THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS : Tuesday 28th December 2021.

'THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS' which I saw earlier this week is an M Rated American Sci-Fi actioner Directed, Co-Written, Co-Produced by Lana Wachowski and based on characters created by both Lana and Lilly Wachowski, who between them both Wrote and Directed the three previous instalments in this hugely popular film franchise back in 1999 with 'The Matrix', then its first two sequels 'The Matrix Reloaded' and 'The Matrix Revolutions' both released in 2003. Those first three films grossed at the global Box Office US$1.63B off the back of a combined production budget of US$363M, but at the time the Wachowski's were adamant that the franchise ended with 'Revolutions' with the Writers/Directors going on to helm other film and TV projects together. However, in late 2019 a fourth film in the franchise was announced with Lana Wachowski returning to Direct but this time without her sister. This film saw its World Premier showcasing in Toronto, Canada on 16th of this month and was released in Russia on the same day, before its worldwide release this week. Early indications are that the film has garnered generally positive Reviews and has so far grossed US$69M from its production budget of US$190M. 

Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) is a successful video game developer and the creator of The Matrix video game trilogy based on faint albeit recurring memories of Neo. At a local coffee shop, Anderson comes into contact with Tiffany (Carrie-Anne Moss), married to Chad (Chad Stahelski) and with two young boys but with no recollection of her past, on which Anderson based Trinity, a character in his game. Anderson struggles at times to differentiate between what he perceives as his reality from his dreams. His therapist (Neil Patrick Harris) prescribes him blue pills to suppress such occurrences, which one day he just stops taking.

Anderson operates a programme simulation called a modal, a testing environment, created to develop game characters. A girl named Bugs (Jessica Henwick) learns that the modal is running old code in a loop, that shows when Trinity first found Neo within the original Matrix. Bugs discovers a programme manifesting Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), and helps free him before Anderson's business partner, Smith (Jonathan Groff), can erase the modal. After discovering his location, Bugs and Morpheus extract Anderson from the Matrix and learn that Smith is actually Agent Smith (as portrayed by Hugo Weaving in the first three films).

Neo wakes up in a pod covered in a gel like substance and with wires and probes protruding from his arms, chest, back, neck and mouth. He observes Trinity confined in another one nearby, as machines dispatched by Bugs to retrieve and transport him to Bugs' ship, and into the human stronghold, Io. There, he meets Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith), who tells him that sixty years have passed in the real world since the Machine War, and that human survivors have joined forces with machines that defected to join human society. Though Neo is adamant he wants to rescue Trinity, Niobe opposes and orders Neo to stay out of the Matrix and imprisons him. Bugs and her crew disobey the order and bust Neo out of his cell in order that he can free Trinity.

Neo, Bugs and the crew enter the Matrix, where they are confronted by Smith and other exile programs including The Merovingian (Lambert Wilson) who want the Matrix restored to its earlier format. A fight breaks out in an abandoned warehouse, and Neo battles Smith, ultimately gaining the upper hand as he steadily regains his hand to hand combat capabilities. They leave and locate Tiffany working in her motorcycle workshop, but just as Neo begins talking to her, his therapist appears and immobilises Neo by manipulating time to slow motion. He reveals his identity as the Analyst, a programme designed to study the human mind. He explains that after Neo and Trinity died, he was able to resurrect the pair to study them, by rebuilding their bodies, which explains why they have only aged twenty years in the last sixty. In doing so, he found that suppressing their memories but keeping them close produced an efficient, power-producing Matrix, resistant to the anomalies that resulted in the previous versions failing. Neo's release has destabilised the system and threatened a reboot of the Matrix, according to the Analyst, who has bought time from his superiors, whom he convinced that Neo would voluntarily return to his pod to avoid putting Trinity's life at risk.

