Matrix 4 and 5?! Time to free your mind...

Never in a million years would I imagine returning to the world of the Matrix again after the two over-plotted sequels and their lukewarm reception--and that's coming from a man who holds the first Matrix film as his all time favorite movie. But according to Keanu Reeves himself, the Wachowski brothers have finished screen treatments for two more films set in the same universe that feature Reeves reprising his epic role as The One (aka Neo...wow, not sure I always realized that was an anagram). Apparently, the Wachowski's have been in talks with James Cameron about utilizing his groundbreaking 3D technology displayed in the visually stunning Avatar in the hopes of making these two films as revolutionary to the action genre as the first one was when it came out back in 1999. This is extremely intriguing news for anyone even remotely interested in action movies, as the original The Matrix completely and permanently altered the landscape of the genre. I can still remember how far my jaw dropped when the camera first panned around Trinity while she was mid-leap during that opening sequence. And the fight scene between Neo and Smith in the subway station was, at that time, simply unparalleled.

But as interested as I am to see two new Matrix flicks, many questions linger. Primarily, as far as we were lead to believe at the end of Revolutions, Neo, Trinity, and Smith are all dead, and the war between the machines and the humans is over. The fate of the Matrix and the people still plugged into it was kind of left up to interpretation, however, as we see the Oracle, the Architect, and few other key players have a somewhat ambiguous conversation about the fate of this simulated reality and its inhabitants. So what could this movie possibly be about? Isn't it all over now? I have a feeling these questions wont be answered for at least 4 or 5 more years, as these screen treatments haven't even been green-lit yet, but I'm willing to wager a few preliminary guesses. In my eyes, this could be done one of two ways. The first would to be to set the films in the time period between the first film and the second film, and could follow the exploits of the newly reborn Neo as he begins to adapt and develop his new "The One" abilities within the Matrix. Not sure what the conflict would be if this was the route chosen, though it'd be nice to watch as the Neo we know and love from the first film slowly progresses into the unstoppable superman from the second and third films.

The second, perhaps more likely option would be to set the films after the original trilogy, with the audience watching as more and more humans are being unplugged and brought into the real world. Reeves could play a program created by the machines in Neo's image in honor of his sacrifice in the third film, and this digital version of "The One" could be designed to help the humans understand and accept the reality of their situation before they actually get unplugged. If this were the case I could easily see some humans rebelling within the Matrix as this Neo-program tries to usher them towards freedom, with a war ensuing between rebel humans unwilling to accept that the Matrix isn't real and the unplugged humans trying to facilitate the change-over. The Neo-program must then try to keep the peace and save the lives of all the humans, rebels or not, still plugged in to the Matrix.

Confusing? You bet. But it could work, especially given how convoluted everything became in the second film (to this day I still don't completely understand everything the Architect was talking about). Either way, as a humongous fan of the first film, I am intrigued by this news, and would love to see the film series end on a more deserving note, without the icky feeling I got watching the first two sequels. Hopefully this project sees the light of day, and hopefully it doesn't suck giant robot tentacles.

For more information about this new project, click here.

UPDATE: According to Entertainment Weekly (via IGN.com), some of Reeve's reps have now said the information about these Matrix sequels has been greatly exaggerated. In fact, they are now saying that "none of it is true." Hmmm, I guess only time will tell. You can find the original story IGN got their info from here.