I raise my hand as not only being a defender of “Reloaded” and “Revolutions”, but also being one of the people who absolutely LOVES “Resurrections”. (I saw it twice in theatres, and for me to see to see any movie more than once on the big screen is a huge rarity.)
To quote my single sentence Letterboxd review of the film at the time, I love it because I see it as “the ‘Twin Peaks: The Return’ of ‘Matrix’ sequels”.
Plus, it helps to bear in mind that Lana Wachowski decided she wanted to make the film after all as a means of processing her grief over the loss of her parents, and as much as it was a boon to Warner Brothers having gagged for a new “Matrix” for years, the act of bringing back Neo and Trinity was Wachowski finding comfort and catharsis in resurrecting characters she loved, and whom she could bring back to life. The film may outwardly mock Warner Bros and the IP-regurgitating machine to their faces, but “Resurrections” is borne of genuine heart and soul, with zero ironic detachment. Yeah, the action sequences aren’t as masterfully executed as in the OG trilogy, and the motion blur-heavy digital cinematography isn’t ideal, but I believe the positives far outweigh any of the negatives.
*fist bump* The thing about the action sequences: this is a movie that reinvented "bullet time" as an ANTI-action element. The whole point was we can't go back to being impressed by the same thing. The action is now beside the point. It's pretty brilliant.I gave this 4.5 stars on LB :)
I never bought the Wachowskis' remark about The Matrix being a trans allegory this whole time. It works, but only very gratuitously. I didn't care for how they spoke about their Cloud Atlas adaptation either, but I'd be willing to revisit that one.
That's neither here nor there, though. I find it equal parts nauseating and illuminating how quickly prejudice is buried when the otherwise-target of said prejudice proves to be an asset to the market. This hatred is far more strategic than it is emotional, and even when it is emotional, there's an overwhelming element of strategy in cancerously divulging and evoking those emotions. It's all so clearly a product of people not knowing what they believe in, which I would argue both applies to and is leveraged by the Warner Bros. execs you mention here.
When it comes to people/executives making decisions based on a market, it isn't so much they don't know what they believe in - I think they KNOW that they don't believe that LGBTQ+ topics are popular enough to make real mainstream money on the regular. When something bucks this belief, even in small coded ways, people think "Oh, okay, I guess it's popular?" (note the question mark, they see the money coming in, but they never actually TRUST the popularity.) This is why a single failure or two is all it takes to have them take it all back, reverse course. When straight-white-christian-whatever coded films can fail at alarming rates and none of those elements are ever questioned. They know what they believe, they just have a fiduciary duty to follow the money, but only to the exact moment it stops making money. The goal is to (somehow) get beyond this knee-jerk see-saw. Which will likely take generational change. Lots of effort, over lots of time.
I thought it was interesting a few years ago when audiences showed up for Girls' Trip and Crazy Rich Asians, and studios did NOTHING to capitalize on it. And yet, during that same period, they force-fed everyone THREE Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them movies that NO ONE wanted.
No argument there, though due to my social circle I can say with some authority that people really did want thos Fantastic beasts movies. At least the first one. The secon done underwhelmed even the hardcore Potter heads. And then the Depp issues happened and Rowling went *entirely* hardcore henry transphobe and that about killed it.
I suppose I'm more speaking in the sense of the top-down nature of capital's power over a person's privilege, and how one's market/cultural mileage is capable of protecting them from prejudices that they would otherwise face without that capital.
The Matrix is that shield for the Wachowskis; it plateaus the ire of transphobic Matrix fans and makes them worthy of Warner Bros' time, who would otherwise want nothing to do with trans storytelling or queer storytelling at large, frankly. Their transness suddenly becomes a non-factor in their place in the world, when it would otherwise be a point of passionate attack and enduring apathy/ignorance. That's why I say no one knows what they believe in, because the market's precedence illuminates how much of it artificial.
Very much agree with what you said, though. Appreciate your words, Dave 🙏
I raise my hand as not only being a defender of “Reloaded” and “Revolutions”, but also being one of the people who absolutely LOVES “Resurrections”. (I saw it twice in theatres, and for me to see to see any movie more than once on the big screen is a huge rarity.)
To quote my single sentence Letterboxd review of the film at the time, I love it because I see it as “the ‘Twin Peaks: The Return’ of ‘Matrix’ sequels”.
