Four things I noticed in the trailer:

  1. In NPH psychiatrists office, he has butterflies and little glass baubles that are red and blue respectively that sit opposite of one another. I wonder if the implication is that he is the one who created/wrote the code of the red and blue pills.

  2. We see the machine's operating on Neo's body in a series of flashcuts and his eyes are burnt and sealed shut just like in revolutions....so this is 100% a resurrection in the literal sense. The machines can grow human beings so this honestly isn't that out there.

  3. We see trinities body in "the real world" (pin in that one). She has a tube connected to her head with blue LEDS....not unlike the blue pills actually. She also has what almost looks like blue code running down her face, although that could just be a trick of lighting and her being covered in liquid of some kind.

  4. We see a videoprojector in a room playing the first matrix film.

  • CommieMisha [she/her,they/them]
    ·
    3 years ago

    I kind of hope that the movie addresses the way "the red pill" has been used by the alt right.

    I also hope it has blatant trans symbolism to upset those same people lmaoooo

    • SorosFootSoldier [he/him, they/them]
      ·
      3 years ago

      Years later learning about how Matrix is a trans movie made me appreciate it all the more. It's a movie where there's something for everybody which makes it soooo good.

    • GVAGUY3 [he/him]
      ·
      3 years ago

      Considering the poster is literally just the Red Pill and Blue pill, I think they are addressing that.

    • Ericthescruffy [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      3 years ago

      I'd be assuming the worst if both wachowskies were out of the loop...but in this case I suspect they will. It would be a travesty if they don't though. Even worse I'd argue then Ready Player One coming out in a post gamergate/incel world, cause at least that story always had repugnant politics.

        • Ericthescruffy [he/him]
          hexagon
          ·
          3 years ago

          It is. Poor wording, I just meant I have some faith they'll explore some of the original themes and ideas since at least one half of the original brain trust is back and as far as I know would be respectful and cognisant of the other's wishes/intentions.

      • GVAGUY3 [he/him]
        ·
        edit-2
        3 years ago

        They aren't out of the loop from what I remember.

    • PlantsRstillCool [des/pair]
      ·
      3 years ago

      I feel like that was extremely deliberate.

      Also the trailer starts with the therapist character emphatically saying the word "triggered". That was definitely deliberate and unsubtle. I liked it

    • Owl [he/him]
      ·
      3 years ago

      It really is that easy, isn't it?

      • marxisthayaca [he/him,they/them]
        ·
        3 years ago

        I put my pronouns on my twitter profile and for a couple of weeks straight it was ukip chuds quoting my pronouns and crying.

    • CellularArrest [any]
      ·
      edit-2
      3 years ago

      That character is gonna be the best in the movie I'm calling it.

  • Hawke [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Honestly looks a bit weird? Playing on the hits too much? Reminds me of the new Star Wars trilogy in a bad way.

    • Ericthescruffy [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      3 years ago

      Pure speculation but for what its worth from a matrix fanboy who is a diehard sequel and wachowski apologist hear me out:

      I noticed that also and I suspect that sinking feeling you have is very much intentional. I wouldn't be surprised if the movie aims to intentionally subvert and dissect the endless corporate remakes and reboots that define the past 20 years of hollywood. I don't know exactly how that plays out but just listen to groffs ending monologue and his delivery. "Really....all these years....and we're going back to the matrix?!??!?"

      • invalidusernamelol [he/him]
        ·
        3 years ago

        The fact that the old Matrix movie is playing in the background of a scene this one is absolutely an attempt at doing the State and Revolution opening line thing about how the revolutionaries of their time are subsumed by the ruling order and made toothless.

        Wouldn't be surprising if this movie tries to address primarily the way the originals were twisted to be pro-war and the imagery was stolen and used by fascists.

        • Ericthescruffy [he/him]
          hexagon
          ·
          3 years ago

          I'm so fucking down if that's the intent. It makes a lot of sense with the idea that neo seems to be doing pretty damn well for himself in this version of the matrix as opposed to working a dead end job. He may be a standin for the tech revolutionaries who thought they were liberating the world through online spaces but just wound up being subsumed by the same oppressive systems.

      • penguin_von_doom [she/her]
        ·
        3 years ago

        To be fair, this will be very oddly ironic for the Matrix itself, given all the lore about it. In a way its exactly what the matrix would do...

      • CellularArrest [any]
        ·
        edit-2
        3 years ago

        It would be a difficult needle to thread, I'm hoping this is another iteration of the Matrix where things are playing out in a similar fashion because that's what always happens in every iteration of the Matrix.

        The fine line being, creating a film that hammers that point home while "replaying the hits" because they have to story wise, but also creating something new and interesting at the same time.

        It would be absolutely wild if they created a sequel to the trilogy and reboot the first movie at the same time.

