Four things I noticed in the trailer:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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We see a videoprojector in a room playing the first matrix film.
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.
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.
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.
Wire Fu is a pretty major part of The Matrix. They kinda popularized it and it has plot justification.
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.
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.
Yeah but have you considered the fact that apparently the movie The Matrix exists in this universe and stars Thomas Anderson/Neo?