10 Best Fight Scenes In The Matrix Franchise

Jack yourself back in, slide into your black trench coat, and slip on your best mirrored shades because after nearly 20 years, the Matrix is being resurrected as characters old and new will once again do acrobatic bullet-time battle against nefarious monotone gentlemen in dark suits.

The Matrix series was beloved for many things; from existential thought experiments, to cerebral questions on philosophy and reality, and of course lots and lots of well photographed shootouts. But perhaps the biggest thing the series' will be known for is its insane fistfights.

Throughout the series, we've watched Neo, Trinity and Morpheus take up a defensive stance and whip a fair few Agents and miscellaneous henchmen round the head so many times it's given us whiplash. And it never got old. As the films progressed, some of the stakes and fields of combat become more ludicrous, but the series never failed to diversify and present audiences with unique ways to present a punch-up.

It's with this fact, that the fight scenes of The Matrix should be celebrated. And what better way to hype up for The Matrix Resurrections than to look back at some of those glorious moments from the franchise and pick out some of the best and most memorable punch-ups.

For this list, we'll be focusing on sequences that rely on martial arts or melee weapons exclusively, so no Lobby or Club Hell shootouts.

At the end of the first Matrix, it had been established that Neo was now the re-encarnation of Jesus Christ with Superman abilities. After effortlessly defeating Agent Smith, and the last shot depicting him fly toward the sky, whatever challenges Neo would face in the sequels had to be next level.

And they sort of were, for most of the part.

During an in-Matrix meeting of resistance fighters, Neo gets spooked by an unknown presence and heads out to investigate. Ambushed by three "new" Agents, Neo engages in his first fight since imploding Smith and it's everything fans wanted it to be. This is not the Neo we knew before - this is a more confidant and opposing Neo who is both embracing and evolving into his role as the saviour of humanity.

Neo's quip about the upgraded Agents is a snickering remark to justify why Neo would still have his work cut out fighting Agents, but in reality it's just plain entertaining to see Keanu Reeves take on three Agents at once in such a stylised and flourishing manner.

If watching Trinity take a bullet to the chest was the WTF moment to start the Matrix sequels, it was this sequence that told audiences that there was still going to be some fun jaw-dropping moments to come.