Cybernetics In Films

"Art is a mirror...Most will prefer to gaze at the surface but there will be people like me who enjoy what lies behind the looking glass. I made this movie for them."

"The Matrix is an action science fiction movie, but it defied all expectations. The movie is studied in film schools around the world. Audiences continue to debate the meaning behind the 1999 film. The Matrix Resurrections is the newest installment, which features some fresh faces in familiar roles. Actor Jonathan Groff recently explained why reading the screenplay made him cry.... Groff is a newcomer to The Matrix franchise, but he also felt the extreme love and care that comes with the upcoming sequel. He connected with Smith’ approach to the fight sequences. Groff explained, “When our fight was over, I felt deeply connected to him in a physical way.”... The Matrix Resurrections deeply touched Groff. He thought about Reeves and Moss playing bringing these characters back to the silver screen in such a meaningful way that it caused him to cry. He said, “When I read the script for this movie I cried, because the idea of watching these two iconic actors in these two iconic parts coming back and fighting to have their love again just wrecked me.”"

"The Matrix Resurrections is a movie that knows you know its legacy — knows that the language and iconography of The Matrix (“red pill,” “bullet time,” “The Oracle,” “The One”) have seeped into the culture, into our minds, even if we somehow haven’t seen any of the previous movies. It also knows that this is the 21st century. Which means that much of what felt novel or prescient about the world of that first movie — with its allegorized, cyber-savvy world-within-worlds, its riffing on the idea of digital selves — has come to define human experience as we currently know it. Wachowski has given us a movie that most astutely reminds us of something Lilly once said at the GLAAD Awards in 2016: “While the ideas of identity and transformation are critical components in our work, the bedrock that all ideas rest upon is love.” Resurrections is a love story — between Neo and Trinity, obviously. Resurrections plays like a spin on the preceding Matrix trilogy that could only have come on the heels of projects like Cloud Atlas and Jupiter Ascending, in which the Wachowskis leaned further and further into their loving strangeness, their woo-woo theatrics and sentimentality, their conceptual ambition. It is a Matrix movie that could only have come with twenty-plus years of hindsight — and insight... I was moved, impressed — far more than I expected to be."

"The story picks up 20 years after The Matrix Revolutions. Neo (Reeves) is living an ordinary life... under the name Thomas A. Anderson... as the world’s most celebrated video game designer... However, Thomas suffers from delusions that make it difficult to separate reality from fiction. His therapist... prescribes him blue pills to help contain the illusions.... Thomas meets a woman named Tiffany (Moss) who looks just like Trinity. Neither of them recognizes each other, but they feel that they have an undeniable connection. Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) suddenly appears with a red pill to free Thomas’ mind. Who can he trust and how can he save Trinity?... The first act of The Matrix Resurrections tackles the subject of mental health. Thomas is consistently gaslit, as elements of reality are blamed on his mental state. He strives to become a form of “normal” that society dictates. Neo’s trauma is placed front and center, as he must ultimately make the decision between free will and comfort. The Matrix Resurrections is existentialist to its core. The film repeatedly pokes fun at Hollywood’s control over the seemingly never-ending wave of sequels, prequels, and reboots. It teases at its very own existence and the stress of reinventing what once redefined the medium. Matrix fans have a plethora of theories of what the original is all about, many of which The Matrix Resurrections brings up."

