and you havean updating technology, you have an older
actor involved in it right as BruceWillis is getting older, and they're going
to introduce another threat that, whileit's attached to the original three films,
(17:07):
is still wholly unique and different.Ghostbusters Afterlife another great example of that.
You've had these these first films,right, and you don't have it necessarily
a trilogy there, but you havethose first two movies and then you have
the revisit, you know, filmof the twenty seventeen Ghostbusters. But then
you have this distance where you knowin time where again the main actors are
(17:30):
older. We're going to tell anotherGhostbusters story. We're gonna kind of tie
it back into the original films,but it's gonna stand on its own because
of technology, because of actors,because of filming styles in and of themselves.
So going into Resurrections, I absolutelyexpected that this film was going to
(17:51):
stand on its own while being connectedto the original trilogy. And it's not
a movie wherein I start watching theMatrix the first one, and I want
to watch the other two because Iwant to see the full story. I
won't feel the need, at leastright now to watch the original trilogy and
then okay, I gotta watch Resurrections. I'll probably end up going back to
(18:14):
Resurrections most often. Why because it'sthe most updated of the movies, right
in terms of the way that it'sfilmed, in terms of the action.
It has elements from the other threemovies. It gives you recaps of the
other three movies. It kind ofgives you sort of they end up being
best stubbs. In my opinion,Toy Story four as I kind of went
(18:37):
on that tangent and lost it.Let me go back to Toy Story four.
Toy Story four absolutely fits into thisright. Matrix Resurrections is to the
original Matrix trilogy what Toy Story fouris to those first three films. It
is tied to those first three films, but it is in and of itself
its own story. Whereas if I'mwatching the Toy Story movies, I would
feel like I need to watch one, two, and three, but wouldn't
(18:59):
necessarily feel desire to have to watchfour. But if I want to watch
a Toy Story movie, which whendo I want to watch, I'll probably
watch Toy Story four. That makessense. Same thing with Ghostbusters. I'll
probably end up watching Ghostbusters Afterlife onceit's out on Blu ray or streaming more
often than I go back to watchthe other Ghostbusters films, just because of
the way that they're shot, andthe and and again the updated special effects,
(19:22):
and it kind of has the elementsthat were in the originals, but
it's not dated in any way,shape or form. Matrix Resurrections I knew
was going to do this. Itwas exactly what I was expecting from Lana
Wichowski, especially given the look andfeel and style of a film like Cloud
at Las or Jupiter Ascending. Right, I love Jupiter Ascending and I've covered
that on this podcast before. Ifyou missed it and go back and find
(19:47):
the Jupiter Ascending podcast. I lovethat film. It is a fantastic space
opera in my opinion, It's verydifferent, it's very unique. But I
knew the look and the action ofMatrix Resurrection would be very much in line
with Ascending, And I also expectedthat The Matrix Resurrections was going to be
a film that would be attached tothe original trilogy, but would in and
(20:10):
of itself be its own unique sortof story. The stakes are higher in
the Matrix Trilogy, in my opinion, much higher. This was a very
different story, while connected to thefirst three that told a smaller story where
the stakes weren't quite as high asbefore. It really was and it really
(20:30):
is just about Neo sort of findinghimself. What did the machines do to
him? How is Trinity back?And him needing to go and reconnect with
Trinity again. It kind of comesfull circle in that at the end of
the film it takes on a toneof the end of the original Matrix movie,
and I really appreciated it for that, simply because that those first three
(20:53):
films in the Matrix trilogy, again, they told a cohesive story. I
didn't need to see sort of anupdated version or anything undone in that original
film. The Matrix Resurrections didn't undoanything or the importance of those first three
films. You flash forward sixty fiveyears, there's obviously been a lot that
(21:15):
happened. I would love to seethe film in between those films, and
maybe if Resurrections is successful enough,there could be sort of a middle prequel
where we get the story of whathappened in those sixty five years, because
that story seems very, very uniqueand interesting. We only got to see
some flashbacks there of the of thecontinued conflict of the machine world and the
Matrix and the machines themselves actually goingafter each other. That sets up the
(21:40):
backstory that we don't necessarily see inResurrections, but sets up what happens in
in Resurrections. So getting to afew things that I didn't like about the
film, and I say didn't like, I'm really taking a term from the
Rewatchables. I'm really picky knits.I'm really nitpicking here, right, But
if I have any complaints of Matrixresurrections, they're not really complaints, They're
(22:04):
just things that you know, ifI had my hand in the film,
what would I have done. Iwould have liked the aesthetic of Resurrections to
have matched the original trilogy a littlemore. It's near impossible now when you
go back to a film that wasmade in the late eighties, films that
were made in the late excuse menineties, the late nineties and early two
thousands, compared to today, thetechnology just in terms of filmmaking has been
(22:29):
updated to the point where to matchthe way that those films looked would be
a very difficult task. Like JJAbrams said, you know, they shot
Star Wars Force Awakens on film,but just the way movies are shot and
the way the cinematographers frame their filmsnow is it's completely different than what they
did back in the seventies and earlyeighties. You really have to go out
(22:52):
of your way to try to matchthat. The Mandalorian has done that with
Star Wars, and they've done itvery well. But still there's no doubt
of the Mandalorian was made you know, in twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen,
twenty one, twenty two, asopposed to being made in the late seventies
or early eighties, even though ithas a pacing and feel of it,
So I would have liked it tohave the same sort of graininess and look
(23:15):
at the original movie, but Iknew that wasn't going to happen. I
need to rewatch it to absorb someof the updated tech. One of the
things that I loved about the originalMatrix trilogy as while it obviously was dealing
with things like computers, which arecertainly sort of dated now where they would
get in and out of the Matrixvia phone, you know, a hardline
that's irrelevant now because of cell phones, so they obviously needed to go and
(23:38):
update that. But in Matrix Resurrections, you have a lot of updated tech.
You have the ability to take aprogram and give them a physical manifestation
in the real world. You havea an alliance going on with machines and
man in the real world, andthere were a couple of moments, comedic
(24:02):
moments where there was some really briefexchanges with the machines and the individuals in
the real world that I was kindof like, Okay, that was a
little bit of a stretch. Itfelt a little Transformers in some ways.
There was one particular shot where oneof the main texts in the real world
in the matrix resurrections and I don'tknow who the name is is there and
(24:26):
he's watching what's happening in the matrixand something exciting happens, and it's kind
of a nod back to the originalMatrix trilogy where the technicians in the real
world are monitoring those inside the matrixand something fantastical happens and they cheer,
and there's a machine, a littletiny machine there that kind of gives them
a yeah right on. And thatfelt very Michael Bay Transformers to me in
(24:47):
that in that moment. And theonly other complaint again doing that thing with
my fingers and I'll have to goback and watch the watch the movie again.
