It’s hard enough for an actor to play one iconic character, but Keanu Reeves, the great Keanu Reeves, has three. There’s Ted of Bill and Ted; John Wick, who’s thinking he’ll be back in John Wick 4; and Neo, who first appeared in 1999’s The Matrix. He reprised the character in two sequels (The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions) that were seen as disappointments at the time but now everyone has decided are good, and after an 18-year break, Reeves will again don the sunglasses in The Matrix Resurrections.
Whoa.
Following the launch of an interactive website that asked visitors to take the red or blue pill, Warner Bros. has released the first trailer for The Matrix Resurrections. It’s a wild trip down the rabbit hole (complete with “White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane), with visually stunning set pieces; Yahya Abdul-Mateen II channeling Morpheus; a coffee shop encounter between Neo, er, Thomas Anderson and Trinity (played by Carrie-Anne Moss); and Keanu taking a bath with a rubber duck on his head. This, to me, is cinema.
The trailer ends with Jonathan Groff’s character telling Neo, “After all these years, to being going back to where it all started… back to the Matrix.” It’s good to be back.
The Matrix Resurrections, which was written and directed by Lana Wachowski and also stars Jada Pinkett Smith, Jessica Henwick, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Christina Ricci, hits theaters and HBO Max on December 22. It’s official: The Matrix 4 is a Christmas movie.
