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After a nearly twenty-year absence, “The Matrix” franchise returns and the film doesn’t just struggle to get out of the trilogy’s shadow, it intentionally spends a lot of time in it. The latest movie in the series is part sequel, part meta-commentary, and part love letter to the originals. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really succeed at any of these. The sequel aspect is on the messy side, with a hodgepodge of new characters, old characters, and old characters played by new actors. Aside from Neo himself, nobody particularly stands out. (New characters fall flat, and the new actors are hit and miss taking over fan-favorite characters.) The meta portion of the film drags things down somewhat but has some interesting concepts that ultimately gets pushed aside for the more tried and true formula. And while some of the nostalgia factor is necessary, it’s kind of gratuitous and makes you pine for that groundbreaking first film. This is where the new film fails the most, as it really brings little new to the table. The action and effects are serviceable, but there’s nothing memorable here. They do introduce some interesting concepts that gel nicely with the end of the last film, but at the end it basically rehashes what they’ve already done.
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