I expected elements like this simply becausethis movie was only Lee with one
half of the Wachowski's being Lana.The other Wachowski wasn't involved, And something
tells me that other Wachowski grounded Lana'sdirecting style, and that was Satine,
(25:14):
who I was glad to see includedin this film, but their real world
machine, the bird looking thing,was a little off putting. And so
those are my only complaints, andthese are things that I'm going to have
to go back and watch again.It was to be expected since the film
jumped ahead sixty five years. Itmakes sense that we would see a lot
(25:38):
of updated technology, and they wouldhave advanced well beyond what we saw in
those original films, and I canalways go back and watch those original films.
But even though I was expecting it, it was still like, Okay,
this is the Matrix that I knewbefore, but this is a very
different version. And Lana Wachowski wasobviously given sort of free rein to do
(25:59):
what she wanted to do with that, and the bird part of it is
a part of that, as wellas is the update in the machines,
and we'll talk about this because it'spart of the one of the things that
I loved about the movie. Butthe way that their their hovercrafts looked and
sort of flew was was different.When they first introduced the newest ship in
(26:19):
Matrix Resurrections, on first glance,I thought that that was a regular machine
when they were going over the humancrops um after rescuing Neo from the pod.
Uh. It took a took ashot or two for me to realize,
oh, that's an updated ship.It's got kind of a it had
a movable sort of tail on it. It was much had a much more
(26:41):
organic feel to it. I reallydug it, but it took me a
second to kind of to kind ofadjust to it. Um, I prefer
that lived in universe than what wesaw before. But again, I need
to go back and and watch thefilm a second and third time to kind
of really get a better feel forhow I or you know, sebmit my
opinion about how I feel about theabout the updates and technology within the film.
(27:04):
So what did I love about themovie? Well, again, while
connected to the original trilogy, itwas in and of itself its own film,
and going into it, I suddenlyrealized, Okay, I'm gonna really
have to kind of let go anany preconceived notions that this is going to
feel doing that thing with my fingers. Like the original movies, it's attached
(27:26):
to them. The look and stylewas definitely what I was expecting, as
I said, but it's hard notto go into it with those other three
films, especially if you love themin mind same experience that I went through
when I when I saw Star Warsof Force Awakens on first watch, right,
you have an expectation of what you'regoing to see and it's a little
bit hard to absorb it because itis so fresh and new. I love
(27:49):
the continued social commentary. It's oneof the things that I probably love the
most about the Matrix films, especiallythat first one. There is there is
a tale that is open to interpretationin that first film that can be applied
to a lot of different aspects oflife and religion, and there is a
(28:10):
sort of an analog to Christianity inthat first film that I really really appreciate.
And again, it's good in thatthere is some interpretation to it,
so it's it's open to a lotof subjectivity of the people watching it,
where you can kind of lay ontop of the themes of the film a
lot of different commentaries and religions basedoff of sort of where you are right
(28:36):
and what you believe. And it'sone of the things that I loved about
the Matrix and the commentary and thesocial commentary and Resurrections about where we are
in modern times, with our socialnetworking, with our use of computers,
with a desire to expand upon franchises. The movie is incredibly meta and very
bold in doing so. This ideathat a lot of people have speculated about
(29:00):
and were right that within Matrix Resurrectionsthey took Neo's life and turned it into,
in this case, a video gamethat Neo himself ended up designing,
and that Warner Brothers was going togo and create a fourth iteration of the
game, which is what this did. I just as I'm watching and I'm
(29:22):
going, man, you know,hats off. There's a lot of really
deep social commentary and themes in thisfilm that are just as relevant as the
original trilogy was when it was released. Matrix Resurrections commentary is very subjective and
relevant to what we are dealing withhere today. A lot of a lot
of the dialogue in the film isreflective of that, and again you can
(29:47):
kind of apply your own, yourown view of life right too much of
what is said Withinside the Matrix Resurrections. The look of the film, while
different from the the original Matrix trilogy, it was fantastic. The action was
was was top notch. Lana Wachowskiand the individuals that she is able to
(30:07):
bring on board to craft the fightsequence and sequences and the action sequences are
just great. The actress who playedBugs was fantastic. I would love to
see a Matrix offshoot with just her, as was the supporting cast. Um
the Wachowskis in all of their films, they really do get unique and interesting
actors and actresses that you're not usedto seeing. And again, it has
(30:30):
her that that original Star Wars vibe, especially the first Star Wars, where
you're introduced to a lot of peoplewho are not all that familiar. You
know, you have your you haveyour Keanu Reeves obviously, right, that's
the big draw. But um,you know, even Kerry Anne Moss hasn't
really done much apart from Matrix Out, you know, apart from outside the
original Matrix films, and she wasbrand new at the time, Um you
(30:52):
know. But and the actress JenniferHenwick I think her first name is Jennifer.
She spent in some other films,and I've liked her in the other
films, but she really was wasfantastic. The story in and of itself
was really unique and interesting, theway that it took the elements from the
original trilogy and those characters gave themdifferent updates. Whether it's Agent Smith,
whether it's the Meryl Vingianum, thethe coded version of Morpheus, and again
(31:18):
played by all the actors, thebig bad in the film. All were
you know, all top notch,all great. Story was great. I'm
a sucker for romances. It wasunique, it was intriguing, and it
was simple right, and I dugthat. And it was interesting the the
inclusion of an older Jada pink UmJada Pinkett Smith Right. Why am I
(31:42):
getting that name wrong? I gota right Jada Pinkett Smith Um. It
was interesting because the older Niobe inthe film, played by Jada Pinkett Smith
uh steered the movie in a waythat kept it simple right. And it
was all because of what she didn'twant to see happen. She'd spent her
(32:05):
time in the real world, keepingthe peace between the machine world and the
real world and combining the technology ofthe two to keep humanity alive. The
introduction of Neo had a potential toupend all of that, which could have
led to a much bigger story,right, but instead, in her desire
to maintain the peace, we endup with the simpler story, which really
just comes down to Neo wanting togo and get Trinity because of love.
(32:30):
And again I love that and itabsolutely works, while still by the end
of the film really kicking open thedoor for a potential of more movies,
you know, perhaps of five andsix that could do what the original Matrix
did. Whereas again simpler story inthe original Matrix right, more straightforward stakes
(32:54):
are high, but not quite thathigh, not as high as Revels,
reloaded and revolutions. Matrix Resurrections doesthat this is really just about Neo finding
Trinity because of love. But thereis a dynamic at play here now that
does open up the door to tella bigger story that could get epic and
scope. I don't know if it'sgoing to happen. It'd be awesome if
(33:15):
it did. We'll see. Butat the end of that film, like
I said before, it kind ofends with now a Neo and Trinity that
are kind of on par with beingones in and of themselves, right,
which is very meta to what's goingon with the Star Wars franchise. And
and a female Ray sort of beplaying a female you know, Ray playing
(33:37):
a female version of Luke Skywalker,the ship designs, the new New Zion,
the alliance with the Machines, thebackstory of the last sixty five years.