"Throughout the film, it’s made clear that Neo is still recovering his skills... He’s a bit rusty... and doesn’t possess all the abilities he once had: namely, flying. Watching Neo and Trinity leap off the roof, there’s a distinct feeling of hope for those of us watching... .And yet... he begins to flail, falter, and fall. Thankfully, Trinity is there to save the day... Neo cannot be “the One” without Trinity. She’s as much a crucial part of his ability to control the Matrix as him “freeing his mind.” They are intrinsically tied together, bound beyond fate, to the point where they are unable to function without the other... The ending to Resurrections is the realization of what’s always been true, Trinity and Neo TOGETHER makes the power of the One possible. Neo couldn’t do the things he did without Trinity and her love. Trinity believed so thoroughly in Neo, even when he himself didn’t, she never noticed her own role in the manifestation of these unique abilities. The Matrix Resurrections‘ focus on the love between these two, and how they continually fight for/save each other, offers these moments in the previous films a new frame of reference. Now audiences (and obsessed movie nerds like myself) can look back and see the evidence built into the previous films. In this light, the final moments of the film, make perfect sense, and feels like the most logical conclusion to their love story."

"I know it doesn't seem fair, but neither does growing old, and you don't hear me complaining."

"Abbie Cornish - Clara Murphy"

"[reviewing the footage from the RoboCop unveiling] Until today, Thomas King was a convicted felon wanted for rape, arson, and murder. This man has torn apart American families. On the loose for six years. And where was this criminal mastermind hiding? Right in front of the police headquarters. [explaining RoboCop's footage in background display] Here he is, just steps away from two of Detroit's finest. These two officers are completely unaware of the monster in their midst. And then, in 60 seconds... I repeat, just 60 seconds, Detective Murphy brings him down. [points to Murphy serving Miranda rights] This, my friends, is the future of American justice. How many like Thomas King will pay for their crimes now that RoboCop is here?"

"Consciousness is nothing more than the processing of information."

"We've got the future under control."

"Your move."

"Crime has a new enemy."

"Joel Kinnaman - Alex Murphy"

"Gary Oldman - Dennett Norton"

"Michael Keaton - Raymond Sellars"

"Samuel L. Jackson - Pat Novak"

"Jackie Earle Haley - Rick Mattox"

"Michael K. Williams - Jack Lewis"

"Jennifer Ehle - Liz Kline"

"Jay Baruchel - Tom Pope"

"Aimee Garcia - Jae Kim"

"John Paul Ruttan - David Murphy"

"Mutants. Since the discovery of their existence they have been regarded with fear, suspicion, often hatred. Across the planet, debate rages. Are mutants the next link in the evolutionary chain or simply a new species of humanity fighting for their share of the world? Either way it is a historical fact: Sharing the world has never been humanity's defining attribute."

"With the movie coming out in the aftermath of the military action in Iraq, Singer was asked if the troubled times made him nervous about people's reactions to the war theme in this film. "No, not at all, because the soldiers working in this film, they're not even working in the United States. They're working up in Alberta, in a secret base. They're working for a person who's completely rogue from the government. The President of the United States is very on the fence and very concerned, justifiably about issues. There are mutants who possess incredible power and who are terribly violent and dangerous to the human society and mutant society. I view these as henchmen, and in terms of fighter airplanes getting dogged and police getting dogged, no one in that sphere is really harmed. It's not about bullying the authority. I personally have tremendous faith and support of our authorities and military ... Having shown it to friends of mine in the military, they get a kick out of the fact that these soldiers are a bunch of rogue, dirt bags that get what's coming to them. And we see that. We definitely see that. This guy, Stryker, he's operating in his own universe. He's tricking the President, he's conning the President into his operation, so it's quite the opposite if anything. He's more of a terrorist.""

"When I first read this installment of the script, because I've been talking to fans, and if there's one thing they've said to me it was, 'You don't kick enough ass. Let's see that berserker rage!' I kind of thought about that, and I was like, 'Jeez, you're right.' When I went back to X-Men I, there really wasn't a lot there. I had a huge fight scene with Mystique, where I ended up on my back, knocked out, and there's a bit at the beginning, there wasn't a lot of that berserker rage. So, when I read the script, I thought the relationships were better, I thought it was funnier, I thought there was more action, but I still said, 'We've got to get even more action.' I kind of fought for a little bit more in the mansion scene sequence, particularly. That was a little more berserker rage there than was originally. But, apart from that, I thought the script had a great balance. I think it works for Wolverine's story. It's not like he's in the corner crying. He's at a crisis point where he's about to find out everything he's ever wanted to know, and as liberating as that would be, it's frightening as all hell. So, he's on edge. He's having these nightmares. So, it all kind of works in together with the action."

