The Matrix (franchise)

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“”Commander Lock: “Not everyone believes what you believe.” Morpheus: “My beliefs do not require that they do.” Characters are always talking like this in “The Matrix Reloaded,” which plays like a collaboration involving a geek, a comic book and the smartest kid in Philosophy 101. Morpheus in particular unreels extended speeches that remind me of Laurence Olivier’s remarks when he won his honorary Oscar–the speech that had Jon Voight going “God!” on TV, but in print turned out to be quasi-Shakespearean doublespeak. The speeches provide not meaning, but the effect of meaning: It sure sounds like those guys are saying some profound things. That will not prevent fanboys from analyzing the philosophy of “The Matrix Reloaded” in endless Web postings. Part of the fun is becoming an expert in the deep meaning of shallow pop mythology; there is something refreshingly ironic about becoming an authority on the transient extrusions of mass culture, and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) now joins Obi-Wan Kenobi as the Plato of our age. I say this not in disapproval, but in amusement. “The Matrix” (1999), written and directed by [Wachowski siblings], inspired so much inflamed pseudo-philosophy that it’s all “The Matrix Reloaded” can do to stay ahead of its followers.

—Roger Ebert (2003)

The Matrix is ​​a media franchise based on a series of films directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski. Inspired in parts by various other science fiction novels and films, including William Gibson's Neuromancer, as well as martial arts films and Lewis Caroll's Alice in Wonderland, The Matrix franchise, in particular the original 1999 movie, is now considered one of the most influential science fiction series of all time. The original film utilized groundbreaking special effects work for its time, and has served as the inspiration for dozens of other pieces of dystopian and sci-fi media.

The first Matrix movie was a smash hit in 1999, being the 4th highest grossing film that year, and received rave reviews, launching a multi-media franchise. The success of the first film convinced the Wachowski siblings to shoot two sequels that, according to them, had already been conceived together with the first one. Critically, the two sequels (The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions) failed to replicate the initial success, although the second film doubled the box office gross over the first film. The fourth chapter, Resurrections, was released in 2021, more than eighteen years after the previous one. In addition to movies, the characters and the fictional world described in the story also appear in animation, comics, novels and video games.

Despite being made by two leftist trans women, the film has been co-opted by online right-wing individuals and groups, particularly because of the film's MacGuffins of the red and blue pills.

General

The plot centers on Neo, portrayed by Reeves, a messiah figure who discovers that the world is a simulation run by artificial intelligence that he must defeat in order to free humanity from the titular Matrix, which is used to harvest energy from humans. For the machines, liberated people, who do not bring energy but only free others, are pests. There is a special group of programs called agents, which are led by Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving). They are the guardians of the Matrix, pursuing and killing people whose virtual ego is sent via a pirate signal. The agents are characterized by supernatural strength and speed, are able to dodge bullets and take over the body of any person living in the Matrix. The rules of their existence and behavior have been limited by the rules of the computer program.

The Wachowskis have cited a variety of sources as references and foundations, including Japanese and Hong Kong action movies, Japanese anime, and the works of William Gibson, and have said that they were particularly "based on the philosophy of Jean Baudrillard." Gibson has praised The Matrix as "undoubtedly the ultimate cyberpunk work of art." The word "Matrix" itself appears in Gibson's Neuromancer, and is also mentioned in Baudrillard's book Simulacrum and Simulation, which some believe is the source of the word. There is also a scene in the film where a hardcover copy of Baudrillard's book is shown. There was a plan to hire Baudrillard himself as an advisor from the second film, but he turned it down. The Wachowskis said that they wrote most of the first film's script while listening to Rage Against the Machine's "Wake Up." The song is also used as the ending theme for the first film, and the band's name and activities are considered to be the very essence of the world of the Matrix.

The movies

The Matrix (1999)

"I don't like the idea that I’m not in control of my life," says man who has the power to control the universe.

The first movie introduces Thomas A. Anderson alias Neo (Keanu Reeves), who leads a double life; working professionally as a computer programmer at a major company, while in his private life he is a computer hacker. Prompted by meeting Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), a series of inexplicable and surprising phenomena leads Neo to come in contact with a group led by the mysterious Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), considered by the authorities to be a criminal and terrorist. He explains to Neo what the Matrix is, and then offers to show him the real, undistorted world.

