Watching ‘The Matrix’ Series as an Adult

I’m an adult, technically. I’m 25, which is still really young. I’m still a child in the eyes of everyone who isn’t in high school or below. And I like it that way, I don’t want to grow up and be an adult. But, alas, life comes for us all.

But this isn’t about life, death, and the ride in between; this is about watching a bad-ass series featuring bad-ass trench coats as more than a prepubescent child.

When the first Matrix movie came out, I was 7. I don’t remember exactly when it came out on DVD, but I remember burning that bitch up when I had it. I probably watched it every single day just to see Neo run through security guards and dodge bullets. I couldn’t tell you the philosophies of The Matrix, I couldn’t even tell you why Cypher was betraying the group, but I could tell you that my mom and I had a ton of fun watching this movie every day. She’s a saint for doing that for me. But, she also made me watch Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, so I’d say it was a wash.

The Matrix Reloaded came out when I was 11 and I had never in my life been more ready for a movie. The marketing around it was amazing from what I remember. I begged my mom to buy me the special edition Matrix Powerade (we ended up forgetting it in a bag at Wal-Mart), I worked up the courage to ask my dad if I could get this Neo action figure at KB Toys in the mall, which he surprisingly obliged, and I got Enter The Matrix and The Animatrix for my birthday. I finally saw the movie in theaters and remember being underwhelmed. Mostly because I had no fucking clue what anyone in the movie was talking about, I just wanted to see Neo put a pole in the ground and run in a circle on all of the Agent Smith’s.

The Matrix Revolutions legit came out like 6 months later. Mom took me to the opening night and got me pizza before. I remember not retaining much about this movie at all, except that Neo’s eyes were fried out of his skull and he and Agent Smith beat each other’s asses. Needless to say, this movie failed to leave its mark on me and I didn’t watch The Matrix series again for a long time, for whatever reason.

Last week, I decided to give the series some burn. I hadn’t seen them since I was a kid, and I remember loving the first movie but being out on the sequels, a sentiment the internet agrees with me on. But I went into the series with an open mind, and even a bit of excitement. I wanted to see what my 11 year old eyes saw, and to try and comprehend and understand the complexities of the movies with my 25 year old brain.

Here are some observations from my Matrix binge:

The Matrix

— The leather look hasn’t aged well at all.

— These sunglasses are super uncool.

— Keanu Reeves is perfect. I couldn’t imagine anyone else playing Neo. Did you know it was originally going to be Will Smith?

— I wholeheartedly agree with Cypher. Well, I don’t agree with the betrayal, but I agree with the sentiment that life is a hot dumpster fire and living in a simulation without knowledge of the outside world sounds like a dream. It’s a lot like The Allegory of the Cave by Plato in that Cypher wants to accept his reality and not the one outside of what his mind perceives as real.

— The side characters aren’t fleshed out at all, they’re literally there just to die. Seriously, when they are killed by Cypher you don’t feel a thing.

— Morpheus is a weirdo, but I trust everything he says.

— Overall, pretty light on the philosophy, I understood what was happening. When I was a kid I thought they just went into the matrix to whoop ass.

— I used to try and bend spoons with my mind.

— Did Neo become the One when he was killed by Agent Smith and reborn inside the matrix? Because that’s some damn fine storytelling.

The Matrix Reloaded

— After watching again, this one is my favorite.

— I was mad confused by everything, so I had to follow the white rabbit and read a bunch of Reddit threads about what the fuck anyone in this movie was talking about.

— The 100 Agent Smiths vs Neo scene didn’t age well.

— Neo is fucking Superman now, which makes his story a little uninteresting.

— The highway sequence is the best shit in this whole series. I am all in on the white twins with dreadlocks.

— THERE NEEDS TO BE MORE GHOST AND NIOBE.

— The rave scene is still pretty dope.

— Link is so much cooler than Tank was. I really needed Link to make it through everything.

— I used to hate the scene with The Architect, but this time I was mesmerized by it. And I was genuinely shocked when he said there had been six other “One’s.” So is Neo the One? Or is he an anomaly that keeps popping back up every time there’s a system/Zion reboot? IS THE “REAL WORLD” ANOTHER MATRIX? WHAT IF IT’S FROM THE SECOND VERSION OF THE MATRIX?

— Neo flying to save Trinity was great.

— There needed to be more Trinity.

— I didn’t realize how disrespected Morpheus was outside of his crew.

— I fucking love this movie, it is so, so, so good.

— Neo pulling that bullet out of Trinity was beautiful. I was so invested in them this movie.

— Is Agent Smith the One? I’m so perplexed.

The Matrix Revolutions

— I’m not going to lie, I watched this the other day and I still don’t remember anything from it. It’s just so forgettable.

— There’s a new Oracle, I have no idea how I never noticed this.

— I’m still a big fan of the Neo/Agent Smith real life fight. Neo getting his eyes fried is still tragic and well done.

— RIP Trinity. I dreaded her death even though I knew it was coming. Although her death scene was really long.

— The Agent Smith/Neo matrix fight was dope as shit.

— This becomes a full on Transformers movie during the battle of Zion and I really, really liked it.

— Neo becomes Jesus.

— That’s all I remember from this one.

I had a tough time understanding all the philosophies of The Matrix, but I enjoyed being able to actually watch the movie the way it was intended. I used to watch it for the fights and the shooting, but I found myself more interested in the history of the matrix and the six other “One’s.” I loved The Architect’s monologue and I wish 11 year old me had the mental capacity to understand it in 2003. And I can safely say that if I were 25 in 2003, I would’ve been wearing leather gimp suits and trench coats to every occasion.

The series ultimately holds up well, although it stumbles in its final act. I was expecting the movies to be corny and fake deep like me in high school, but I was pleasantly surprised at its high concept and ability to weave intellectual theories and amazing action set pieces seamlessly. And unlike Rick and Morty and J. Cole, I didn’t have to have a certain level of intelligence to understand any of it!