‘The Matrix Resurrections’ 4K Ultra HD movie review

After nearly two decades, filmmaker Lana Wachowski dared to put forth a sequel to her and sister Lilly’s beloved sci-fi franchise only to receive mediocre critical reviews and an underperforming theatrical release stunted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now looking for redemption through an ultra-high definition disc release, The Matrix Resurrections (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, rated R, 2.39:1 aspect ratio, 148 minutes, $49.98) explores the life of famed developer of The Matrix video game series Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) and his odd obsession with suburban mother Tiffany (Carrie-Anne Moss).

However, all is not what it seems as viewers are taken back into a universe split by two worlds, one artificial and created by machines to mask reality and pacify human consciousness and one where machines cruelly farm unknowing humans and use them as a power source.

In the fake world, Mr. Anderson gets fed a steady diet of blue pills prescribed by his therapist (Neil Patrick Harris aka The Analyst) to calm his paranoia as he works on a new sequel to his games.

However, he knows something is wrong and eventually gets offered a red pill by a computer-generated version of Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) that sucks him down again into the truth rabbit hole as he becomes the legend known as Neo living in an underground human city of Io.

Faithful Matrix devotees will remember Neo and his true love Trinity aka Tiffany were killed in the last film of the trilogy, “The Matrix Revolutions.”

Well, in the Matrix apparently nothing is as it seems, so the audience relives a rebirth of characters. They get to appreciate Neo and Morpheus in another martial arts maelstrom set in a virtual Dojo, another round of fights against Agent Smith and witness an epic love story with a potentially happier ending for the reunited lovebirds.

Sure, the action and slow-motion bullet time often shine, though nothing groundbreaking, but the narrative relies heavily on the past, even so lazily or brilliantly using clips from the previous films and plenty of winks to its pop culturedom down to a Trinity action figure on Mr. Anderson’s desk.

Ultimately, and despite its entertainment value, that dooms the sequel to playing as simply another safe homage replicant for hardcore fans, much like “Star Wars: A Force Awakens.”

Unfortunately, the chances of another new and much more compelling adventure with Neo may never be seen after the box-office mediocrity of the latest movie.

At best, fans may have to deal with a new generation of greedy Hollywood executives wanting to craft an infamous reimagined reboot.

4K in action: Miss Wachowski and cinematographer John Toll pulled no punches as they offered a visual smorgasbord of high-resolution source material captured with the latest and greatest of digital cameras.

That translates well in the UHD realms boosted by those high dynamic tweaks to offer, besides an overall clarity in-depth in any scene, some of the best-looking and most vibrant explosions ever seen on screen.

Moments to savor include the human resistance fighter Bugs sliding down the side of a lit billboard as the bulbs burst in white brilliance; a stunning pan of machine city and its minutiae down to swarming sentinels and pods crackling with electricity; or the reference quality stunner of Neo and Trinity blown back by an exploding helicopter.

Color shines with Morpheus’ bright yellow-and-blue suits while detail pops with the particle codex of Morpheus’ body undulating as tiny metallic bits.

Finally, what’s a Matrix film without never-ending, slow-motion fight acrobatics and midair bullets in many of the action scenes that have never looked crisper?

Best extras: The included Blu-ray version of the film offers over 90 minutes of bonus content that will please fans.

Start with a 31-minute overview of the production featuring Miss Wachowski first revealing her motivations to develop a sequel and then exploring filming techniques.

Next, the overview includes a look at the group writing process, production design, cinematography, visual effects, stunt choreography, musical score and comparisons to the previous films — all supplemented with words by the principal actors and crew such as Mr. Reeves, Mr. Harris, Miss Moss, composer Tom Tykwer and producer James McTeague.

Next, watch an entertaining eight-minute discussion between Mr. Reeves and Miss Moss cut between previous films’ clips and solo interviews, and then five minutes with Mr. Reeves’ martial arts training that also touches on the film’s practical effects.

Finally, dive into a nine-part, 48-minute further breakdown of the film covering some of its main plot points and key scenes including the office firefight, the Dojo close-quarters combat, the return of the exile Merovingian (aka the Frenchman), battles with the new Agent Smith, the updated bullet time effects, a motorcycle chase, and Trinity and Neo’s actually jumping off a very tall building.