When can we stream ‘The Matrix 4’ movie?
In 1999, Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Laurence Fishburne starred in (what they didn’t know at the time) would be one of the most influential, genre-changing movies of all time: The Matrix. The movie itself was a combination of hi-tech, intrigue, and kung-fu that we didn’t know we needed. Later this year, fans will get what we have waited for almost 20 years to see. The release of The Matrix 4.
But The Matrix was more than just high-flying action fun. The Wachowskis brought us a film that would change the scope of not just the science-fiction genre but the movie industry itself.
Cultural impact
“No one can tell you what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.” These words were part of an ingenious marketing campaign that took a relatively low-budget film into the biggest Easter blockbuster of all time. To go along with a compelling story, critics & filmgoers alike were enthralled by creative and original action scenes and dazzling visual effects.
What makes a sci-fi movie enjoyable is the question, what if? What if you could interfere with people’s dreams? What if you could arrest people for crimes before they committed them? Or, in the case of The Matrix, what if the entire world you lived in was a simulation designed to manipulate you? Science-fiction endeavors to answer these questions with compelling characters and storylines.
All three Matrix movies have something for everyone. There is kung-fu, guns, mystery, and a love story, all on top of four Academy Awards. But co-writer Lilly Wachowski said there’s even more. To her, The Matrix is both an allegory for transgenderism (closeted people living a secret life in a world they don’t belong) and a science-fiction version of Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”.
Back to the beginning
The 1999 original depicts Keanu Reeves’s character, a hacker named Neo, aimlessly searching through life to answer the question, what is the Matrix? He’s eventually shown what the Matrix is by another hacker named Morpheus and his colleague Trinity. What follows is three films chronicling the human race’s rebellion against the machines.
In the trailer for The Matrix 4, we see Neo back in the Matrix, seemingly at the beginning of a new journey, swallowing blue pills in his bathroom. He introduces himself to Trinity as if they don’t know each other, and we see a new Morpheus, seemingly taking us back to the beginning of the original journey.
In true Matrix fashion, this trailer asks more questions than gives answers. This means the only way to understand the answers to the questions posed in the trailer is to see the movie. “No one can tell you what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.”
Cast & release date
Warner Brothers Studio announced that all movies released in 2021 would be available in theaters and on their streaming service HBO Max in an unprecedented move. Everything from The Suicide Squad, Mortal Kombat, and Godzilla vs. Kong were available on the streaming service the same day as they were released in the theater. The Matrix 4 will get the same treatment.
The Matrix 4 was initially announced in 2020 and given a release date of May 21st, 2021. Due to COVID-19 concerns, Warner Brothers Studios pushed the production of the film back. The final release date has been announced for December 22nd, 2021.
The film stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss in their original roles as Neo and Trinity, respectfully. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, best known for his roles in Candyman and Aquaman, will take the reigns as Morpheous in the new movie. It also stars Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Jessica Henwick, Christina Ricci, and Neil Patrick Harris.