Neo and Bugs forcibly exit the Matrix when another ship sent by Niobe brings their ship back to Io. Niobe takes Neo to Sati (Priyanka Chopra Jonas), an exile programme he previously met, whose parents were killed by the machines. Looking to avenge their death, Sati helps concoct a plan to free Trinity. Back in the Matrix at the cafe where Neo and Tiffany first met, Neo offers a deal with the Analyst that if he fails to convince Trinity to remember her past and voluntarily leave the Matrix, he would agree to return to his pod. The Analyst accepts. As Neo tries to convince Tiffany she's part of the Matrix, her family appears tempting her to stay. She initially gives in but before she has exited the cafe she rejects their pleas recalling her true identity as Trinity. As the Analyst attempts to kill her, Smith appears seeking revenge for his own imprisonment, which gives Neo, Trinity, and the others the chance to escape. What follows is a high octane chase through the streets with a swarm of sentient computer beings hot on the tail of Trinity and Neo riding on the back of a motorcycle as sentient bodies are shot, crushed, run over, mowed down and obliterated and cars explode all around them. 

Being the last waiting to be extracted, Neo and Trinity become stranded on the roof top of a skyscraper as heavily armed helicopters shoot off countless rounds of machine gun fire at them. Holding hands, they leap off the roof top hoping Neo is able to harness his ability to fly, but instead Trinity gains the ability, and flies them to safety. With their recently discovered control over the Matrix, both return to meet the Analyst, who now has taken on a submissive stance. They jokingly thank him for the opportunity of a fresh start, which they intend to use to remodel the Matrix as they deem most appropriate. The Analyst looks down but not out, as Neo and Trinity fly off into the sunset.  

'The Matrix Resurrections' is essentially a love story wrapped up in computer code with fast paced action, stunning visuals, and plenty of nods to the original trilogy using actual footage lifted straight from those first three films to remind or educate the viewer of what came before and how we got to this point. The film will no doubt please fans of those first three instalments, and it is easily the best since 1999's 'The Matrix' first hit cinema's screens with its bullet-time, red pill/blue pill, wire-fu fight sequences that defined an era of action Sci-Fi movies. The strong cast here also are a return to form for Reeves and Moss who especially have chemistry that is clearly evident in every scene they share together. At a running time of two and a half hours the film moves a long at a swift pace and never leaves you wanting, and the ending certainly leaves room for a follow-on movie, so whether this is defined as a sequel and the end of the franchise, or a reboot and the start of something new, remains to be seen. See it on the big screen - you won't be disappointed.

'The Matrix Resurrections' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Sunday 26th December 2021.

With the festive season now upon us, it would be remiss of me not to wish my global readership all the very best wishes for a Merry, Happy and safe Christmas, wherever you are in world, whoever you share it with and whatever it is you do to celebrate the occasion. Thanks for your continued support over the past twelve months - it is your readership that makes my synopsis and reviews of the latest release new movies all worthwhile, and I look forward to doing more of the same in 2022. Until then, Merry Christmas - I know what I'll be doing - celebrating down by the beach on a warm mid-Summer's day hopefully.  

This week with seven new release films to tease you out to your local Odeon over this Christmas festive period, we have something for everyone. And, we launch with the fourth film in this successful Sci-Fi action franchise and the first instalment in eighteen years that sees our two protagonists from the first films reprise their roles and enter a simulated reality which intelligent machines have created to distract humans while using their bodies as an energy source. Next up is a remake of a classic 1961 film about two street gangs in 1957 New York and a growing romance between a boy and girl caught on either side of these warring factions. Then we turn to a film set in 1973 where a young high school boy and girl meet and navigate first love in the San Fernando Valley. This is followed by an adaptation of a William Shakespeare play in which a Scottish Lord has designs on becoming the King of Scotland as foretold by three witches. Coming next is a story set in 1789 France about a cook who is fired from his aristocratic household for doing his own thing with his culinary delights, only to take refuge in a regional inn, and to ultimately establish what is in all likelihood France's very first restaurant. Then we have a Norwegian offering about a young woman who battles indecisiveness as she traverses the troubled waters of her love life and struggles to find her career path, before closing out the week with the sequel to an animated feature film from 2016 that this time around sees an optimistic theatre owning koala bear and his friends needing to persuade the reclusive white-maned aged lion rock star to join them for the opening of a new show.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the seven latest release new movies as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the coming week.

'THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS' (Rated M) - is an American Sci-Fi actioner Directed, Co-Written, Co-Produced by Lana Wachowski and based on characters created by both Lana and Lilly Wachowski, who between them both Wrote and Directed the three previous instalments in this hugely popular film franchise back in 1999 with 'The Matrix', then its first two sequels 'The Matrix Reloaded' and 'The Matrix Revolutions' both released in 2003. Those first three films grossed at the global Box Office US$1.63B off the back of a combined production budget of US$363M, but at the time the Wachowski's were adamant that the franchise ended with 'Revolutions' with the Writers/Directors going on to helm other film and TV projects together. However, in late 2019 a fourth film in the franchise was announced with Lana Wachowski returning to Direct but this time without her sister. This film saw its World Premier showcasing in Toronto, Canada on 16th of this month and was released in Russia on the same day, before its worldwide release this week. Early indications are that the film has garnered generally positive Reviews and has so far grossed US$16M. 

Set twenty years following the events of 'The Matrix Revolutions', Neo (Keanu Reeves) lives a seemingly ordinary life under his original identity as Thomas A. Anderson in San Francisco, with a therapist (Neil Patrick Harris) who prescribes him blue pills to counteract the strange and unnatural things he occasionally glimpses. He also meets a woman who appears to be Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), but neither of them recognises the other. However, when a new version of Morpheus (Yahya-Abdul-Mateen II) offers him the red pill and reopens his mind to the world of the Matrix, which has become more secure and dangerous in the years since the Smith (Hugo Weaving in the first trilogy and now played by Jonathan Groff) infection, Neo joins a group of rebels to fight a new enemy. Also starring Jada Pinkett Smith, Jessica Henwick, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Lambert Wilson.

'WEST SIDE STORY' (Rated M) - this American musical romantic drama film is Directed and Co-Produced by Steven Spielberg and is the second feature-length adaptation of the 1957 stage musical of the same name, with the first cinematic release being in 1961. The film features music composed by Leonard Bernstein, with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. It saw its US release on 10th December after being delayed a year by the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic and has garnered widespread critical acclaim although that has not transferred into Box Office dollars taking US$30M so far from its production budget of US$100M. Here then, love at first sight strikes when young Tony (Ansel Elgort) sees Maria (Rachel Zegler, in her film debut)  at a high school dance in 1957 New York City. Their burgeoning romance helps to fuel the fire between the warring Jets and Sharks, two rival gangs of different ethnic backgrounds, vying for control of the streets. Also starring Ariana DeBose, Rita Moreno, Brian D'Arcy James and Corey Stoll, the film has so far picked up fifteen award wins and another eighty-eight nominations (some of which are pending a final determination) from around the awards and festival circuit.  

'LICORICE PIZZA' (Rated M) - is an American coming-of-age comedy drama film Written, Directed, Co-Produced and co-filmed by Paul Thomas Anderson whose previous film making credits take in the likes of 'Boogie Night' in 1997 with Burt Reynolds and Mark Wahlberg, 'Magnolia' in 1999 with Tom Cruise, 'There Will Be Blood' in 2007 with Daniel Day-Lewis, 'Inherent Vice' in 2014 with Joaquin Phoenix and and 'Phantom Thread' in 2017 with Daniel Day-Lewis again. The film tells the story of Alana Kane (Alana Haim) and Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman) growing up, running around and going through the treacherous navigation of first love in the San Fernando Valley in 1973. Also starring Sean Penn, Bradley Cooper, Tom Waits and Benny Safdie. The film costs US$40M to produce, goes on wide cinema release from this week, has garnered universal critical acclaim and has so far collected seventeen award wins and a further sixty-two nominations (some of which remain pending at the time of writing) from around the awards and festivals circuit. 

'THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH' (Rated M) - this American drama film is Directed and written for the screen by Joel Coen and based on the play 'Macbeth' by William Shakespeare. It is the first time that one of the Coen brothers has Directed a film without the others involvement. The film saw its World Premier screening at the New York Film Festival in late September before a limited cinema release this week and before streaming on Apple TV+ from mid-January. Having received widespread critical acclaim, the film has so far garnered six award wins and a further twenty-eight nominations (some of which are still pending an outcome at the time of writing) from around the awards and festival circuit. A Scottish Lord, Macbeth (Denzel Washington) becomes convinced by a trio of witches (all played by Kathryn Hunter) that he will become the next King of Scotland, and his ambitious wife, lady Macbeth (Frances McDormand) supports him in his plans of seizing power. Also starring Brendan Gleeson, Corey Hawkins, Harry Melling, Bertie Carvel and Stephen Root. 

'DELICIOUS' (Rated M) - Directed and Co-Written by Eric Besnard whose previous film credits include 'Cash' in 2008 with Jean Reno and Ciaran Hinds, 'In Gold We Trust' in 2010, and 'The Sense of Wonder' in 2015. Set in 1789 in France, and just before the Revolution, gastronomy is strictly the domain of the wealthy aristocrats and the prestige of a noble house is entirely dependent on the quality and reputation of its dining table. When talented but prideful cook Pierre Manceron (Gregory Gadebois) serves an unapproved dish of his own creation at a dinner hosted by the self-entitled Duke of Chamfort (Benjamin Lavernhe), he is promptly dismissed. Manceron retreats with his son to a regional inn visited infrequently by travellers, to lick his wounds. When a mysterious woman, Louise (Isabelle Carre) arrives with an offer to become his apprentice, the stage is set for a wildly enjoyable tale of reignited passion, mentorship and revenge . . . . .  and of the creation of France’s very first restaurant.

'THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD' (Rated MA15+) - is a Norwegian dark romantic comedy drama film Directed and Co-Written by Joachim Trier and is the third film in the Director's Oslo Trilogy following 'Reprise' - his 2006 feature film debut and 'Oslo, 31 August' in 2011. He has since made 'Louder Than Bombs' in 2015 with Jesse Eisenberg, Gabriel Byrne, Isabelle Huppert, David Strathairn and Amy Ryan; and then 'Thelma' in 2017. This film saw its World Premier in competition at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, with Renate Reinsve winning the award for Best Actress for her performance in the film. It was selected as the Norwegian entry for the Best International Feature Film at next years Academy Awards and has so far picked up thirteen award wins and another twenty-seven nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit, and has garnered universal critical acclaim. The film charts four years in the life of Julie (Renate Reinsve), a young woman who navigates the troubled waters of her love life and struggles to find her career path, leading her to take a realistic look at who she really is. Also starring Anders Danielsen Lie and Herbert Nordrum.

'SING 2' (Rated PG) - this American computer animated musical comedy film is Directed and Written by Garth Jennings whose previous feature film credits include his 2005 debut 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy', 'Son of Rambow' in 2007, and 'Sing' in 2016 as well as numerous music videos for noted singers and bands before and since. The first film grossed US$634M off the back of a US$75M production budget making this sequel inevitable. Here then the ever-optimistic koala, Buster Moon (voiced by Matthew McConaughey), and his all-star cast of performers prepare to launch their most dazzling stage extravaganza yet . . . all in the glittering entertainment capital of the world, Redshore City. There's just one small hitch however, in that they first have to persuade the world's most reclusive rock star Clay Calloway (voiced by Bono) to join them. Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Nick Kroll, Taron Egerton, Tori Kelly, Nick Offerman and Garth Jennings himself, reprise their roles from the first film, with this sequel also adding the voice talents to new characters by Bobby Cannavale, Halsey, Pharrell Williams, Letitia Wright, Eric Andre, Chelsea Peretti, Jennifer Saunders, Wes Anderson, Jason Schwartzman, Edgar Wright and Fisher Stevens. The film premiered at the AFI Fest in mid-November, before its wide cinema release this week and has generated mixed or average Reviews so far. 

With seven new release films this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere at your local Odeon in the week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week - Thursday 19th February 2015.

