Time Editorial Department | Stealth drinking
Heal life with movies.
"The Matrix: Matrix Reboot" is finally about to officially land on the mainland big screen, are you ready to return to the Matrix World?
In 1999, the first "The Matrix" was released in North America, and in the era when the Internet was not yet popular, "The Matrix" advanced the virtual and real relationship between humans and the Internet, becoming an epoch-making classic masterpiece.
Hacker 4 uses clip flashbacks from the first trilogy and similar scene elements to clearly tell the audience that this new work does not overturn the setting of the first trilogy, but has more continuations.
If you haven't seen the first three "The Matrix", it will be difficult to enter this fourth new work, or a lot less fun.
In Hacker 4, it may be difficult to distinguish whether the director is humorously self-deprecating, deconstructing classics and fan interactions, or selling emotional fried rice.
After all, the achievements achieved in the first trilogy are obvious to all, and how easy is it to stand on the shoulders of the classics and make another major innovation?
Some of the lines in the new film are quite a bit of black humor. The director himself also understands that if this sequel must be filmed, it is better to take (smash) the signboard in his own hands.
After all, 20 years have passed, the Wachowski brothers have become sisters, and Keanu Reeves's face is full of vicissitudes.
The "metaverse" conceived in the movie has become the hottest concept at the moment, and the shock of watching "The Matrix" for the first time at that time can be found again?
Today, through 15 keywords, Time Jun helps you briefly review the worldview of the first three parts, as well as the inextricable connection between the trilogy and the new work.
01 Story background
In the first part of "The Matrix", the future world of humans and AI machines broke out into a war, most of the machines at that time were powered by solar energy, and humans planned to block the sunlight and weaken the combat effectiveness of robots.
AI has found another way to be anti-customer, putting humans into petri dishes, plugging various tubes into their bodies, and obtaining endless energy with bioelectricity emitted by the human body.
"Hacker 4" is set in a story that takes place after the "Matrix" trilogy, ending with the male protagonist Neo dying but not completely dead, and the heroine Trinity is also a similar fate.
02 Matrix
The title Matrix originally meant the womb, the place where life was conceived. In the Matrix film series, Matrix means matrix, which can also be understood as "matrix", which is a virtual program world designed by computers through neural interaction.
The human body sleeps in a petri dish filled with nutrients, and the human consciousness receives the signals sent by computer programs and immerses itself in a matrix world that looks incomparably realistic, becoming the "brain in the tank".
Most people don't realize it's fake, except for our male protagonist Neo.
After Neo is resurrected in Hacker 4, his consciousness is once again connected to the newly upgraded Matrix 7.0.
Neo was initially set up as a senior programmer for a game company, and he developed the world-famous trilogy of games, Matrix, and his desk was filled with hand-made and awards about the game.
Everyone, including Neo himself, has been brainwashed, and the idea that the world is virtual is actually just a discussion that extends from the Matrix game.
03 Deja Vu
Deja Vu means "déjà vu" in French.
In the first part, Neo just saw a black cat, and a few seconds later saw an exactly the same one, which aroused the alarm of his teammates.
Because Deja Vu usually means a glitch that occurs when a matrix is changed.
In the new film, the black cat that represents "déjà vu" has indeed come to grab the camera again.
04 Zion
The real world has long been ruled by AI, and only 1% of the people in the matrix world will realize that something is wrong, and a very small number of awakened people hide underground, creating a new territory belonging to humanity - Zion.
As for whether Zion is real or not? This is a question that has been repeatedly discussed by fans.
Some people think that Neo can be amazing in Zion, can also see the world around him after being blind, and his ability to frequently use virtual worlds in the real world shows that the so-called "reality" is also virtual.
Since it is impossible to eliminate this awakened 1% of people, simply let them gather together and give these restless brains a new spiritual home.
The matrix is covered with Zion, and there is a so-called "real world" outside Zion.
It is also believed that Zion represents the real world, and that Neo may be connected to both the real world and the matrix.
In the new film, the matrix world has undergone decades of renewal and evolution, and Zion has become a more advanced and livable "IO world".
05 Morpheus
The awakened people in the Matrix formed the Resistance, and Captain Morpheus, the spiritual leader of the Resistance, realized the truth of the Matrix world earlier.
He is responsible for expanding the recruitment team and going to the virtual world to dig out those who have not yet awakened their minds but have potential.
In the first part, Captain Morpheus sends out his team to find the male protagonist Neo, who has a special identity and is the "real" savior.
Morpheus and the heroine Trinity have been exposed to a program called The Prophet, who in reality is an old lady.
Her predictions that Morpheus would find a savior and Trinity would fall in love with a savior came true one by one.
06 Red and Blue Pills
The male protagonist Neo is rescued from the matrix by Morpheus and is faced with two options: the red and blue pills.
This is also one of the most famous settings in The Matrix: swallowing the blue pill can return to the matrix world to forget everything in front of you, and swallowing the red pill can enter the real world.
In Hacker 4, Neo is faced with the same choice. Someone tried to control his mind by making him eat all kinds of blue pills that contained the processing procedures.
07 Smith
The villain Smith's identity is a secret agent program that doesn't exist in the real world.
Agents are similar to antivirus software in computer programs, they have the ability to rewrite human characters, they can constantly borrow other people's bodies, and they can also change the environment around the matrix.
Smith becomes a virus in the system in the second part, with the ability to replicate continuously. In a very short time, he was infected with a large number of programs, and the matrix system faced collapse.
In the third part, Neo uses Smith as a bargaining chip to negotiate with the Machine Emperor, and finally detonates Smith at the cost of his own "assimilation", returning matrix and Zion to a temporary balance.
At that time, Hugo Viven played Smith, every head wrinkle was full of evil.
