The science fiction genre changed forever in 1999 with the release of the seminal film The Matrix. The film featured groundbreaking visual effects and ambitious storytelling, challenging how audiences look at action sci-fi movies and cementing the Wachowskis as two of their generation's most visionary and daring filmmakers. The film spawned three sequels and a multimedia franchise that remains popular today, twenty-five years after its premiere.
Nowadays, The Matrix franchise is among the most divisive in modern entertainment. Some love and defend it to death, while others condemn its increasingly self-aware approach as unserious and lacking impact. Whatever fans think of each entry, the fact remains these four films have a high rewatch value, revealing new things with each new viewing. Declaring which of the Matrix movies is more rewatchable isn't hard, though, because a few are undoubtedly more entertaining than others.
4 'The Matrix Revolutions' (2003)
Directors: The Wachowskis
The original ending to the planned trilogy, The Matrix Revolutions reunites Keanu Reeves (John Wick), Carrie-Anne Moss (Memento), Laurence Fishburne (Contagion), and Hugo Weaving (The Lord of the Rings) for the last time. The plot sees the survivors in the city of Zion making one last stand against the machines while Neo, trapped in a limbo state, attempts to end the war while fighting against the rogue Agent Smith.
Released just six months after its predecessor, The Matrix Revolutions ends the trilogy with something of a disappointing conclusion. Overly complicated and no longer in control of itself, the film is the epitome of style over substance. The once groundbreaking visual effects are used in excess, resulting in overly ambitious sequences where the Wachowskis' reach far exceeds their grasp. The cast is in auto-pilot, delivering dialogue they can't seem to comprehend while trying to keep up with the film's distinctive vision. The Wachowskis are creative geniuses, but they are a bit too unchecked here; their grand ideas get needlessly complicated to the point of self-importance, while their once unique visual approach seems tired, muddy, and too uncanny to be believable, let alone dazzling. The Matrix Revolutions is simply too much of everything, proving that some things really are better in small doses.
The Matrix Revolutions
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Release Date November 5, 2003 Cast Mary Alice , Tanveer K. Atwal , Helmut Bakaitis , Kate Beahan , Francine Bell , Monica Bellucci Runtime 128 Writers Lilly Wachowski , Lana Wachowski3 'The Matrix Resurrections' (2022)
Director: Lana Wachowski
Almost twenty years after The Matrix Revolutions, Lana Wachowski returned to the director's seat for The Matrix Resurrections. Reeves and Moss return for the legacy sequel, joined by an all-new cast, including Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom), Jessica Henwick (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery), and Jonathan Groff (Mindhunter). Set sixty years after Revolutions, the plot sees Neo in a new version of The Matrix following a group of rebels to rescue Trinity from an unknown enemy.
The Matrix Resurrections deserves credit for being so daring. A ballsy and wildly original take on the trilogy, the film goes completely self-aware and meta, an approach that not many of the saga's longtime fans appreciated. Sacrificing some of its visual splendor in favor of a more cerebral, self-referential, and surprisingly heartwarming story, The Matrix Resurrections is possibly the boldest and most surprising entry since the original 1999 film. It offers something new on every rewatch—whether it's something audiences actually want to see is another matter entirely. The film openly comments on and criticizes the current state of humanity, using its well-known setting to offer insights into the creative process and the freedom that's lost when corporations, or in this case, machines, interfere. Ideas of love and sentimentality also overflow here, although their execution leaves something to be desired. For those willing to go with its flow, The Matrix Resurrections is a challenging yet rewarding film that invites multiple viewings to decipher its many ideas.
The Matrix Resurrections
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To find out if his reality is a physical or mental construct, Mr. Anderson, aka Neo, will have to choose to follow the white rabbit once more. If he's learned anything, it's that choice, while an illusion, is still the only way out of -- or into -- the Matrix. Neo already knows what he has to do, but what he doesn't yet know is that the Matrix is stronger, more secure and far more dangerous than ever before.
2 'The Matrix Reloaded' (2003)
Directors: The Wachowskis
After the incredible success of The Matrix, talks of a sequel quickly began. The Wachowskis and the original stars returned, shooting the second and third films in the planned trilogy back-to-back. The Matrix Reloaded was the first to come out, premiering in May of 2003 to worldwide anticipation. The plot sees Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus continuing their fight against the machine while learning more about Neo's destiny as the savior of mankind.
The Matrix Reloaded is the typical middle child; it has enough of its predecessor's bravura while also including much of its successor's blind ambition. The result is a puzzling yet still satisfying film that advances the story, expands the world, and features more of the wild and jaw-dropping action sequences that made the original an instant classic. Reloaded includes many of the franchise's most recognizable sequences, from Neo stopping a rain of bullets to his battle with the many Smith clones. The film is the perfect combination of the explosive and stylish approach the Wachowskis developed post-Matrix with the more cerebral storytelling of the original. The Matrix Reloaded is daring and utterly thrilling, showing maturity in the Wachowskis style while still delivering an electrifying action movie unlike any other.
The Matrix Reloaded
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Release Date May 15, 2003 Cast Ray Anthony , Christine Anu , Andy Arness , Alima Ashton-Sheibu , Helmut Bakaitis , Steve Bastoni Runtime 138 minutes Writers Lilly Wachowski , Lana Wachowski 1 'The Matrix' (1999)
Directors: The Wachowskis
Few films in the history of science fiction have been as influential or revolutionary as The Matrix. The 1999 film stars Keanu Reeves as Thomas Anderson, a hacker known as "Neo," who discovers humanity is trapped within a simulated reality, the Matrix, while serving as an energy source for hyper-intelligent machines ruling over a dystopian future. Joining other rebels, Neo starts a fight to liberate humanity.
One of the all-time best dystopian movies, The Matrix is a true before-and-after in mainstream American cinema. The film influenced not only the science fiction and action genres but pretty much the entire entertainment industry, popularizing techniques like slow-motion and the bullet time effect, which it pretty much invented. Thematically rich yet visually stunning, The Matrix is the product of two wildly creative minds operating at the peak of their artistic freedom. The film is ridiculously rewatchable, thanks to its many iconic action sequences that will thrill any fan, no matter how many times they've watched it. Often imitated but never replicated—not even by the Wachowskis themselves—The Matrix is among the greatest science fiction movies to ever grace the silver screen.
The Matrix
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Release Date March 30, 1999 Cast Keanu Reeves , Laurence Fishburne , Carrie-Anne Moss , Hugo Weaving , Gloria Foster , Joe Pantoliano Runtime 136 minutes Writers Lilly Wachowski , Lana WachowskincG1vNJzZmibn6G5qrDEq2Wcp51kuqLA0aKvZqWfq7amv4yrnLCZpJi1oq7LnmSrmZ6gsqV7