With “Matrix Resurrections”, Lana Wachowski pays homage to the original trilogy, particularly the first film, and has fun recreating some of its iconic plans. Back to 10 of them.
Beware, spoilers! It is better to have seen Matrix Resurrections before continuing to read this article.
The feeling of déjà vu has always had a special meaning in the universe of The Matrix. “It happens when they change something”, Answers Trinity in the first film. With his Matrix Resurrections, Lana Wachowski takes this concept and explores it to a whole new level. In addition to incorporating many clips from the trilogy in the fourth chapter, it recreates shots from the first film identically.
Matrix 4: Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss replay the scenes from the first film
Some are easily recognizable, others are much more subtle, but the principle allows the director to serve her purpose and offer a game to fans of the original, who are likely to identify them. There are plans, but also several replicas identical to the first part. At the house of AlloCine, we selected 10 images to compare the two films.
First appearance of Trinity
Warner Bros. Pictures
The first scene of Matrix Resurrections echoes the opening of the 1999 film. In addition to the setting, Lana Wacowski identically reproduces the close-up of her heroine’s gaze when she is about to be arrested by one of the police officers .
A profile (and a replica) that hits the mark
Warner Bros. Pictures
Also in the first minutes of Matrix Resurrections, the director recreates the arrival of Agent Smith, with the same profile look and the same line: “No lieutenant, your men are already dead.” The only difference: it is Yahya Abdul-Mateen II who re-enacts this scene in place of Hugo Weaving.
A familiar hallucination
Warner Bros. Pictures
When Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) meets the boss of the company he works for, the conversation takes on a taste of déjà vu. In this funny parallel to the interrogation scene from the first film, Jonathan Groff plays the new Agent Smith. Very quickly, his mouth is found sealed, like Neo in the original film.
Out of the cocoon
Warner Bros. Pictures
When Thomas / Neo finally wakes up and finds the real world, the whole sequence is consciously modeled on that of the first film: the release of the cocoon and the arrival of a machine which strangles it before it is unplugged. The major change? Colors. In Matrix Resurrections, red dominates.
Neo meets the crew
Warner Bros. Pictures
Finally back, Neo must meet a brand new crew led by the intrepid Bugs (Jessica Henwick). This was already the case in the first Matrix of the name, when Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) introduced him to the team of Nebuchadnezzar. Long before, when Neo wakes up, the character played by Jessica Henwick utters the same retort as Morpheus: “Welcome to the real world.”
The face-to-face between Neo and Morpheus
Warner Bros. Pictures
This is one of the many cult scenes from the first film: the fight between Neo and Morpheus. Matrix Resurrections offers a new round in an improved dojo. Lana Wachowski reproduces one of her wide shots with the two heroes face to face, ready to play fists.
The “punching-bag” effect
Warner Bros. Pictures
In Matrix Resurrections, Neo and Agent Smith have the chance to go head-to-head once again – much to the spectators’ delight. The sequence between Keanu Reeves and Jonathan Groff echoes the final fight of the very first film, with in particular this “punching-bag” shot, already present in the original part.
Fist in the wall
Warner Bros. Pictures
Also in this combat sequence, Agent Smith played by Jonathan Groff sends his fist waltzing into a wall which is reduced to dust. It was already one of the strong images of the climax in the first Matrix with Hugo Weaving who reproduced the same gesture.
The helicopter and its ammunition
Warner Bros. Pictures
It is certainly one of the most impressive images from the first film: a low-angle shot of a helicopter shooting at a building and hundreds of minutes falling into the void. Lana Wachowski recreates, again, this iconic image still in the last act of the film, but in a very different context.
The steak
Warner Bros. Pictures
Here, the shot is not really identical to that of the first film, but more like a clap eye. An echo assumed to the steak tasted by Cypher (Joe Pantoliano) when he forges an alliance with Agent Smith during a dinner.
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