JOJO RABBIT
A fourth film in the sci-fi series has been confirmed — and we can’t help but be optimistic. Here’s why
Your first look at Taika Waititi as Hitler. Bet this is the first thing you turn to.
1. IT’S STILL A WACHOWSKI PRODUCTION
Despite it briefly looking like someone else would remake the seminal cyberpunk epic, Lana Wachowski is now back as director and co-writer (albeit without sister Lilly), making the film a new instalment rather than a hard reboot. It’s a chance to further explore the Matrix-verse, rather than just recreating what’s already been done.
2. THE ORIGINAL CAST ARE BACK
Or at least, some of them. Keanu Reeves and Carrie Anne-moss are confirmed to return. Meanwhile, there are hints that Morpheus will be recast younger (Michael B. Jordan’s name has been mentioned), which raises many questions. Will it involve time travel? Reincarnations? Or just a few ghosts in this new-look machine?
3. IT HAS SOME SMART CO-WRITERS
Wachowski has collaborated with novelists David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas, The Bone Clocks) and Aleksandar Hemon (The Lazarus Project) on the script — both of whom contributed to her and Lilly’s Netflix series Sense8. Mitchell’s literary takes on sci-fi have always been character- rather than concept-driven, which bodes well for Matrix 4 possessing heart as much as leather-clad style.
4. IT’S AN OPPORTUNITY TO RECAPTURE THE ORIGINAL’S MAGIC
Let’s be honest: the Matrix sequels did not deliver on the first film’s promise. But they were conceived in one go and shot back-to-back amid a whirl of heady hype. This one has the benefit of standing far apart from all that early-noughties Matrix fever and the opportunity to go back to the silicon tacks of why we so loved the ’99 original: more slick kung-fu action, less waffly script-bloat.
5. IT’S GUARANTEED TO LOOK AMAZING
Almost as exciting as the news that Wachowski, Reeves and Moss are returning is the fact that concept artists Geof Darrow and Steve Skroce are also back on board. Not only did their art define the look of The Matrix, their detailed storyboards also helped greenlight the film, right down to the way they visualised those ground-breaking bullet-time effects.
6. IT’S THE RIGHT TIME
It’s not merely a matter of how great the fight scenes and visual effects are likely to look in this post- john Wick, M cu-refined action block buster environment. It’s about the concepts, too. “Many of the ideas Lilly and I explored 20 years ago about our reality are even more relevant now,” noted Lana Wachowski. With fake news and dodgy bots maliciously warping perceptions of the world through social media, and more people living online than ever before, she’s not wrong: now feels like the ideal time to take the red pill again.