Lawrence Fishburne | Screenlife Reviews

Often held up as one of the hallmarks of the sci-fi genre, Lana and Lily Wachowski’s Matrix franchise has a long and complicated past: a universally loved and acclaimed original offering giving way to some of the most divisive sequels in film history; adored and staunchly defended by their fans and reviled by those that didn’t fully gel with the future-looking CGI spectacle. With the series making a long overdue return with Resurrections we thought we’d revisit the world of Neo, Trinity and Morpheus, ranking each instalment from the worst to the (some might say obviously) best. Now pop a red pill and let’s get into it…

5. The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

What should have been the epic franchise’s big finale ends up a bloated mess of a film with Revolutions, largely due to the shift in focus from Neo’s (Keanu Reeves) adventures to the maddeningly uninteresting battle for Zion. In theory, giant mechs going toe to toe with robotic squids sounds like it should be a spectacle for the ages, but after the inventiveness of the scenes within the Matrix the Wachowski’s seem content to rest on their laurels; filling the bland background of Zion with dull, confusing firefights that never seem to end despite the machines obvious dominance. This is also about 80% of the entire two hour runtime and for a final film with as much confusion to wrap up as the Matrix that makes for a frustrating time.

It also means that Neo’s storyline feels extremely rushed, the big cliffhanger of his whereabouts from Reloaded resolved so swiftly it begs the question why it needed to even happen in the first place. The rain soaked showdown between Neo and Smith is entertaining, even if the strobe light effect is borderline seizure inducing, and serves as a satisfying conclusion to such an intense rivalry. But the blinding of Neo and his subsequent transformation into pure light are strange twists to say the least, albeit somewhat expected at this point in the franchise given what the Wachowski’s have shown us. Still, if it means getting away from Zion and back to the Matrix for a few whacky minutes, then bring it on.

4. The Animatrix (2003)

While it may seem like an obvious expansion of the story now, The Animatrix was an unusual concept back in 2003. Give a bunch of Japanese animation studios free reign to create a series of nine short films set within the Matrix universe and see what they come up with (a premise mimicked to brilliant effect with this year’s Star Wars: Visions). The result is a mixture of some of the best storytelling in the franchise since the original film and at its worst, stories that are simply boring. Everything from the origins of the machine uprising to a noir detective story featuring Carrie-Anne Moss’ Trinity is explored and whilst the stories don’t amount to much in terms of furthering the overarching storyline of the main series, they do offer a tantalising glimpse into the Matrix outside of Neo, and all the weird and wonderful places that premise can journey to.

The animation is consistently gorgeous and even in those less interesting stories there is always a positive to be found, whether that be a gorgeous, fully CGI sword-fight scene or the unusually depraved, disgustingly violent sight of a robot ripping a brain from a skull (not positive obviously but tell me how many other animations you’ve seen that have done that). Overall it’s the element of fun and strangeness that makes the Animatrix a success; where the films got lost in an overly serious narrative of choice and chosen ones, these stories are simply able to experiment and have fun with the universe, often finding humour in it and, as the series is known for, producing some truly awesome fight sequences.

3. The Matrix Resurrections (2021)

Almost twenty years after the trilogy ended, this return to the Matrix doesn’t exactly feel necessary, with Lana Wachowski’s scorn for the current state of the entertainment industry overshadowing the actual story being told, but it is a mostly fun return to this world which thankfully doesn’t seem to take itself too seriously. With Neo once again trapped within the Matrix and struggling to tell the real from the programmed, the task falls on a new crew of survivors – led by Jessica Henwick’s Bugs and a reincarnated Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) – to spring the Chosen One from his digital prison and launch a desperate rescue mission to free Trinity.

Wachowski’s commentary quickly grows tiring, but it is her willingness to embrace humour which the franchise had previously avoided that makes Resurrections such an enjoyable ride. The story isn’t as needly complex as the other sequels – essentially boiling down to a series of rescue missions – and this makes for a far more digestible film; we can sit back and watch Neo kick the crap out of the bad guys without worrying whether the choices he is making are affecting some larger, constrictive prophecy. Where it falls short of the rest of the franchise is in the action; the finely choreographed fight scenes of the earlier films replaced by the quick-cut action of the modern blockbusters Wachowski seeks to lampoon. The point is made but a bit of the old kung-fu Neo specifically points out he still knows wouldn’t have gone astray.