There, Neo sees with his own eyes that he lives in a post-apocalyptic world. People invented artificial intelligence (AI), but the machines got out of their control and turned against their creators. In order to cut them off from solar energy, people covered the sky with black smog. This decision turned out to be fatal - the machines chose humans as their energy source, imprisoning them in a program called the Matrix, simulating the world of 1999. However, there is a group of people who are not connected. Among them is the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar, captained by Morpheus. Morpheus frees Neo from the Matrix, believing that he is the Chosen One, the savior foretold by the Oracle and the man who will end the war and bring peace. Under Morpheus's watchful eye, Neo gradually learns to bend and break the rules of the the Matrix.

Neo meets with the Oracle, who suggests that Neo is not the chosen one, at least not yet. Soon afterwards, Cypher, one of the Nebuchadnezzar crew members, who prefers ignorance over truth, betrays Morpheus, who is captured by agents. They want to extract from him the access code to Zion - the only city of people, to which machines have no access. Neo makes the choice predicted by the oracle - he sets off with Trinity to rescue Morpheus. They manage to free him and safely lead him to the exit from the Matrix. However, Agent Smith stands in the way once again - after Trinity escapes, she shoots through the cable that allows safe passage to the real world. Neo fights the agent, who dies in his current body under the wheels of a train. He soon appears in a new incarnation, forcing Neo to escape.

At the same time, in the real world, the machines are attacking Morpheus' ship. He cannot launch charges that destroy electronic systems while Neo is connected to the Matrix. The situation is complicated by the fact that the would-be Chosen One is shot and killed by the agents. Trinity cannot come to terms with the death of her beloved - her kiss in the real world brings him back to life in the Matrix. The resurrected Neo has an epiphany, becomes the Chosen One. He stops the bullets flying towards him and then destroys Agent Smith. After Neo returns to the real world, Morpheus launches electromagnetic charges that destroy the machines and the electronic systems of the Nebuchadnezzar. Shortly afterwards, Neo returns to the Matrix, where he makes an ultimatum to the machines, that he will do anything to open people's eyes and liberate them from the rule of the Matrix.

Matrix Reloaded (2003)

Taking place a few months after the end of the first part, Morpheus, Trinity and Neo go to a meeting with other captains of the human resistance, within the Matrix. They have learned that the machines are digging a tunnel to get to the last bastion of humanity - Zion. Morpheus decides that one ship will remain to wait for contact with the Oracle, and the rest will return to Zion as ordered. At this meeting, Neo also receives a package from "Smith" (who no longer functions as an agent and after the first part), which is a symbol of "freedom".

Meanwhile, a large gathering is held in Zion, where Morpheus gives a speech. He announces the truth about the threat from the machines, but his speech makes people hope for salvation. After a short time, Neo receives a package from the Oracle, persuading them to meet. When Neo talks to the Oracle, she tells him that he must find the source of the Matrix. The Keymaster is needed for this. When the Oracle leaves, Smith appears with his clones and informs about the connection between the heroes - Neo and the former Agent. The spectacular fight ends with the escape of Neo.

When the Nebuchadnezzar lands in Zion to recharge, the commander of Zion's defense - Commander Lock - scolds Morpheus for ordering to leave one of the ships. After recharging its batteries, the Nebuchadnezzar flies away from Zion, which irritates the commander even more, but this time Morpheus has received permission from the Council. When the ship's crew shows no sign of life for a long time, the Council begins to worry. They decide to send two other ships to search for the Nebuchadnezzar.

Meanwhile, Neo, Morpheus, and Trinity meet a program called the Merovingian, who has the Keymaster in his possession, but he does not want to give it to them. Unhappy, they meet the Merovingian's wife, Persephone, who is ready to betray her husband and help them. In return, she wants Neo to kiss her, and although Trinity does not hide his frustration, Neo agrees. Persephone shows them the location of the Keymaster. After a while, the Merovingian appears; Trinity and Morpheus run away, while Neo fights the Frenchman's men. Trinity, Morpheus, and the Keymaster manage to escape in a car, but they are chased by the Merovingian's men. The Agents also join the chase, but all three manage to escape.

The Keymaster tells them about the building where the source of the Matrix is ​​located, which they will have to break into. The crew of the Nebuchadnezzar and the ships that declared their willingness to help decide to get to the building. To do this, they must carry out a quick and efficient action to cut off the power in several blocks. During the task, several people die, whose ship was attacked by cuttlefish. However, Neo manages to get to the source of the Matrix, where he meets the Architect. He tells him that Neo is already the sixth "chosen one", just another anomaly of the system. He shows Neo two doors: one leads to saving Zion, the other to saving Trinity. Neo chooses to save Trinity. She dies, but Neo, using his powers, brings her back to life.

