In an age where IP is king, and sequels, reboots, and updated adaptations take precedence, The Matrix Resurrections appears to fall right in line. But what should a reboot or sequel be in the context of its franchise? Which approach best serves its legacy, and perhaps more simply, what is a reboot, remake, or sequel? Resurrections grapples with its legacy and place in film canon with an existential self-awareness in true Matrix-style. Only this time, director and co-writer Lana Wachowski gets far more personal and sentimental, bringing surprising humor to the mix.

Thomas A. Anderson (Keanu Reeves) lives a mundane life as the creator behind the popular video game, The Matrix. His company is eager to return to the decades-old game to find similar success, prompting Anderson to lose his grip on reality. Is the Matrix a figment of his creative imagination or an actual place? Not even his blue pill-pushing therapist (Neil Patrick Harris) can keep him from following the white rabbit once more to discover the truth.

Wachowski, along with writers David Mitchell and Aleksandar Hemon, pares back the scale for this affecting and more personal tale. While the original trilogy centered on a high-stakes war between humanity and machines, Neo did succeed in achieving peace. Resurrections uses the mysterious gap between Neo’s fated voyage to the machine city and the present to give room to reckon with the past and how the trilogy, and its characters, have held up over time. Anchoring it all is the familiar backbone of Neo and Trinity’s (Carrie-Anne Moss) love story.

Once again, their bond becomes the driving force of the narrative. Only here, it’s the all-encompassing element. Wachowski crafts a poignant and personal love letter to two characters deeply important to her, who brought comfort in the wake of losing her parents. It results in a far more touching, lighter story that allows its characters to age with grace and introduce new players to steal the spotlight.

Resurrections is deeply nostalgic. It consistently looks to the past, visually, archivally, and self-referentially, to reflect upon past choices, mistakes, and philosophies to ponder what that means for the present. That means it can get downright cheesy in parts with the sentimentality, but its emotional beats still resonate. So do the comedic moments in which new Morpheus actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II establishes himself to be quite adept. Jonathan Groff exudes charisma as Smith, but Jessica Henwick threatens to run away with the film as the fiery, rebellious Bugs. Not only is Bugs the catalyst for the story, but she’s the guide into a newer, stranger Matrix.

With the emphasis on emotional resonance and romanticism, the action suffers slightly. While Resurrections whisks Neo from set piece to set piece, many featuring impressive explosions and gunfire, Wachowski struggles with filming close combat and fight choreography. Some of it, particularly when concerning smaller supporting players, becomes incomprehensible. Luckily Wachowski injects enough variety in action, filled with heists and a high-octane final act, that it doesn’t become too much of a detriment. It also helps that technology has come a long way since the original film’s release, making for a visually slicker new entry.

Thanks to an endearing and entertaining reunion with old friends and new ones, the two-and-a-half-hour runtime breezes by. While it relies heavily on the past, it’s more interested in examining it from a current, lived-in perspective. It makes for a new entry guaranteed to polarize. This isn’t the Matrix that we met just over twenty years ago, but a modern update that builds on its legacy with surprising and often funny tenderness. Whether you’re willing to follow the white rabbit and take the red pill this round will depend on how much you find comfort in Neo and Trinity and their enduring love story.

The Matrix Resurrections releases in theaters and on HBO Max on December 22, 2022.