I want that movie. I lovedall of that, I really really
did. And if it hadn't beenfor the fact of it, you know,
my family wouldn't have wanted to watchit. And we're we watched movies
(33:59):
together over the haul days and I'mon vacation. I probably would have immediately
backed it up on HBO Max andwatched it again. I may try to
get out to the theater to seeit on the big screen to see what
kind of vibe I get. Butbecause everybody was home and we just thought
it was more convenient, whereas normallyall default to going out to the movie
(34:19):
theater, we just all decided towatch it watch it at home. And
it was a really fun experience tobe there with the family and and take
the time if you need to pauseit and people need to go do things
right. The film in and ofitself, you know, it's a film
that is a parody and a sequelall at once. To itself, and
it's very bold in doing that,and I think that's why sort of the
(34:45):
audience views of the film have beenso split, because it was it was
a parody of the original trilogy whilestill painting a sequel and fitting in and
in that sense, you know,like all good art, it's challenging.
Somebody made a comment that if youloved Star Wars The Last Jedi, you'll
(35:07):
love Matrix Resurrections, and I absolutelyget what they were saying. Now,
I love The Last Jedi, butwe know how divisive that film was.
I'm sorry, how divisive that filmis. Okay, however, Last Jedi
was different while still fitting within StarWars. It was unique, it was
challenging, and you know, that'swhat that's what art does. It'll be
(35:30):
interesting to see what the overall successof Resurrections is, Matrix Resurrections is.
If we end up getting more filmsin the Matrix world, I would certainly
love to see that. I thinkit would be fascinating to hand off the
Matrix too, perhaps, you know, other directors, although that's you know,
(35:52):
kind of a tough call, becausethe Wachowskis are very, very unique
in the way that they tell stories. And it doesn't sound like the Wichowski
that wasn't involved in this film isplanning on doing any movies. But it
sounds like Lana Wichowski is probably goingto do more films, and she has
a very unique style. It wouldbe interesting to see a Lana Wichowski produced
film, maybe written by Lana Wichowskibut directed by somebody else, to see
(36:15):
what we got, to see whatwe would get. Then, So what
do you think? Um? Wereyou a fan of the original Matrix films?
Did you just like Matrix one?Did you hate two and three?
Did you hate this one? Didyou like this one? I really enjoyed
it, Um, I love tobe just entertained, and you know,
does it have flaws? Yeah?It has flaws, you know, and
(36:37):
there's a lot of people that havebeen picking picking it apart. Um.
But like I said, I toldyou what I didn't like. That's about
as nitpicky as I want to get. Ultimately, I walk away from films
asking myself how did I feel watchingthat? And I was. I was
thrilled watching it and left that film, um really exhilarated and wanting to wanting
(36:58):
to watch it again. It waskind of this same vibe that I got
from Ghostbusters Afterlife. I know alot of people didn't like that film,
but I love that film. Ihad a great time, and it's one
that I want to go and revisitagain and again. And I can't wait
to get a hard copy of MatrixResurrections in my hands, to put it
up there with my box set ofthe original trilogy that includes the Animatrix and
all the and all the making andall the making of films. They did
(37:21):
some unique things in this There wasa there was a moment where it was
kind of this film's version of bulletTime where in the Matrix the action is
slowed down and rewound and it's andit's rewound, while the main villain played
by Neil Patrick Harris is able towalk around the characters in this sort of
(37:42):
stalled, slow moving version. Ihad a I had an idea years ago.
I would have loved to have beenable to film, you know,
to have been a movie director atsome point in time. I just I
love telling stories. That's why Iwrite my books. And I've often thought
about songs that I love and whatkind of video would I make for it?
(38:05):
And I remember there was a particularDepeche Mode song that I liked that
I had developed in my head amusic video that involved an individual walking through
like a bar or dance area whileeverybody else was slowed down and they were
moving in real time around the peoplein the room. And that's exactly what
(38:27):
they ended up doing in the MatrixResurrections, which I thought was really unique.
I'm like, hey, that's anidea that I had years ago,
and then and Lanawaichowski, you know, made it a reality and made it
look really cool again. The styleof the film was in the action was
just absolutely fantastic. So Talk showNerd at gmail dot com that is the
(38:47):
email address. I would love toknow what you thought of the film,
and perhaps I'll put together another podcastnext week and share some of your thoughts
on the movie, especially if youhated it. You know, if you
hate it or loved I don't care. I'd love to hear from you.
Talk Show Nerd at gmail dot comor leave a comment on YouTube if you're
watching it there. If you wantto listen to the podcast with fewer commercials,
you can go and find a SpaceOpera podcast wherever you go and find
(39:08):
a podcasts before I let you go, though I am an author. If
you want to support my nerd World, you can definitely check out my depeche
Mode podcasts. Just look for mynerd World and depeche Mode wherever you download
your podcast and the Weekly my nerdWorld, a Star Wars podcast, got
a brand new episode coming out onChristmas Day. I'm recording this episode on
(39:29):
Christmas Eve, so definitely check outthat weekly show if you are a Star
Wars fan, and if you're listeningto a space opera podcast about the Matrix,
I'm pretty sure you're probably a fanof Star Wars, so again,
check those podcasts out. If youwant to support my nerd World, you
can pick up my science fiction spaceopera series Embark. Six books in the
(39:50):
series, with a seventh book onthe way, all of them available in
ebook, hardback, paperback, andaudiobook. I'm spending my vacation editing the
audio book for book six, whichis already available in the other formats,
it's just not out an audiobook yet, and writing book seven. If you're
thinking, well, the first Idon't listening to your podcast, I thought
you were, okay, I'd becurious to know what your books are about.
(40:13):
Because I enjoy reading science fiction,Well, I'm here to tell you.
Here is a description for Embark Bookone. Kaitha dreamed of traveling beyond
the known galaxy. Now Humanity's survivalwill depend on it. A year after
her beloved aerospace engineer father mysteriously passedaway, headstrong pilot kaith Tomorrow discovers she
left something behind. He left somethingbehind for only her to find. Her
(40:36):
excitement quickly turns to fear when shelearns that an industrial accident inside a Decorpse
civilian and military spacecraft factory has sparkedan apocalyptic chain of events. While the
ruthless sent Argum of Decorp attempts toexploit the global evacuation and gain control,
Kaitha realizes the significance of what she'sfound and can't escape her destiny. As
(40:57):
Earth's evacuees stand on the brink ofannihilation. With the help of a ragtag
squadron of pilots, Katha might beHumanity's greatest and only hope against the tyranny
of de Corpse evil leader. Youcan pick up the ebook for book one
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(41:17):
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separately. Go to Amazon dot comto pick up your copies of the Embark
science fiction series, or you cango to minordworld dot net and just grab
(41:38):
or click the links right there onthe homepage and that wraps it up.