After returning to the Nebuchadnezzar, it turns out that the ship is being attacked by cuttlefish - the crew manages to escape, but the ship is destroyed. As the guards close in on the escapees, Neo gestures them to stop and falls into a coma. It turns out that the cuttlefish have attacked multiple ships, from which only one person has been saved: Smith in Bane's body.

Matrix Revolutions (2003)

Revolutions continues right following the prior film. The machines are getting closer to Zion, Neo is still in a coma and the inhabitants of the Zion are preparing for the final battle with the machines. In the meantime, Trinity and Morpheus go to the Oracle, who tells them that Neo is in a place from which only the Railway Worker can take him, but he will do it only after he receives permission from his boss, the Merovingian.

Trinity, Morpheus and Seraphim go to "Hell" - a club belonging to the Merovingian, to ask him to free Neo. The Merovingian demands the Eyes of the Oracle for the release of Neo. The Merovingian teases the three for a while, but a commotion breaks out, in which Trinity puts a gun to his forehead, and the latter, having no way out without any demands, orders the Railway Worker to free Neo.

Neo goes to the Oracle, knowing that she is just another program created to control people. The Oracle tells him that tonight Neo will have to face Agent Smith, who will soon be so powerful that he will be able to destroy both worlds. The Oracle explains to the Neo that Smith was created by the system to balance it. Neo believes that he can end the war, but to do so he must go to the machine city. He is accompanied on the expedition by Trinity.

Morpheus, Niobe, Link and the crew of the "Hammer" decide to return to Zion and help the defenders. However, the road to the last bastion of humans is very dangerous, because the machines have taken over all the main roads. Meanwhile, the guards break through to the Zion Hangar, the final clash between humans and machines begins. Neo and Trinity are on their way to the machine city, but they do not know that Agent Smith is on their ship controlling Bane's body. A clash between Neo and Bane takes place. Neo is blinded, but kills Bane. In Zion, the battle with the machines continues, humans are suffering losses, according to Commander Lock, the fall of Zion is only a matter of time.

Neo and Trinity reach the machine city, their ship is damaged by the machines and they crash. Neo manages to survive, but Trinity dies. Neo encounters the "Deus Ex Machina", the central interface of the Machine City. He promises the machine that he will destroy Smith, in exchange for ending the war between machines and humans. Deus Ex Machina agrees, and at the same time the guards attacking Zion cease hostilities. The defenders of Zion are surprised. Morpheus guesses that Neo has begun the fight for the survival of humanity.

Neo is connected to the Matrix to confront Smith. The duel does not involve Smith's copies, only passive observers. The spectacular fight comes to an end when Smith slams Neo's body into the street, creating a crater. Inside, the Agent, standing next to the fallen Neo, lists Neo's motivations for fighting, not understanding his opponent's actions. When asked, "Why?" Neo replies, "Because I choose to." At this point, Neo rejects Smith, who crashes into the wall of the crater, then attacks Neo, who eventually falls to the ground. At this point, Smith begins to understand that this is the moment of fulfillment. He states, "Everything that has a beginning has an end, Neo."

When he says this, the Neo rises with difficulty and determination, and Smith begins to understand what is happening. Fearing his opponent, he distances himself from him, but eventually attempts to overwrite himself on Neo. He accepts this calmly, knowing that this is the only way to end the conflict and complete his mission. The copied Smith confirms success, but after a moment he disintegrates in a blinding light. The same happens to the remaining copies and Smith.

Meanwhile, in the real world, Neo, showing no signs of life, is transported deep into the city of machines, which is getting brighter with every passing moment. The cuttlefish leave Zion, where euphoria erupts. All the copies return to their former forms and a new day begins for the world. Finally, at sunrise, the Oracle meets with the Architect. As promised, all people connected to the Matrix who want it will be disconnected from the system. The Seraph returns with Sati.

Matrix Resurrections (2021)

60 years have passed since Neo's supposed death: the peace between humans and machines continues and some machines have now defected to the side of humans. It is also possible to transfer individual programs from the Matrix into the real world. In an isolated part of the Matrix, Captain Bugs discovers an agent who is behaving strangely, helping her escape from other agents. It turns out that this is the current embodiment of Morpheus. She frees the program from the Matrix before it is deleted.

Thomas A. Anderson lives in the Matrix again and is a successful game designer who has adapted the plot of the first three films into three computer games called The Matrix. However, because he is believed to be suffering from delusions and believed for a time that the plot had actually happened, he is receiving psychiatric treatment and has to regularly take a blue pill to suppress his delusions. He often visits a café where he meets the family mother Tiffany, the current embodiment of Trinity, whom he believes he knows from his delusions.

