The Matrix star Laurence Fishburne expressed his opinion on the latest installment of the franchise, 2021’s The Matrix Resurrections. The Hollywood veteran also discussed his feelings at not being included in the 4th film of the franchise.
Originally created by the Wachowski siblings, The Matrix trilogy was highly successful and would spur leading man Reeves onto a similarly successful career, even picking up another leading role in a similarly action-filled franchise. In 2021, another film was added to the franchise, The Matrix Resurrections, with Reeves reprising the lead role of Neo and Carrie-Anne Moss back as Trinity, but this time the iconic role of Morpheus was played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II instead of Fishburne.
In an interview with Variety, Fishburne confirmed that he had seen The Matrix Resurrections, and he gave an honest review of the film. "It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and it wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. But I thought Carrie-Anne and Keanu really did their thing. Yeah, that's what I thought." Fishburne has previously confirmed that he wasn’t invited to reprise the role of Morpheus in The Matrix 4 and also insisted that he did not feel like he had missed out on anything by not being involved with the latest project.
Fishburne has had steady success in acting since wrapping up the original Matrix trilogy. This includes recent projects like being added to the cast of MacGruber, a Peacock original series that he starred in, which debuted in late 2021. This, coupled with his review echoing similar sentiments from many fans, supports the view that he was giving his honest opinion about The Matrix Resurrections, which many assumed for a long time was never coming.
So, it seems Fishburne wasn't exactly thrilled by The Matrix 4, and that's a sentiment shared by many. The film opened to praise, but also to underwhelming reviews. Still, The Matrix Resurrections left unanswered questions that even some of the harshest critics might be interested in seeing resolved, but time will tell if Warner Bros. or anyone from the cast or crew is willing to invest in another trip down the rabbit hole.
All four Matrix films are available for streaming on HBO Max.
Source: Variety/Twitter