![]() ![]() Outside the Matrix, the last dregs of humanity were forced deep below the surface of the Earth, where they built a massive city called Zion. They created a new generation of people, fully integrated into the Matrix and reared in womb-like pods, from whom they could harvest energy. The Machines won the war and created the Matrix - a massive simulation of the Earth as it existed at the turn of the 21st century - to keep humanity under their control, and available as a power source. Most living species died from the lack of sunlight, but the Machines adapted to use another source of power: humans. In an attempt to cut off their adversaries’ power source - the Sun - they placed nanite clouds in the atmosphere, plunging the Earth into constant darkness. Humanity’s bid to wipe out the Machines resulted in a series of global catastrophes that ultimately cost them the war. This led to the First Machine War, which took place in the mid-22nd century. Humanity, however, refused to recognize Zero One’s sovereignty and instead bombed its major settlement, Machine City. This culminated in the establishment of Zero One, an all-Machine nation. At the end of the 21st century, fully sentient synthetic lifeforms came online - and eventually, the robot laborers began to protest and petition for their civil rights. The Matrix is set in a dystopian future where artificially intelligent machines have overpowered their human creators. Below, all you need to know about the original Matrix Trilogy. So here’s to The Matrix, the Wachowskis, and everyone else who made this film franchise what it is today. And Akira and Ghost in the Shell were adaptations of two manga series of the same names, created by Katsuhiro Otomo and Shirow Masamune, respectively. Johnny Mnemonic is an adaptation of a short story by author William Gibson - one that ties into Gibson’s highly influential cyberpunk novel, Neuromancer. Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner is loosely based on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Unlike those previous films, however, The Matrix holds the distinction of being one of the first - if not the first - cyberpunk movies to be based on an original screenplay. ![]() ![]() (Editor’s note: The article linked in the previous sentence is from 2009 and uses the Wachowski sisters’ deadnames.) To that extent, the Wachowskis were covering well-trod territory, and they even went so far as to pay homage to The Matrix’s predecessors in the film itself. ![]() Filmgoers had already been introduced to the genre’s core concepts by a star-studded suite of other films, including Blade Runner (1982), Akira (1988), and Ghost in the Shell (1995), as well as Reeves’ earlier film, Johnny Mnemonic (1995). Released in 1999, it was somewhat of a latecomer to the cyberpunk film scene. The Matrix, co-written and co-directed by sisters Lana and Lilly Wachowski, imagines a sort of post-Skynet future - one in which humanity has finally paid the price for its technological hubris, leaving them enslaved by their own creations. Major spoilers for the Matrix Trilogy follow. Below, an in-depth primer on The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, and The Matrix Revolutions. Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss reprise their original roles as Neo and Trinity in The Matrix Resurrections, and fans can’t wait to see them back in action - but as it’s been awhile since the last film, it’s worth giving yourself a quick crash course in the original trilogy and its lore before diving in. Nearly 20 years after The Matrix Revolutions hit theaters, marking the end of the Matrix Trilogy, Lana Wachowski and crew are back with a highly anticipated fourth installment. ![]()
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