rmccul093

I remember watching the original "Matrix" years ago with thought this was going to be a typical throwaway Keanu Reeves movie in the vein of "Johnny Mnemonic" of nothing more than gunplay in a dour apocalyptic world. Little did I realize the deeper meaning and exploration of philosophy, theology, in the very meaning of life would be explored. It turned out that the Wachowski's gave us all that and more in that movie and (to a lesser extent) the remaining two movies in the trilogy. With that mind, I approached watching "Resurrections" with the mindset that it would be an enjoyable but weak cashgrab. I mean, they even overlooked the weak muscles problem that was canon from the first movie! The pacing was a bit on the slow side and uneven initially. I also felt like there was a list of tropes that they were trying to check off one by one just to loosely link it to the previous films.

And it started to feel like I was right: it looked like a weaker, inferior imitation of "The Matrix".

But I could see the momentum was starting build up in the second act in Ion. And the third act? I had gone from sitting and yawning for the first portion of the movie only to be cheering and on the edge of my seat in the final showdown. In retrospect, it makes sense now that the tropes were woven in intentionally because, after all, this is inside a program and the repetition is to be expected! I think the best thing that happened though was how we've switched up villains, revisited others, and all while we know that we probably will see more of Agent Smith in the future! With that in mind, I hope that the Wachowski's will continue a new trilogy and further flesh out their idea that what Neo & Trinity started was a whole lot messier than originally everyone thought.

This episode is the epitome what we used to see in ST:TNG - a well fleshed out story that not only links us to last season, but is also a great stand-alone story. It has some of ST's 'Everyman' tropes in it, but the story still manages to not be preachy. That is a trap so many older franchises have fallen victim to lately (yes, I mean the current ST series and even a certain British sci-fi show we used to love). Seth has allowed Ed to (finally) move on with his personal life and, at the same time, display a willingness to show maturity and respect for his ex-wife in this episode. Ed is growing emotionally which is a hallmark of what Roddenberry did so well. His characters grew and, over time, changed so that they became more than a 2D character. They almost took on lives of their own, a fact we see at nearly all conventions nowadays. We also see this in Gordon in the episode (despite initially being motivated by baser desires). He realizes his value isn't dictated by a title but just being the best person he can be - a valued and vital member of the crew. Overall, Seth, Gene would be so proud of you!