    • Sacred_Excrement [comrade/them]
      ·
      3 years ago

      Yeaaahhhh...it seems like it is trying to just re-hash all the moments the original ones did, and cramming all of it into one movie

  • chadhominem [comrade/them]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Fuck, hate to be the typical online pessimistic contrarian but fuck does this look bad.

    From a cinematography / visual standpoint this is just dripping in overly CGI digital aesthetic. I mean look at the first fucking scene in the trailer. They CGI'd a house into San Francisco backdrop. Literally just why? Lol.

    Compare this to the original Matrix, with the thought out character blocking and usage of urban spaces, framing, the more subdued, symmetrical , gorgeously monochromatic, neo-noir aesthetic.

    Second, is the nostalgia porn. Callbacks / excessive homages are the absolute cheapest and exploitative ways to mask a bad story. Oh look, Neo dodges bullets again. He fist fights K-Mart Morpheus in a dojo again (why?), he does the blurred multi-armed punch thing against a wall. The guy at the end literally pulls a "What is this some type of suicide squad?". That trailer was 20 seconds away from Keanu breaking the 4th wall and saying "Well THAT just happened".

    Also, personal opinion, the world needs to eradicate "Wire Fu" - or wire based fight choreography. Theres nothing cornier than a dude getting pulled up from his pants to do a 5 second 720 karate chop. Especially when Keanu Reeves literally stars in a franchise that has some of the best fight choreography out there (John Wick).

    Now, all of the CGI riddled cliches in the trailer could be very much intentional and the movies underlying themes being some super interesting meta-narrative and commentary on franchise reboots, etc. If so that would actually be pretty cool. But off first glance of the trailer it looks like a Star Wars esque revamp.

    Only way to find out is to watch it and I will absolutely consume this slop regardless.

    • Ericthescruffy [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      edit-2
      3 years ago

      Compare this to the original Matrix, with the thought out character blocking and usage of urban spaces, framing, the more subdued, symmetrical , gorgeously monochromatic, neo-noir aesthetic.

      I think this place is intentionally made to look almost uncannily otherworldly and alien....so I think it fits here. Notice the lack of color grading, which fits with the ending of revolutions where once Neo's code was introduced it faded away, symbolizing his change of the matrix. The sun here is very reminiscent of that final scene...which is a nice touch.

      Now, all of the CGI riddled cliches in the trailer could be very much intentional and the movies underlying themes being some super interesting meta-narrative and commentary on franchise reboots, etc. If so that would actually be pretty cool. But off first glance of the trailer it looks like a Star Wars esque revamp.

      Fair...but yeah, that's what I'm banking on. To be honest I think that's why at least one of the wachowskies is doin it...cause they knew looking around that someone else would if they didn't first.

    • GalaxyBrain [they/them]
      ·
      3 years ago

      Wire Fu is a pretty major part of The Matrix. They kinda popularized it and it has plot justification.

    • mr_world [they/them]
      ·
      3 years ago

      I think it's going to be too Whedon-y. It's obvious the first movie was very influential because every movie afterwards ripped it off or expanded on its action aesthetics. In order for this movie to do what the first movie did, it would have not be a sequel or reboot. But it can't be that because then WB can't make as much money as they like. So then they're going to try to be cute and be subversive. Making it a commentary on reboots and remakes is about the worst idea you could have for a Matrix sequel. I'd rather have a shot-for-shot remake of the first movie than some kind of meta movie trying to wink and nudge the audience into thinking it's smart. That kind of meta commentary has no real weight behind it because 1) it's a giant franchise 2) it's made by a giant company that does nothing but do remakes and reboots. We have like 6 different batman movies going at once, all with different batmans. Batman happened decades before The Matrix. WB or anyone who makes a movie for them doesn't get to make that critique of everyone else.

      Also we gotta stop with the old pop music. I love White Rabbit and I get that a character said "white rabbit" in the first movie. But goddamn, putting a vintage soundtrack in your action-sci-fi movie is fucking old.

    • blly509 [he/him,any]
      ·
      3 years ago

      Yeah but have you considered the fact that apparently the movie The Matrix exists in this universe and stars Thomas Anderson/Neo?

    • Tychoxii [he/him, they/them]
      ·
      3 years ago

      it looked cheap like a tv movie, overly bright plain cinematography. the idea of cycles of repetition which was introduced in the sequels can be fun if they do it right.

  • CellularArrest [any]
    ·
    3 years ago

    That weird feeling where you find out there are still things that you can get excited for and desperately hoping it's not going to be awful.

  • VapeNoir [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    I'm at least glad they seem to be abandoning the dumb Mega city aesthetic of the sequels and returning the world of the Matrix to more resemble our world. It was way more impactful when the simulation was supposed to be an actually inhabitted world instead of the uncanny, otherwordly place that reloaded/returns made it out to be.