With all the new release movie hiatus that kick-started 2015, things seem to have dropped a gear now that awards season is almost done and the pressure is off until the Easter Holidays when we can expect new cinema content aimed squarely at that holiday season. Until then, we'll make do with those films Reviewed in previous weeks and still doing the rounds on general release, plus a couple of new releases out in the week ahead that in all probability won't cause a huge stir, but are likely to find an audience nonetheless.

And so we have a Directorial debut from one of America's favourite political satirists, television journalists and two time Oscar Host about an Iranian journalist caught in the proverbial cross-fire while going about his work and paying the price for it; and, Director siblings who brought us one of the most groundbreaking hyped up talked about trilogies in cinema history going back to the world of extravagant Sci-Fi that they know best.

Whatever you choose to watch in the coming week ahead. share your thoughts on Odeon Online in the Comments box immediately below this Post, or any other, and be a movie critic yourself with our ever expanding global readership! Enjoy your film!

JUPITER ASCENDING (Rated M) : Written, Produced and Directed by Andy & Lana Wachowski, who of course brought us 'The Matrix' trilogy in 1999 and then wrapped it up in 2003, have spent US$176M to bring us this foray into fast paced action packed effects laden Sci-Fi with 'Jupiter Ascending'. With a strong cast to help the proceedings this might be the draw card this films needs to give it a boost as Box Office returns have generated a below expectation US$92M faring better outside of the US so far than within it. Anyway, to the story!

Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis) cleans upmarket houses for a living with her mother. One day she witnesses a strange phenomenon and takes a photo, but later has no recollection of doing so or what the images in the photo mean. During a minor surgical procedure the medical staff attending to her try to kill here but she is saved by Caine Wise (Channing Tatum) who turns out to be a genetically engineered ex-military fighter and hunter who has been sent from a galaxy far far away to protect and save Jupiter - although she of course has no idea why! When all is revealed it seems that Earth (and many other planets) were seeded long ago by alien royalty who act like a cosmic corporation overseeing numerous interplanetary worlds. It seems that Jupiter by genetic reincarnation is the heir to Planet Earth, but there is an alien family who have other plans for Jupiter Jones and her supposed inheritance - hence the attempt to dispense with her while undergoing surgery! This consists of the Abrasax family (the most powerful of all alien dynasties) - Balem (Eddie Redmayne), Kalique (Tuppence Middleton) and Titus (Douglas Booth) who are at odds with what to do with little old Earth when the family matriarch passes away! The struggles and challenges that ensue could change the course of the cosmos forever, unless Jupiter, with the help of Caine and various others - Stinger Apini (Sean Bean) and Diomika Tsing (Nikki Amuka-Bird) of the inter-galactic Police Force, can overcome those who will stop at nothing to have their way!

ROSEWATER (Rated M) - Jon Stewart is the political satirist, television commentator, media critic, Writer, Producer, Host of The Daily Show, two time Host of the Academy Awards, stand-up comic and now film Director - in this his first outing as such. Here he tells us the story of London based Iranian Canadian BBC journalist Maziar Buhari (Gael Garcia Bernal) who returned to Iran in 2009 to cover the unfolding Presidential elections there, and provides his media footage to foreign publications worldwide. As a result of smuggling election campaign riot footage back to the BBC  he was imprisoned for 118 days in Evin Prison northwest of Tehran where he was mostly blindfolded and harassed, tortured and beaten in isolation for his crime of spying and espionage - the work of a traitor. He was later interviewed by Stewart for the Daily Show which was seen as further evidence that he was indeed a spy and in collaboration with the US Government and the CIA. Buhari's captor and interrogator (Kim Bodnia) for the time spent in Evin Prison was distinguishable only by the smell of rosewater - hence the films title! A poignant, relevant true story deftly handled it seems by first time Director Stewart, that lays a solid foundation for future works.

That's it for this week - two films at complete opposite ends of the spectrum. Whatever you decide to see - either of these, both of these, or any of those still doing the rounds, lets us know your thoughts and share with the cinema going, movie loving film fanatics of the world.

Movies - catch one this week!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-