Plus, it helps to bear in mind that Lana Wachowski decided she wanted to make the film after all as a means of processing her grief over the loss of her parents, and as much as it was a boon to Warner Brothers having gagged for a new “Matrix” for years, the act of bringing back Neo and Trinity was Wachowski finding comfort and catharsis in resurrecting characters she loved, and whom she could bring back to life. The film may outwardly mock Warner Bros and the IP-regurgitating machine to their faces, but “Resurrections” is borne of genuine heart and soul, with zero ironic detachment. Yeah, the action sequences aren’t as masterfully executed as in the OG trilogy, and the motion blur-heavy digital cinematography isn’t ideal, but I believe the positives far outweigh any of the negatives.
=))
*fist bump* The thing about the action sequences: this is a movie that reinvented "bullet time" as an ANTI-action element. The whole point was we can't go back to being impressed by the same thing. The action is now beside the point. It's pretty brilliant.I gave this 4.5 stars on LB :)
I never bought the Wachowskis' remark about The Matrix being a trans allegory this whole time. It works, but only very gratuitously. I didn't care for how they spoke about their Cloud Atlas adaptation either, but I'd be willing to revisit that one.
That's neither here nor there, though. I find it equal parts nauseating and illuminating how quickly prejudice is buried when the otherwise-target of said prejudice proves to be an asset to the market. This hatred is far more strategic than it is emotional, and even when it is emotional, there's an overwhelming element of strategy in cancerously divulging and evoking those emotions. It's all so clearly a product of people not knowing what they believe in, which I would argue both applies to and is leveraged by the Warner Bros. execs you mention here.
When it comes to people/executives making decisions based on a market, it isn't so much they don't know what they believe in - I think they KNOW that they don't believe that LGBTQ+ topics are popular enough to make real mainstream money on the regular. When something bucks this belief, even in small coded ways, people think "Oh, okay, I guess it's popular?" (note the question mark, they see the money coming in, but they never actually TRUST the popularity.) This is why a single failure or two is all it takes to have them take it all back, reverse course. When straight-white-christian-whatever coded films can fail at alarming rates and none of those elements are ever questioned. They know what they believe, they just have a fiduciary duty to follow the money, but only to the exact moment it stops making money. The goal is to (somehow) get beyond this knee-jerk see-saw. Which will likely take generational change. Lots of effort, over lots of time.
I thought it was interesting a few years ago when audiences showed up for Girls' Trip and Crazy Rich Asians, and studios did NOTHING to capitalize on it. And yet, during that same period, they force-fed everyone THREE Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them movies that NO ONE wanted.
No argument there, though due to my social circle I can say with some authority that people really did want thos Fantastic beasts movies. At least the first one. The secon done underwhelmed even the hardcore Potter heads. And then the Depp issues happened and Rowling went *entirely* hardcore henry transphobe and that about killed it.
I suppose I'm more speaking in the sense of the top-down nature of capital's power over a person's privilege, and how one's market/cultural mileage is capable of protecting them from prejudices that they would otherwise face without that capital.
The Matrix is that shield for the Wachowskis; it plateaus the ire of transphobic Matrix fans and makes them worthy of Warner Bros' time, who would otherwise want nothing to do with trans storytelling or queer storytelling at large, frankly. Their transness suddenly becomes a non-factor in their place in the world, when it would otherwise be a point of passionate attack and enduring apathy/ignorance. That's why I say no one knows what they believe in, because the market's precedence illuminates how much of it artificial.
Very much agree with what you said, though. Appreciate your words, Dave 🙏
Have you seen Sense8, by any chance? I haven't caught it yet, wondered if you have thoughts on it.
I have watched Sense8 and it is fantastic.
Update: the eve has crossed my wires and I thought you were referring to the Code 8 films. I'll do my best to make time for Sense8 all the same
Code 8, those are the Canadian sci-fi movies?
BINGE BINGE BINGE BINGE BINGE.
It's been on my list for ages but I've yet to pull the trigger. That will change very soon, though 🙏
I personally adore Sense8. It's unquestionably their most transparently identity-driven concept. It's slow burn, but sincere.
Looking forward to reading this as I didn't think this was as bad as Revolutions