"On the first film, the studio was worried about the lead character stabbing people. We were like, “Yeah, okay, but he has nine inch blades that come out of his fists. People are going to get stabbed.” You can’t do what they do in the cartoons having him open doors or be the world’s most dangerous can opener. When we started to do X2 one of the first things I said to Bryan [Singer] was we needed to see Wolverine cut loose and just go on a rampage. We also knew we want the mansion be invaded. I think it was Bryan who said the others should be out of town and it should just be Wolverine watching the mansion, then you can see him tear into those people. We made sure the soldiers he was attacking were faceless. They got masks on, so you can stay in a PG-13 relm and murder a bunch of people. That’s what my 15-year-old self wanted to see from Wolverine."

""X2: X-Men United" lacks a beginning, a middle and an end, and exists more as a self-renewing loop. In that it is faithful to comic books themselves, which month after month and year after year seem frozen in the same fictional universe."

"Since the earliest days of "Spider-Man," Marvel heroes have had personal problems to deal with, and there's a classic Stan Lee moment here in the scene where Iceman breaks the news to his parents that he is a mutant. The movie treats the dialogue as a coming out scene, half-seriously, as if providing inspiration for real-life parents and their children with secrets."

"Odd, then, that Wolverine is one of the dominant characters even though his X-Acto knuckles seem pretty insignificant compared to the powers of Pyro or Cyclops. In a convention borrowed from martial arts movies, "X2" pairs characters with matching powers, so that when Wolverine has his titanic battle, it's with an enemy also equipped with blades. What would happen if Pyro and Iceman went head to head? I visualize the two of them in a pool of hot water."

"Like all the characters in the Marvel Comics stable, the X-Men have psychological or political problems; in the first movie they were faced with genocide, and in this one their right to privacy is violated with the Mutant Registration Act. Of course there will be audience members who believe mutants should have no rights, and so "X2" provides a valuable civics lesson. (How you register a mutant who can teleport or shape-shift is not explained.)"

""X2: X-Men United" is the kind of movie you enjoy for its moments, even though they never add up. Made for (and possibly by) those with short attention spans, it lives in the present, providing one amazing spectacle after another, and not even trying to develop a story arc. Having trained on the original "X-Men" (2000), i tried to experience the film entirely in the present, and the fact is, i had a good time. Dumb, but good."

"X-Men United."

"First, they were fighting for acceptance. Now, they're battling for survival."

"In this world wide conspiracy the only thing you can count on... Is the X factor."

"The ones we fear most, will be all that can save us... again."

"Evolution Continues."

"Get ready for the return of the Evolution."

"The time has come for those who are different to stand united."

"I was piloting black-ops missions in the jungles of North Vietnam when you were suckin' on your mama's tit at Woodstock, Kelly. Don't lecture me about war. This already is a war."

"Mutation: it is the key to our evolution. It is how we have evolved from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on the planet. This process is slow, normally taking thousands and thousands of years. But every few hundred millennia, evolution leaps forward."

"[After stopping the X-Jet from crashing with his powers] When will these people learn how to fly?"

"[After ripping off and throwing his dog tags at Stryker's feet] I'll take my chances with him."

"Everything that has a beginning has an end. I see the end coming. I see the darkness spreading. I see death…and you are all that stands in his way."

"Ian Bliss - Bane/Smith"

"Lambert Wilson - The Merovingian"

"Helmut Bakaitis - The Architect"

"Mary Alice - The Oracle"

"Hugo Weaving - Agent Smith"

"Carrie-Anne Moss - Trinity"

"Laurence Fishburne - Morpheus"