Bugs and the freed Morpheus discover Neo's signal within the Matrix and are able to trace it back to Thomas Anderson. They try to free Anderson from the Matrix, but are initially prevented from doing so by his psychiatrist, who - as it later turns out - is a program of the Matrix. Anderson continues to believe that it is all just a delusion.

It is only on the second attempt that Bugs and Morpheus manage to free Anderson from the Matrix. Neo wakes up in the real world in a tank that is in a special area together with another tank. He is freed by a machine that works with the humans and, while escaping, realizes that Trinity is in the neighboring tank and remains connected. On Captain Bugs' ship, Neo slowly has to remember his real identity again. He is taken to Io, the new home of the freed humans, and there he meets Niobe, who is the general in command of Io. She arrests him, but Bugs later frees him again. Together they come up with a plan to free Trinity from the Matrix, but are confronted by Agent Smith and other exiles. Neo is able to defeat Smith by regaining his ability to influence the Matrix.

In Tiffany's or Trinity's workshop, Neo wants to talk to her, but his psychiatrist prevents him by slowing down the passage of time. It turns out that the psychiatrist, aka "The Analyst", is the Architect's successor and ensured that Neo's and Trinity's bodies were revived after their death and brought back into the tanks and thus into the Matrix. Due to their connection, these generate significantly more energy when they are close to each other. By leaving the Matrix, Neo has destabilized it, which is why the machines want to restart the program, but the Analyst prevents them. He threatens to kill Trinity if Neo does not voluntarily return to the Matrix.

Back in the real world, Neo and Bugs' crew are captured and brought to Niobe. Before she can punish the team, she is persuaded by Sati, a freed computer program, to help Neo free Trinity. Back in the Matrix, Neo makes the analyst an offer: he will talk to Trinity and if she decides to leave the Matrix, everyone will have safe passage. If she decides to stay in the Matrix, he will also return voluntarily. Trinity recognizes her true identity, but the analyst decides to kill them both.

At the last moment, however, he is prevented from doing so by Agent Smith, whereupon Neo and Trinity manage to escape with their helpers. Faced with a hopeless situation on a roof, Neo and Trinity decide to jump, but Trinity discovers her ability to fly during the fall and thus saves both of their lives. They then threaten the analyst with consequences if he interferes with the future course of the Matrix they have designed, and fly away.

Video games

Following the success of the franchise, a series of video games have been developed, these may contain actual clips from unreleased films and original situations that expand the story. The official Matrix website has also offered several original browser games based on Adobe Flash. The games include:

• Enter the Matrix (2003) released on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox
• The Matrix Online (2005) released on Microsoft Windows
• The Matrix: Path of Neo (2005): released on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox
• The Matrix Awakens (2021) PlayStation 5, Xbox Series The Matrix

At the Game Awards 2021, the occasion was used to promote the upcoming release of Matrix Resurrections and to showcase the potential of the next-generation graphics engine Unreal Engine 5, a technical demo titled The Matrix Awakens is presented and released at the same time.

Other media

In recognition of the strong influence of anime on the Matrix series, Animatrix was produced in 2003, coinciding with the release of Matrix Reloaded. This is a collection of nine animated shorts intended to further flesh out the concepts, story, characters, and setting of the series. The goal of the Animatrix project was to give other writers and directors the opportunity to lend their voices and interpretations to the Matrix universe; the Wachowskis conceived and supervised the process and wrote some episodes themselves, although they were outsourced to other directors for execution.

Impact

TBA

The woo it spawned

The world is a simulation / "We are all living in the Matrix"

TBA

The red pill/blue pill

If you believe this pill shtick for real, consider schizophrenia medication instead.

For more information, see: Red pill

The Red pill/blue pill thing originates from the first Matrix movie. In it, Morpheus offers protagonist Neo a choice between the red pill and the blue pill, stating to Neo that; You take the blue pill... the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill... you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Neo chooses to take the red pill, which causes him to wake up at liquid-filled pod among countless other pods, containing other humans, at a plant harvesting energy for the machines.

Since then, the concepts of red and blue pills have been widely used as political metaphors, especially in the online hate culture. "Taking the red pill" or "red pill" means waking up from the "public opinion" manipulated by the mainstream media and other such, causing the one to awaken and gain independent insights; and "taking the blue pill" or "blue pill" means continuing to accept the lies without reservation. These can include views on issues such as global warming, Judaism, and white supremacy.