I hope to hear from you.Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
I hope you're having a fantastic holidayseason and you get some time off and
wherever you are, you are happy, healthy and safe. Thanks for checking
out the podcast again. I hopeyou enjoyed it as much as I did
(42:00):
according it and who knows, maybeI'll have another space opera podcast coming up
very soon with your comments on theMatrix resurrections. Until then, again,
take care of yourself, be happy, be well. Talk to you again
real soon. My dry World
This is my nerd world, andwelcome to it. I'm your Space opera
podcast host John Justice. And beforewe get in to this week's show,
a Matrix Resurrections spoiler review. Now, first you might be asking yourself,
Matrix isn't a space opera. Well, I kind of think it is,
and I'll explain when the show getsunderway. But first, you're a podcast
(00:23):
listener. I'm a podcast listener,and there are millions of podcasts to choose
from, right. I often havea difficult time finding new podcasts, especially
when you're looking for very specific topicsthat you can relate to. But honestly,
what makes a podcast great is whenyou stumble across the show that is
so compelling that even if you're notinto that particular topic, it still is
(00:48):
totally worth listening to. And that'swhat I found with Bourbon Pursuit. Now
I'm more of a rum drinker,but I might become a bourbon and whiskey
drinker now after having found this podcast. Because the hosts of Bourbon Pursuit,
we're talking Kenny Coleman, Ryan Ceciland Fred Minnick. These individuals know everything
about bourbon, they know everything aboutwhiskey. And they love talking about it,
(01:12):
and it makes this an incredibly interestingpodcast. So if you are a
bourbon or whiskey fan, you definitelywant to check this out, especially if
you find yourself looking at all thebourbon on the store shelves and not knowing
where to start. You know,do you enjoy bourbon and want to know
more about the science, history andthe stories behind the label, which is
what I've really found compelling as I'vesort of begun a new listening habit in
(01:34):
Bourbon Pursuit, finding out about bourbonthat I never you know, things I
never knew about before, Right,So, like, did you know that
bourbon is a distinctive product to theUnited States? It can't be produced anywhere
else in the world. And no, not all bourbon is made in Kentucky.
Again, I learned this on thepodcast. This is the official podcast
(01:55):
of Bourbon Bourbon Pursuit and it's thebest source for news, reviews, interviews
with people making the bourbon whiskey industryhappen. They've got trends, great bottles,
they do taste testings, and again, the personality is behind your favorite
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topic. This is a really,really fun and interesting podcast, three shows
(02:16):
a week. They have CEO's,master distillers, celebrities, industry influencers.
You can take your knowledge from beinga bourbon novice like me to a bourbon
baron wherever the good stuff is poured. Bourbon Pursuit is just a play button
away, So go to wherever youget your podcast, wherever you go get
your podcasts, subscribe and follow BourbonPursuit. Trust me, you will not
(02:39):
be disappointed. It is my nerdWorld, a space off for a podcast,
(03:00):
and I am your host, JohnJustice. Glad you're with the show.
I know it's been a while sinceI've put up a space opera podcast
episode, but I had need toget a few things off my chest over
the new Matrix Resurrections film, availablenow on HBO Max and also in theaters
(03:21):
as well. You can email meat any point throughout the show at Talk
Show Nerd at gmail dot com,or do you have a comment up on
YouTube if you happen to be listeningthere my nerd World. So first you
might be asking yourself, well,wait a second, John, I know
you started this podcast a while ago, and you know, like you just
mentioned you haven't put up an episodein quite a long time, and you
(03:44):
put up an episode, and nowsuddenly you're talking about Matrix Resurrections when that's
not a space opera. Well,I kind of would argue that it is
a space opera. In my view, the Matrix films, apart from taking
place on Earth, really do haveall of the elements that you would normally
(04:08):
find in the space opera. Thespace opera genre that I love, and
it's one of the reasons why Ilove the Matrix Trilogy as much as I
do. It's up there for mewith science fiction series like you know,
Star Wars and Star Trek. Iknow a lot of people have difficulty with
the second two films, and we'lltalk a bit about that as we get
(04:28):
into the Matrix Resurrections review, whichwill be filled with spoilers. And again,
i'd love to hear from you,because I really would get a kick
out of doing some more podcasts talkingabout the Matrix Trilogy and Matrix Resurrections.
If you are so inclined to wantto reach back out to me at talk
show Nerdi gmail dot com and shareyour thoughts on and I'll record another podcast
(04:51):
coming up again again next week.But like so many individuals having gone to
the theaters in the late nineties togo see the first Matrix movie and not
really knowing what to expect and walkedout of that film in one of those
rare moments in seeing a film,going that movie was not only fantastic,
(05:12):
but it's an instant classic. Andthat's what the Matrix was for many people,
and certainly certainly for me. Iam a huge fan of the entire
trilogy, and I understand people's complaintsover Matrix reloaded and Matrix revolutions. I
get that, but it follows apattern that a lot of other franchises do
(05:36):
that also have a portion of thefandom that liked the first film but didn't
care for the other two. Youhave this, you have this opening story
that is a new it's a newintellectual property, it's a new IP.
One of the examples I'm going togive kind of fits into this category,
(05:58):
and that's Pirates of the Caribbean,and to me, that's probably the best,
the best comparison in terms of atrilogy, and interestingly enough, with
Privates of the Caribbean four and five, especially five, it really does have
a same sort of field of asResurrections, and I'll get into that.
I'll get into that in a moment. But in my opinion, the Matrix
trilogy does what good trilogies do,and why not everyone is left happy with
(06:23):
the sequel films and it separates andthis is why I also Star Wars separates
itself out from so many of thefranchises. Okay, so when the rold
am I talking about before I getinto my thoughts on Resurrections. By the
way, I loved Resurrections. I'veonly watched it once. I'm on vacation.
I'm planning on watching it again.It was a very unique experience.
We decided to go and watch itat home. But it's one of those
(06:44):
films where I was so much anticipatingseeing this movie because of my love for
the original trilogy that I know it'sgoing to take repeat viewings for me to
really really submit my views and toto give you know, sort of my
my final thoughts on the film.On first viewing, I loved it,
(07:05):
but I get the feeling I'm goingto really appreciate it more on repeat viewings.
And there's a there's a reason forthis. So let's go back to
the original Matrix trilogy and I'm goingto use Pirates of the Caribbean as the
example, and we'll start with Piratesof the Caribbean. Pirates of the Caribbean,
that first film, right, wasa somewhat straightforward story, not very
(07:31):
convoluted. Right, storyline was simpleand had fantasy elements in it, but
it wasn't too over the top.I think it was more over the top
than most people realize. But becausethe story was so simple, it really
became a monstrous hit. You know, and opening films in in successful franchises,
(07:53):
right, they do that, theyhave a first you know, that
first film that's really solid, andusually it's solid because it's not convoluted and
it is very straightforward. And StarWars and New Hope is a perfect example
of this. And again I'll getinto why Star Wars kind of separates itself
out from these other films that I'mtalking about, but I can lump in,
to a certain extent, the DieHard series into this as well,
(08:16):
especially with franchises that have been awayfor a long period of time and then
have come back with a sequel attachedto the original three films, Ghostbusters,
Afterlife, the Harry Potter films versusFantastic Beats, Beasts Die Hard for as
well. So Priates of the Caribbeanhad that first film that was a huge
success in the box office. Sowhat happens, well, the directors and
(08:41):
the producers behind the film, theyend up with a lot more money and
it's decided they're going to go andtell more stories, and so they expand
upon that first film and they openedthe world up. And that's what I
love about particular trilogies, and certainlywhat the Matrix trilogy did, and why
I also love the Pirates of theCaribbean films because why so many people were
turned off because I think a lotof people have expectations that the sequels should
(09:03):
be more in line with that firstfilm, when in reality that rarely happens,
except in the case of Star Wars. And again I'll get back to
that, but I think a lotof people got lost with the Pirates of
the Caribbean films because they did openthe world up, and they did expand
on the fantasy elements of the film, and the story did get broader and
(09:24):
a little bit more convoluted. ButI like that, I'll always have that
original movie to go back to,right if I want to see something more
straightforward, like a Pirates of theCaribbean one or the first Matrix film.