2. The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

The first of the sequels makes tremendous leaps both forward and backwards for the franchise. From a technical perspective the Wachowski’s were at the forefront of the early 2000’s push towards CGI, making for some bold, innovative action set-pieces that could not have been previously done. Now, watching these films in 2021 that CGI doesn’t hold up all that well, just look at the video-game looking confrontation between Neo and the endless Agent Smiths (Hugo Weaving), but the Wachowski’s certainly get points for trying. The highway chase sequence however is quite possibly the most highly regarded sequence of all the Matrix sequels and for good reason; it is a genuinely edge of your seat thrill ride that doesn’t take its foot off the gas (see what I did there) for a single second, hokey CGI be damned.

Where the series starts its steady decline is in the story department. There are some seriously huge leaps in storytelling and logic being thrown at the viewer and it all feels so rushed, with new characters and concepts introduced in almost every scene without being properly explained. None of it truly coalesces into anything other than a minor wrinkle in Neo’s journey towards realising his potential as the Chosen One, with a constant “is he or isn’t he” plot line never fooling the audience for a minute and distracting from the already confusing main story. He’s Keanu Reeves, of course he’s the one. This is also the film that introduces the concept of Zion and the franchise’s most dull side-story. For the last remnants of humanity it sure is a visually bland and boring place; hell even the machines get down with some funky strobe lights from time to time. No amount of dance party orgies can make you care about Zion, and Revolutions only serves to further highlight how utterly not compelling that storyline is.

1. The Matrix (1999)

No matter how weird the Wachowski’s took the franchise in an effort to top themselves, the original Matrix remains the best and a defining piece of sci-fi action cinema. The introduction to this dystopian cyberpunk world of chosen heroes and machine uprisings takes its time drip-feeding you the extensive word-building it lays out, taking full advantage of Neo as the audience surrogate rather than the all-powerful Messiah figure he becomes and having fun with his training. The “I know kung-fu” sequence remains a series high-point – a thrilling introduction to the action that would forever change the genre – and the climactic subway fight scene is a spellbindingly tight, spectacularly choreographed edge-of-your-seat sequence that feels gritty and high stakes unlike most of the CGI spectacle that followed.

Indeed this feels like one of the few times the series is ever truly accessible; the narrative is streamlined, the rules of the world are easily understood and you genuinely feel for Reeves’ protagonist, an everyman thrown into the deep end and forced to swim. Carrie-Anne Moss is effortlessly cool in her introduction as Trinity, even if her relationship with Neo doesn’t feel entirely earned and Lawrence Fishburne’s Morpheus is the perfect guide to shepherd us through through the confusion; a comfortably reassuring and suave presence disguising a man desperate for something to believe in. An awe-inspiring introduction to what would become one of the most influential and divisive sci-fi franchises of all time.

Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski struck gold in 2014 with the original John Wick. The pair crafted a tight, brutal action revenge film and created an iconic action character in the titular assassin. The story seemingly ended in that film, as John had found a new furry companion and walked away having settled his debt and avenged his previous canine companion. The unexpected financial success of the film, however, prompted a sequel to be put together, and while John Wick: Chapter 2 falls prey to some typical action sequel clichés, it still manages to be an engaging, even more brutal adventure into the assassin underworld.

Chapter 2 kicks off with a bang as we follow Wick tying up some loose ends with the Russian mob from the first film. This acts as an epilogue of sorts for the previous film but also as a chance to showcase the bigger budget and the fights that will come as a result. Once John returns from this mission and attempts to settle back into his retirement, he is greeted by Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio), head of an Italian mob family and an old acquaintance. Santino is the holder of a “marker” against John, a blood oath Wick struck years earlier that allowed him to escape from his criminal life and live with his wife – but now D’Antonio has come to collect. A globe trotting tour of assassinations and criminal syndicates follow as John is sent on a mission to take out Santino’s sister and heir to the council of assassins who essentially run the global underworld.

