Unwind

The Matrix 4! After 20 years of The Matrix: Blue Pill, Red Pill

Updated : August 23, 2019 02:25 PM IST

There were rumors that we will see young Morpheus in the new Matrix film and that Michael B. Jordan would play the role.

The super gorgeous Keanu Reeves and his current successes with his films may have prompted this reboot of The Matrix.

The Matrix Trilogy is perhaps one of the best sci-fi films of our time. And now the film world is abuzz that Neo, Trinity and Lana Wachowski will be back with Matrix 4.

While you digest this slice of news, I am going to light a candle at the altar of hope so that Morpheus comes back to offer us another brilliant journey down the rabbit hole should we make the right choice. And most of chose the Red Pill.

The super gorgeous Keanu Reeves (has he aged at all, I ask) and his current successes with his films — from John Wick films to the self-deprecating role in Always Be My Maybe — may have prompted this reboot of The Matrix. News on the wire says that Carrie Ann Moss too will be reprising her role as Trinity too. My favorite scene with Trinity and Neo aren’t the love-struck scenes, but the almost-twenty-minute guns and concrete pillars scene before they enter the building where Morpheus is being held. I remember actually coughing in the theatre because I thought the debris and dust had gone into my eyes and throat. And apparently the concrete pillar crashing was unplanned. It actually happened, and they did not edit it out.

Every time one entered a building with giant concrete pillars and saw the x-ray machines for the bags, I remember this scene. And yes, it has the latex-clad gal with guns and sunglasses too. She is perfect for Neo, no?

Speaking of perfect, Persephone. Monica Bellucci in that role can stun even the unruffled Neo with a demand of as passionate a kiss as given to Trinity. She stumped us all (and the Merovingian, her husband) as we sat in the theatre, with her calm accusation of infidelity. And that ivory dress…

Who can forget the matchless Hugo Weaving and his distinctive, ‘Mister Anderson’? It’s a pity Neo literally goes into him and tears him from the inside, as if he were tearing up the Matrix. Interesting to note, if you are going to watch the final fight in the rain between him and Neo. If you are not concentrating on the awesome action on the screen, you will notice, that there is much more to the rain than just water. You can actually see slivers of code coming down like broken rain, as though it were a glitch in the Matrix or as I said, a tear in the fabric of the Matrix.

The Matrix gave us the Oracle, the Keymaker and predicted how sentinels would find you and destroy you. In fact, more than similar aliens in The War Of The Worlds, the sentinels chipping away at the ship to seek people out are scarier. But in this Godless world, there are many signs that there is inspiration from many religious texts. Neo is the savior, and there are references to him being The One. Morpheus is the God of Dreams, Nebuchadnezzar, Persephone, Niobe, Zion, the Oracle, the names of the ships are all tiny Biblical and mythological reminders.

But my favourite reference in the film is Orwellian. When Neo is just a programmer and there is that ominous knock on his door, it clearly says ‘101’ on the door. In George Orwell’s 1984, ‘Room 101’ is the torture room in the Ministry of Love, where you are sent to betray the ones you love. And yes, ‘101’ also refers to the basic text book for anything. You see, Neo is not yet aware that he is the chosen one.

And when he’s preparing himself for the role, and learning how to fight those scenes are unforgettable. But the Oracle’s advice is invaluable to not just Neo, but to us: We can never see past the choices we don’t understand. And you are with Morpheus when he asks of Neo, ‘You have to let it all go, Neo. Fear, doubt and disbelief. Free your mind.'

Every time since the movie, I’ve wanted that red leather winged chair, so I could wear my diablo sunglasses and tell Neo that he doesn’t know what that ‘something’ is, yet.

There were rumors that we will see young Morpheus in the new Matrix film and that Michael B. Jordan (you saw him in Creed) would play the role. Will he, really? Was Zak Penn not going to write the film connecting it to the Ready Player One style universe? Who or what will the new enemy be? Would the councillors now believe that Neo was the chosen one? Will we like the new reboot? Will they show Trinity’s death again, in a better way? Would it not be smarter to just re-release the trilogy again?

So many questions… And a little piece of trivia about questions: In the first 45 minutes of the film, Keanu Reeves has about 80 lines of dialog, and half of those lines were questions.

Manisha Lakhe is a poet, film critic, traveller, founder of Caferati — an online writer’s forum, hosts Mumbai’s oldest open mic, and teaches advertising, films and communication.

Read her columns here

The Matrix 4! After 20 years of The Matrix: Blue Pill, Red Pill

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