But since I already have that,no, give me more. Let's blow
it up, Let's expand it.Let's open up this world and tell a
broader story. And I thought Piratesof the Caribbean did a fantastic job of
(09:46):
that, and I think that theMatrix Trilogy did an even better job of
that. I think a lot ofpeople went into Reloaded and Revolutions expecting that
they were going to get something morestraightforward and somewhat simple, or even though
the Matrix story isn't necessarily simple,the story in and of itself and the
arc of the story and the conflictof the story is fairly simple. But
(10:09):
the the ideas and the commentary withinthe Matrix trilogy are very very complex.
The Wachowski's really really opened up theMatrix world, and I think that's highlighted
in Matrix Reloaded. When you know, we're we're we've got we've got the
Matrix portion of the film, andthen we have the real world, right
(10:30):
that is this you know dystopian postapocalyptic scene right very much a lived in
universe. Reminds me actually again alot of Star Wars. It does have
a lot of elements. You takethe Matrix trilogy and just put it in
a different galaxy, on a differentplanet, and just have it take place
on its efferent planet other than Earth. I think it absolutely qualifies as a
as a space opera. But whenthe Nebuchadnezzar shows up at Zion and suddenly
(10:52):
you realize, oh, there's amuch bigger story being told here. You
know, there are hundreds of thousandsof individuals living deep underground. It really
does open up the story beyond themain characters, which of course then creates
a larger world that I think alot of people weren't really all that keen
to see because they really just lovedthat particular story of Neo UM. I
(11:15):
loved those films for that. Iloved both of those movies, how ambitious
they were, how unique the fightsequences were. The commentary within those films
is rich, it's relevant, it'sit's got a lot of depth to it.
Um In revolutions. That final battlein Zion is one of the best
(11:39):
UM action battle sequences sets um thatfrom any film right took to me.
The Battle of Zion against the Sentinelsand the Machines is really up there with
you know, the the Star Warsspace battles that I that I love so
much. Star Wars was unique inthis because the original Star Wars and New
(12:01):
Hope was a very straightforward story,right, and it was one of the
things that I tried to achieve whenI was writing my book one in my
Embark series, and my Embark storieskind of do this. You know,
I have I have that original storythat's grand in scope, but it's a
very simple you know, these areyour your dual protagonists. This is what
they're up against, and this iswhat they have to accomplish. And then
(12:22):
as I wrote the other five storiesand now I'm on the you know,
through book six and seven, youknow, the story gets bigger and broader
because you know, you've got toadd more characters, You've got to tell
you know, you got to keepit fresh, you gotta keep it you
got to keep it new. Andagain, that's what I love about that
original Matrix trilogy and the fact thatit really did tell a complete story,
(12:46):
and I love that story especially thelove story aspect of the original trilogy.
With Star Wars and New Hope,you had that very first story that George
Lucas made that was basically the firstpart of one story that he split up
into three stories because the original treatmentwould have been too much to make right
in all one film. And thenwhen you get into The Empire Strikes Back,
it opens up the world a littlebit, but not too much,
(13:09):
right And the same thing with theReturn of the Jedi. There's a consistency
in all three of those films,and definitely that same kind of consistency in
the prequel trilogy, from The PhantomMenace to Attack of the Clones to Revenge
of the Sith. They are verysimilar in terms of pacing, in terms
of tone, in terms of action. There really isn't a large deviation from
(13:30):
the previous films, and I thinkthat's why Star Wars has been so successful,
and even the sequel trilogy, Ithink maintained that it maintained a bit
of that consistency. The Force Awakensis a again more straightforward story, but
the Last Jedi kind of keeps withthat, right, does it. It
kind of keeps it grounded. Itdoesn't get into a sort of a larger
(13:54):
storytelling within the Star Wars universe,to say, the prequels did, and
certainly with the Rise of Skywalker.In my opion, it broadens out a
little bit with some elements towards theend when you get to Exagle and the
cit Eternal, which again I thinkis why a lot of people didn't like
it, because it did what thoseother trilogies and specifically the Matrix did and
(14:16):
parts of the Caribbean did. Itadded some elements that weren't in the other
films, and I think a lotof people get turned get turned off by
that. For me personally, it'sone of the things that I love about
the Matrix trilogy. There's an arcthere in the storytelling that grows and grows
and builds to a fantastic and uniqueand compelling climax in the Matrix Revolutions,
(14:39):
which brings us to Resurrections. Resurrectionsdid exactly what I expected that it was
going to do, and what otherfranchises and intellectual properties have done when they
had a successful franchise successful doing thatthing with my fingers. There's many years
that go by and the studios decideand the directors decide, Hey, we're
(15:03):
gonna make another one. And againI'm going to point to those movies I
mentioned a moment ago, the HarryPotter films, and then suddenly you get
the Fantastic Beasts franchise. It isHarry Potter, but it feels different,
right, There's some distance between theHarry Potter films and the Fantastic Beasts films.
(15:24):
There's a difference in the way thatthey look, in the difference of
the filmmaking. The better examples,I think, in my opinion, would
be Toy Story four, which againyou can go and take parallels, and
this is the first one that poppedin my mind when I was talking about
resurrections in the Toy Story franchise.With all three of those films, the
(15:46):
films themselves sort of grow in ashort period of time as technology grows,
but they still have a level ofconsistency from one, two to three.
There is a story through line thatis relevant in those three films, and
certainly at the end of three inthe Toy Story series of that trilogy,
(16:07):
there is a rather definitive climax thatdoesn't necessarily lend itself to a fourth film,
The Matrix does that right, Sospoiler aller, you know, at
the end of the Matrix you've gota dead Neo and you have a dead
trinity, and even though you stillhave these two elements of the Machine world
and the Matrix, they're at peaceand there's an understanding there where it doesn't
(16:27):
necessarily require another film. Diehard fourvery similar. Those three die Hard movies,
in my opinion, are very They'renot not necessarily a through line apart
from John McLean and him getting himselfinto trouble, but in terms of tone
and action, they're all very consistent. And then you get into two die
(16:47):
Hard four, Live for Your Diehard, and you have a lot of distance
between Diehard three, and you havean updating technology, you have an older
actor involved in it right as BruceWillis is getting older, and they're going
to introduce another threat that, whileit's attached to the original three films,
(17:07):
is still wholly unique and different.Ghostbusters Afterlife another great example of that.