If all this sounds a bit confusing and ridiculous it’s because it is. The film makes it clear that it is foregoing a cohesive plot in favour of more complex fights and bigger stunts to go with that increased sequel budget. While the plot for the first film wasn’t exactly groundbreaking, it had a solid pace and moved with purpose as we followed John on his singular path for revenge. Here we fall into action clichés as John moves from room to room full of goons on his way to completing his mission. Once things develop further later in the run, the plot gets even murkier and I was unsure where John even was until we got a handy pan of the New York skyline as a reminder. While you are never bored watching, it is a shame that the story doesn’t do more to propel John on his way, instead opting in favour of abrupt shifts in location as we watch Wick adapt to each new situation he finds himself in. While not everything is a home run, writer Derek Kolstad is clearly taking risks in his screenplay, adding huge chunks of mythos to the assassin world and expounding on the first movie’s lore tenfold. The Italian settings make for a shift in environment that sets the action set pieces apart from the American counterparts of the first film, giving them their own distinct visual flair.

Where the increased budget has been put to use is the action. John Wick: Chapter 2 ups the ante significantly from the first film, delivering larger, more intense action scenes which expand from purely hand-to-hand fights through to vehicle combat and some magnificently shot chase scenes. The hand-to-hand scenes feature plenty more goons for Wick to cut through with his signature brand of Gun-fu, with Reeves one again performing majority of the stunts himself – allowing for long, uninterrupted shots of the action to be shown. These are beautiful to watch as Wick manoeuvres himself across a room cutting down everyone in his path, and they’re made even more stunning when they’re set in locations like a museum’s hall of mirrors or a brightly lit, futuristic train station. The chase scene in the train station is worth mentioning, and was easily the highlight of the film for me, as John attempts to outrun several rival assassins all intent on bringing him down. The scene moves back and forth between an all out chase as John sprints away from his enemies, taking down any in his path, and a stealthy escape as he tries to hide in plain sight, blending with the public. This stealth scene is particularly innovative because it also acts as a silent shootout of sorts, with Wick and his enemies taking shots at each other with silenced weapons. It all culminates in a thrilling train showdown with another assassin, a truly tense scene where each fighter vies for supremacy in the tight space of the carriage. It is quality action like this that make me overlook the fact that the public has no concern whatsoever about bodies piling up in their midst.

I mentioned before that Chapter 2 expands the assassin world, and this is evident in the introduction of several new characters. The character played by Ruby Rose, a deaf & mute assassin, could have been something more if it was portrayed by a more talented actor. It’s certainly an interesting concept, however Rose does nothing with the role and it boils down to her serving Wick with looks that say “I don’t like you very much” as she proceeds to try to kick him in the face. A better portrayed, if still not amazing, killer is Cassian, played by rapper Common, a bodyguard for Wick’s target who has a murky history with John. He definitely has more to work with in his role than Ruby Rose, and his past experiences with John makes for some great dialogue exchanges and fights. By far the best of the newcomers is Lawrence Fishburne, who plays the Bowery King, leader of an underground syndicate of assassins who pose as homeless around New York. Reeves and his The Matrix co-star obviously have great chemistry and their dialogue together pops. Fishburne excels at playing the unhinged leader, going for the same kind of over-the-top reactions and hyperbole in his dialogue that made Michael Nyqvist’s villain from the first movie so much fun to watch.

Whilst John Wick: Chapter 2 doubles down on the action and world building that made the first film so great, its nonsensical story detracts and leaves viewers confused about the significance of the fight they are watching. It’s hard to care about the outcome of a fight when we’re not exactly sure why John is in this particular mess. What does keep us invested, however, is another stellar performance from Keanu Reeves, who continues to give it his all, both in his acting and his stunt-work. We’re now so emotionally invested in the character that we will follow him anywhere and I can’t wait to see what awaits him in the next instalment of the franchise.

John Wick: Chapter 2 stars Keanu Reeves, Lawrence Fishburne, Ian McShane, Ruby Rose, Common & Riccardo Scarmarcio – Available to view on streaming and home entertainment now.