The Matrix Resurrections Early Reviews Promise To Split Fans Praise & Anger

One person's hot garbage is someone else's masterpiece.

by Andrew Pollard
The Matrix Resurrections Critics Reaction
Warner Bros.

Ahead of the film's release next week, the early reviews for The Matrix Resurrections are in... and are hugely mixed.

Having received its official premiere last night, this fourth Matrix offering will hit cinema's worldwide this coming Wednesday, and any social media embargos are now up.

For critics, some have described Resurrections as "hot garbage", others have praised Keanu Reeves' performance, and others have labelled the movie as their favourite film of 2021. Some of these wide variety of early takes can be found in full below.

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Given the hype surrounding The Matrix Resurrections, there was always a good chance it would firmly split opinion amongst fans of the prior trilogy of pictures. When looking at the critical response to the film, it very much seems like different people will take different things from this return to the Matrix - with your own personal response seemingly coming down to how much you favour a strong love story over strong action sequences.

Starring Keanu Reeves, Carrie Anne Moss, Jada Pinkett Smith, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick and Jonathan Groff, The Matrix Resurrections hits all major markets on 22 December, with Australia and New Zealand getting the film on 26 December, and then Italy finally getting the movie on New Year's Day.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.