You've had these these first films,right, and you don't have it necessarily
a trilogy there, but you havethose first two movies and then you have
the revisit, you know, filmof the twenty seventeen Ghostbusters. But then
you have this distance where you knowin time where again the main actors are
(17:30):
older. We're going to tell anotherGhostbusters story. We're gonna kind of tie
it back into the original films,but it's gonna stand on its own because
of technology, because of actors,because of filming styles in and of themselves.
So going into Resurrections, I absolutelyexpected that this film was going to
(17:51):
stand on its own while being connectedto the original trilogy. And it's not
a movie wherein I start watching theMatrix the first one, and I want
to watch the other two because Iwant to see the full story. I
won't feel the need, at leastright now to watch the original trilogy and
then okay, I gotta watch Resurrections. I'll probably end up going back to
(18:14):
Resurrections most often. Why because it'sthe most updated of the movies, right
in terms of the way that it'sfilmed, in terms of the action.
It has elements from the other threemovies. It gives you recaps of the
other three movies. It kind ofgives you sort of they end up being
best stubbs. In my opinion,Toy Story four as I kind of went
(18:37):
on that tangent and lost it.Let me go back to Toy Story four.
Toy Story four absolutely fits into thisright. Matrix Resurrections is to the
original Matrix trilogy what Toy Story fouris to those first three films. It
is tied to those first three films, but it is in and of itself
its own story. Whereas if I'mwatching the Toy Story movies, I would
feel like I need to watch one, two, and three, but wouldn't
(18:59):
necessarily feel desire to have to watchfour. But if I want to watch
a Toy Story movie, which whendo I want to watch, I'll probably
watch Toy Story four. That makessense. Same thing with Ghostbusters. I'll
probably end up watching Ghostbusters Afterlife onceit's out on Blu ray or streaming more
often than I go back to watchthe other Ghostbusters films, just because of
the way that they're shot, andthe and and again the updated special effects,
(19:22):
and it kind of has the elementsthat were in the originals, but
it's not dated in any way,shape or form. Matrix Resurrections I knew
was going to do this. Itwas exactly what I was expecting from Lana
Wichowski, especially given the look andfeel and style of a film like Cloud
at Las or Jupiter Ascending. Right, I love Jupiter Ascending and I've covered
that on this podcast before. Ifyou missed it and go back and find
(19:47):
the Jupiter Ascending podcast. I lovethat film. It is a fantastic space
opera in my opinion, It's verydifferent, it's very unique. But I
knew the look and the action ofMatrix Resurrection would be very much in line
with Ascending, And I also expectedthat The Matrix Resurrections was going to be
a film that would be attached tothe original trilogy, but would in and
(20:10):
of itself be its own unique sortof story. The stakes are higher in
the Matrix Trilogy, in my opinion, much higher. This was a very
different story, while connected to thefirst three that told a smaller story where
the stakes weren't quite as high asbefore. It really was and it really
(20:30):
is just about Neo sort of findinghimself. What did the machines do to
him? How is Trinity back?And him needing to go and reconnect with
Trinity again. It kind of comesfull circle in that at the end of
the film it takes on a toneof the end of the original Matrix movie,
and I really appreciated it for that, simply because that those first three
(20:53):
films in the Matrix trilogy, again, they told a cohesive story. I
didn't need to see sort of anupdated version or anything undone in that original
film. The Matrix Resurrections didn't undoanything or the importance of those first three
films. You flash forward sixty fiveyears, there's obviously been a lot that
(21:15):
happened. I would love to seethe film in between those films, and
maybe if Resurrections is successful enough,there could be sort of a middle prequel
where we get the story of whathappened in those sixty five years, because
that story seems very, very uniqueand interesting. We only got to see
some flashbacks there of the of thecontinued conflict of the machine world and the
Matrix and the machines themselves actually goingafter each other. That sets up the
(21:40):
backstory that we don't necessarily see inResurrections, but sets up what happens in
in Resurrections. So getting to afew things that I didn't like about the
film, and I say didn't like, I'm really taking a term from the
Rewatchables. I'm really picky knits.I'm really nitpicking here, right, But
if I have any complaints of Matrixresurrections, they're not really complaints, They're
(22:04):
just things that you know, ifI had my hand in the film,
what would I have done. Iwould have liked the aesthetic of Resurrections to
have matched the original trilogy a littlemore. It's near impossible now when you
go back to a film that wasmade in the late eighties, films that
were made in the late excuse menineties, the late nineties and early two
thousands, compared to today, thetechnology just in terms of filmmaking has been
(22:29):
updated to the point where to matchthe way that those films looked would be
a very difficult task. Like JJAbrams said, you know, they shot
Star Wars Force Awakens on film,but just the way movies are shot and
the way the cinematographers frame their filmsnow is it's completely different than what they
did back in the seventies and earlyeighties. You really have to go out
(22:52):
of your way to try to matchthat. The Mandalorian has done that with
Star Wars, and they've done itvery well. But still there's no doubt
of the Mandalorian was made you know, in twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen,
twenty one, twenty two, asopposed to being made in the late seventies
or early eighties, even though ithas a pacing and feel of it,
So I would have liked it tohave the same sort of graininess and look
(23:15):
at the original movie, but Iknew that wasn't going to happen. I
need to rewatch it to absorb someof the updated tech. One of the
things that I loved about the originalMatrix trilogy as while it obviously was dealing
with things like computers, which arecertainly sort of dated now where they would
get in and out of the Matrixvia phone, you know, a hardline
that's irrelevant now because of cell phones, so they obviously needed to go and
(23:38):
update that. But in Matrix Resurrections, you have a lot of updated tech.
You have the ability to take aprogram and give them a physical manifestation
in the real world. You havea an alliance going on with machines and
man in the real world, andthere were a couple of moments, comedic
(24:02):
moments where there was some really briefexchanges with the machines and the individuals in
the real world that I was kindof like, Okay, that was a
little bit of a stretch. Itfelt a little Transformers in some ways.
There was one particular shot where oneof the main texts in the real world
in the matrix resurrections and I don'tknow who the name is is there and
(24:26):
he's watching what's happening in the matrixand something exciting happens, and it's kind
of a nod back to the originalMatrix trilogy where the technicians in the real
world are monitoring those inside the matrixand something fantastical happens and they cheer,
and there's a machine, a littletiny machine there that kind of gives them
a yeah right on. And thatfelt very Michael Bay Transformers to me in
(24:47):
that in that moment. And theonly other complaint again doing that thing with
my fingers and I'll have to goback and watch the watch the movie again.
I expected elements like this simply becausethis movie was only Lee with one
half of the Wachowski's being Lana.The other Wachowski wasn't involved, And something
tells me that other Wachowski grounded Lana'sdirecting style, and that was Satine,
(25:14):
who I was glad to see includedin this film, but their real world
machine, the bird looking thing,was a little off putting. And so
those are my only complaints, andthese are things that I'm going to have
to go back and watch again.It was to be expected since the film
jumped ahead sixty five years. Itmakes sense that we would see a lot
(25:38):
of updated technology, and they wouldhave advanced well beyond what we saw in
those original films, and I canalways go back and watch those original films.