The two classic roles of Smith and Morpheus in the new film have been replaced, "Little Joe" Jonathan Grove plays Smith, and Yehya Abdul-Medin plays Morpheus, both of which seem to have less of the flavor of the year.
New version of Smith
New morpheus
08 Sugar
Neo and Trinity are lovers who fight side by side, and in the four films, they have experienced ups and downs, made a lot of sugar, and made one of the classic screen CPs in film history.
In the first part, Trinity uses a handsome shot to turn the danger into a disaster, and then uses a deep kiss at the end to bring Neo back to life.
In the second part, Neo comes to the source of the matrix and talks to the designer. The five "saviors" before him all chose to save the world, but only Neo chose to save his girlfriend.
In the third part, Trinity is penetrated by steel bars and unfortunately receives a "box lunch".
In the fourth part, Trinity changed her name, and even had a new family and children, although they did not remember each other when they met, but the deep love could still awaken the memories engraved in their bones.
09 Mechanical squid
The Mechanical Squid is a robot killing program with only one command and is the sentinel of the Matrix World.
The EMP pulse is a powerful weapon of the Resistance against robots, capable of malfunctioning all electronic systems in range.
The mechanical squid acts without autonomous consciousness, just cold execution, and it occasionally instinctively escapes for its life, such as before the EMP is about to launch.
10 Green code rain
In the "Matrix" series of movies, the neatly arranged green code rain is the iconic opening scene of the film and the visual spectacle that makes fans marvel.
This scene was inspired by Oshii's 1995 animated film Ghost in the Shell.
It not only reflects the strong contrast between the high development of technology and human fragility, but also broadens the new visual symbols of the "cyberpunk" aesthetic style.
Production designer Simon Whiteley confirmed that the green code in the film is actually his Japanese wife's sushi recipe. After scanning the entire recipe, the designer added special effects such as flip mix-and-match, forming today's picture style.
In Hacker 4, of course, the classic footage of the green code rain is also reproduced.
11 bullet time
If you want to choose the most impressive plot for "The Matrix", many viewers will think of the classic bullet time.
Bullet time is a special kind of visual effect, and it took the crew $750,000 to make this shot that will go down in film history.
When filming "The Matrix", the crew accurately placed 120 cameras, filmed according to the scheduled time and sequence of the program, and then entered into the computer for post-processing, and then integrated with the background, to get 360 degrees of smooth action, but also use motion capture and virtual photography.
"Create another 'bullet time'!" The game designer of "Hacker 4" also issued such a cry.
12 Eastern Kung Fu
Neo vs. Morpheus, Trinity 360 degree flying legs, Neo freehand bullets, Neo vs. 100 Smiths...
The classic action scenes in the "The Matrix" trilogy can be said to be countless, and Oriental Kung Fu shines in it.
The famous Hong Kong action director Yuan Heping is responsible for the martial arts scenes in the film.
After entering the group, "Eight Masters" required all actors to undergo 4 months of action training, and spent a lot of time learning kung fu and tightrope hanging skills.
In the first part, Neo and Morpheus, two American big men, wearing kung fu training clothes, showed their fists and feet, and the transformation of attack and defense between you and me, and the dazzling variety of moves, creating a new style of Hollywood action movies.
In "Hacker 4", the action scenes are no longer in charge of the eight masters, but there are still Neo and Morpheus's tricks, and the set is very similar to that year.
13 Philosophical connotations
The Wachowski brothers of the year once said, "Our films are not for passive, brainless audiences." ”
This also shows that "The Matrix" is not a simple action film with an impact on audio-visuals.
The theme ideas discussed in the film have clear philosophical connotations and cultural values, and if they explore tens of thousands of words, they may not be able to talk thoroughly.
What is true? How do you define "true"? The Matrix blurs the line between the virtual and the real.
As Morpheus's line goes: If you're talking about how you feel, what you smell and taste, and what you see, then "real" is just an electronic signal that your brain understands.
The little monk can easily bend the spoon with his mind, because "it is not the spoon that bends, but yourself." This echoes the classic "I think, therefore I am, I am" by the European philosopher Descartes.
The trilogy also shows the eternal contradiction between free will and fate, and the concern about the future development of science and technology in the world.
If we were just a bunch of green code determined by the matrix (fate), would we still be able to escape the program's settings?
What are the lives we experience, the memories we have?
14 Alice in Wonderland
The Matrix series can be called an adult version of Alice in Wonderland, and "White Rabbit" is the code name for this fairy tale.
In the first part, Neo is introduced to Morpheus by a mysterious woman tattooed with a little white rabbit tattoo in the Matrix World, and Morpheus subverts Neo's understanding of the world in which he lives.
He wakes up from the Matrix to the "Real Desert", as if Alice had fallen into a tree hole, falling from a sleeping Petri dish into the Rebels' spaceship and embarking on an adventure to find the True Self.
In "Hacker 4", Bugs, a girl with a rabbit tattoo, guides Neo to discover the truth, and Neo also has the book "Alice in Wonderland" in his hand.
In the first trailer for the new film, the background music used was the song "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane, the representative of psychedelic rock.
15 Former Universe
The "Matrix" series of movies can be described as the culmination of the concept of "meta-universe", which shows the audience a grand picture of this concept ahead of time.
Since last year, the concept of the metacosm has swept the globe like a hurricane. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, opportunities for people to meet face-to-face are becoming less and less frequent.
The rise of online virtual platforms, the iterative upgrading of VR and AR technology, the mobile phone computer with one hand, and the meta-universe plan proposed by Zuckerberg are all realities around us.
The metaverse brings richer entertainment experiences, job opportunities and new ways of socializing, what will the future world really look like? Would it be better than in The Matrix? No one knows the answer.
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You can believe it, these movies have been around for 10 years