But even though I was expecting it, it was still like, Okay,
this is the Matrix that I knewbefore, but this is a very
different version. And Lana Wachowski wasobviously given sort of free rein to do
(25:59):
what she wanted to do with that, and the bird part of it is
a part of that, as wellas is the update in the machines,
and we'll talk about this because it'spart of the one of the things that
I loved about the movie. Butthe way that their their hovercrafts looked and
sort of flew was was different.When they first introduced the newest ship in
(26:19):
Matrix Resurrections, on first glance,I thought that that was a regular machine
when they were going over the humancrops um after rescuing Neo from the pod.
Uh. It took a took ashot or two for me to realize,
oh, that's an updated ship.It's got kind of a it had
a movable sort of tail on it. It was much had a much more
(26:41):
organic feel to it. I reallydug it, but it took me a
second to kind of to kind ofadjust to it. Um, I prefer
that lived in universe than what wesaw before. But again, I need
to go back and and watch thefilm a second and third time to kind
of really get a better feel forhow I or you know, sebmit my
opinion about how I feel about theabout the updates and technology within the film.
(27:04):
So what did I love about themovie? Well, again, while
connected to the original trilogy, itwas in and of itself its own film,
and going into it, I suddenlyrealized, Okay, I'm gonna really
have to kind of let go anany preconceived notions that this is going to
feel doing that thing with my fingers. Like the original movies, it's attached
(27:26):
to them. The look and stylewas definitely what I was expecting, as
I said, but it's hard notto go into it with those other three
films, especially if you love themin mind same experience that I went through
when I when I saw Star Warsof Force Awakens on first watch, right,
you have an expectation of what you'regoing to see and it's a little
bit hard to absorb it because itis so fresh and new. I love
(27:49):
the continued social commentary. It's oneof the things that I probably love the
most about the Matrix films, especiallythat first one. There is there is
a tale that is open to interpretationin that first film that can be applied
to a lot of different aspects oflife and religion, and there is a
(28:10):
sort of an analog to Christianity inthat first film that I really really appreciate.
And again, it's good in thatthere is some interpretation to it,
so it's it's open to a lotof subjectivity of the people watching it,
where you can kind of lay ontop of the themes of the film a
lot of different commentaries and religions basedoff of sort of where you are right
(28:36):
and what you believe. And it'sone of the things that I loved about
the Matrix and the commentary and thesocial commentary and Resurrections about where we are
in modern times, with our socialnetworking, with our use of computers,
with a desire to expand upon franchises. The movie is incredibly meta and very
bold in doing so. This ideathat a lot of people have speculated about
(29:00):
and were right that within Matrix Resurrectionsthey took Neo's life and turned it into,
in this case, a video gamethat Neo himself ended up designing,
and that Warner Brothers was going togo and create a fourth iteration of the
game, which is what this did. I just as I'm watching and I'm
(29:22):
going, man, you know,hats off. There's a lot of really
deep social commentary and themes in thisfilm that are just as relevant as the
original trilogy was when it was released. Matrix Resurrections commentary is very subjective and
relevant to what we are dealing withhere today. A lot of a lot
of the dialogue in the film isreflective of that, and again you can
(29:47):
kind of apply your own, yourown view of life right too much of
what is said Withinside the Matrix Resurrections. The look of the film, while
different from the the original Matrix trilogy, it was fantastic. The action was
was was top notch. Lana Wachowskiand the individuals that she is able to
(30:07):
bring on board to craft the fightsequence and sequences and the action sequences are
just great. The actress who playedBugs was fantastic. I would love to
see a Matrix offshoot with just her, as was the supporting cast. Um
the Wachowskis in all of their films, they really do get unique and interesting
actors and actresses that you're not usedto seeing. And again, it has
(30:30):
her that that original Star Wars vibe, especially the first Star Wars, where
you're introduced to a lot of peoplewho are not all that familiar. You
know, you have your you haveyour Keanu Reeves obviously, right, that's
the big draw. But um,you know, even Kerry Anne Moss hasn't
really done much apart from Matrix Out, you know, apart from outside the
original Matrix films, and she wasbrand new at the time, Um you
(30:52):
know. But and the actress JenniferHenwick I think her first name is Jennifer.
She spent in some other films,and I've liked her in the other
films, but she really was wasfantastic. The story in and of itself
was really unique and interesting, theway that it took the elements from the
original trilogy and those characters gave themdifferent updates. Whether it's Agent Smith,
whether it's the Meryl Vingianum, thethe coded version of Morpheus, and again
(31:18):
played by all the actors, thebig bad in the film. All were
you know, all top notch,all great. Story was great. I'm
a sucker for romances. It wasunique, it was intriguing, and it
was simple right, and I dugthat. And it was interesting the the
inclusion of an older Jada pink UmJada Pinkett Smith Right. Why am I
(31:42):
getting that name wrong? I gota right Jada Pinkett Smith Um. It
was interesting because the older Niobe inthe film, played by Jada Pinkett Smith
uh steered the movie in a waythat kept it simple right. And it
was all because of what she didn'twant to see happen. She'd spent her
(32:05):
time in the real world, keepingthe peace between the machine world and the
real world and combining the technology ofthe two to keep humanity alive. The
introduction of Neo had a potential toupend all of that, which could have
led to a much bigger story,right, but instead, in her desire
to maintain the peace, we endup with the simpler story, which really
just comes down to Neo wanting togo and get Trinity because of love.
(32:30):
And again I love that and itabsolutely works, while still by the end
of the film really kicking open thedoor for a potential of more movies,
you know, perhaps of five andsix that could do what the original Matrix
did. Whereas again simpler story inthe original Matrix right, more straightforward stakes
(32:54):
are high, but not quite thathigh, not as high as Revels,
reloaded and revolutions. Matrix Resurrections doesthat this is really just about Neo finding
Trinity because of love. But thereis a dynamic at play here now that
does open up the door to tella bigger story that could get epic and
scope. I don't know if it'sgoing to happen. It'd be awesome if
(33:15):
it did. We'll see. Butat the end of that film, like
I said before, it kind ofends with now a Neo and Trinity that
are kind of on par with beingones in and of themselves, right,
which is very meta to what's goingon with the Star Wars franchise. And
and a female Ray sort of beplaying a female you know, Ray playing
(33:37):
a female version of Luke Skywalker,the ship designs, the new New Zion,
the alliance with the Machines, thebackstory of the last sixty five years.
I want that movie. I lovedall of that, I really really
did. And if it hadn't beenfor the fact of it, you know,
my family wouldn't have wanted to watchit. And we're we watched movies
(33:59):
together over the haul days and I'mon vacation. I probably would have immediately
backed it up on HBO Max andwatched it again. I may try to
get out to the theater to seeit on the big screen to see what
kind of vibe I get. Butbecause everybody was home and we just thought
it was more convenient, whereas normallyall default to going out to the movie
(34:19):
theater, we just all decided towatch it watch it at home. And
it was a really fun experience tobe there with the family and and take
the time if you need to pauseit and people need to go do things
right. The film in and ofitself, you know, it's a film
that is a parody and a sequelall at once. To itself, and
it's very bold in doing that,and I think that's why sort of the
(34:45):
audience views of the film have beenso split, because it was it was
a parody of the original trilogy whilestill painting a sequel and fitting in and
in that sense, you know,like all good art, it's challenging.
Somebody made a comment that if youloved Star Wars The Last Jedi, you'll
(35:07):
love Matrix Resurrections, and I absolutelyget what they were saying. Now,
I love The Last Jedi, butwe know how divisive that film was.
I'm sorry, how divisive that filmis. Okay, however, Last Jedi
was different while still fitting within StarWars. It was unique, it was
challenging, and you know, that'swhat that's what art does. It'll be
(35:30):
interesting to see what the overall successof Resurrections is, Matrix Resurrections is.
If we end up getting more filmsin the Matrix world, I would certainly
love to see that. I thinkit would be fascinating to hand off the
Matrix too, perhaps, you know, other directors, although that's you know,
(35:52):
kind of a tough call, becausethe Wachowskis are very, very unique
in the way that they tell stories. And it doesn't sound like the Wichowski
that wasn't involved in this film isplanning on doing any movies. But it
sounds like Lana Wichowski is probably goingto do more films, and she has
a very unique style. It wouldbe interesting to see a Lana Wichowski produced
film, maybe written by Lana Wichowskibut directed by somebody else, to see
(36:15):
what we got, to see whatwe would get. Then, So what
do you think? Um? Wereyou a fan of the original Matrix films?
Did you just like Matrix one?Did you hate two and three?
Did you hate this one? Didyou like this one? I really enjoyed
it, Um, I love tobe just entertained, and you know,
does it have flaws? Yeah?It has flaws, you know, and
(36:37):
there's a lot of people that havebeen picking picking it apart. Um.
But like I said, I toldyou what I didn't like. That's about
as nitpicky as I want to get. Ultimately, I walk away from films
asking myself how did I feel watchingthat? And I was. I was
thrilled watching it and left that film, um really exhilarated and wanting to wanting
(36:58):
to watch it again. It waskind of this same vibe that I got
from Ghostbusters Afterlife. I know alot of people didn't like that film,
but I love that film. Ihad a great time, and it's one
that I want to go and revisitagain and again. And I can't wait
to get a hard copy of MatrixResurrections in my hands, to put it
up there with my box set ofthe original trilogy that includes the Animatrix and
all the and all the making andall the making of films. They did
(37:21):
some unique things in this There wasa there was a moment where it was
kind of this film's version of bulletTime where in the Matrix the action is
slowed down and rewound and it's andit's rewound, while the main villain played
by Neil Patrick Harris is able towalk around the characters in this sort of
(37:42):
stalled, slow moving version. Ihad a I had an idea years ago.
I would have loved to have beenable to film, you know,
to have been a movie director atsome point in time. I just I
love telling stories. That's why Iwrite my books. And I've often thought
about songs that I love and whatkind of video would I make for it?
(38:05):
And I remember there was a particularDepeche Mode song that I liked that
I had developed in my head amusic video that involved an individual walking through
like a bar or dance area whileeverybody else was slowed down and they were
moving in real time around the peoplein the room. And that's exactly what
(38:27):
they ended up doing in the MatrixResurrections, which I thought was really unique.
I'm like, hey, that's anidea that I had years ago,
and then and Lanawaichowski, you know, made it a reality and made it
look really cool again. The styleof the film was in the action was
just absolutely fantastic. So Talk showNerd at gmail dot com that is the
(38:47):
email address. I would love toknow what you thought of the film,
and perhaps I'll put together another podcastnext week and share some of your thoughts
on the movie, especially if youhated it. You know, if you
hate it or loved I don't care. I'd love to hear from you.
Talk Show Nerd at gmail dot comor leave a comment on YouTube if you're
watching it there. If you wantto listen to the podcast with fewer commercials,
you can go and find a SpaceOpera podcast wherever you go and find
(39:08):
a podcasts before I let you go, though I am an author. If
you want to support my nerd World, you can definitely check out my depeche
Mode podcasts. Just look for mynerd World and depeche Mode wherever you download
your podcast and the Weekly my nerdWorld, a Star Wars podcast, got
a brand new episode coming out onChristmas Day. I'm recording this episode on
(39:29):
Christmas Eve, so definitely check outthat weekly show if you are a Star
Wars fan, and if you're listeningto a space opera podcast about the Matrix,
I'm pretty sure you're probably a fanof Star Wars, so again,
check those podcasts out. If youwant to support my nerd World, you
can pick up my science fiction spaceopera series Embark. Six books in the
(39:50):
series, with a seventh book onthe way, all of them available in
ebook, hardback, paperback, andaudiobook. I'm spending my vacation editing the
audio book for book six, whichis already available in the other formats,
it's just not out an audiobook yet, and writing book seven. If you're
thinking, well, the first Idon't listening to your podcast, I thought
you were, okay, I'd becurious to know what your books are about.
(40:13):
Because I enjoy reading science fiction,Well, I'm here to tell you.
Here is a description for Embark Bookone. Kaitha dreamed of traveling beyond
the known galaxy. Now Humanity's survivalwill depend on it. A year after
her beloved aerospace engineer father mysteriously passedaway, headstrong pilot kaith Tomorrow discovers she
left something behind. He left somethingbehind for only her to find. Her
(40:36):
excitement quickly turns to fear when shelearns that an industrial accident inside a Decorpse
civilian and military spacecraft factory has sparkedan apocalyptic chain of events. While the
ruthless sent Argum of Decorp attempts toexploit the global evacuation and gain control,
Kaitha realizes the significance of what she'sfound and can't escape her destiny. As
(40:57):
Earth's evacuees stand on the brink ofannihilation. With the help of a ragtag
squadron of pilots, Katha might beHumanity's greatest and only hope against the tyranny
of de Corpse evil leader. Youcan pick up the ebook for book one
for just ninety nine cents. Allthe other ebooks are two ninety nine,
but if you want to get thebox set for the opening trilogy Book one,
(41:17):
Embark Book two, Treasure in Darkness, and Embark Book three, The
Vanishing War, you can actually pickup the ebook box set for just three
ninety nine, which is a hugediscount from buying all three of the books
separately. Go to Amazon dot comto pick up your copies of the Embark
science fiction series, or you cango to minordworld dot net and just grab
(41:38):
or click the links right there onthe homepage and that wraps it up.
I hope to hear from you.Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
I hope you're having a fantastic holidayseason and you get some time off and
wherever you are, you are happy, healthy and safe. Thanks for checking
out the podcast again. I hopeyou enjoyed it as much as I did
(42:00):
according it and who knows, maybeI'll have another space opera podcast coming up
very soon with your comments on theMatrix resurrections. Until then, again,
take care of yourself, be happy, be well. Talk to you again
real soon. My dry World
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