PODCAST: The Matrix: Resurrections [Movie RobCast]

We see just how deep the rabbit hole goes in our latest episode, as we return to the Matrix.

Does director and co-writer Lana Wachowski’s return to the franchise that revolutionised sci-fi action cinema pay off, or is it a case for deja vu all over again?…

RETROSPECTIVE: Johnny Mnemonic

Before there was The Matrix, there was Johnny Mnemonic.

Keanu Reeves’ first foray into the cyberpunk genre came in 1995, four years before the Wachowskis’ genre-redefining classic, but not in a way likely to make his career highlights reel.

Johnny Mnemonic slots neatly into a trend of blockbusters fascinated by the possibilities of the still-emerging internet.…

John Wick: Chapter 2 shows a franchise in no danger of burning out

He might not be exactly Shakespearean in his conception, but the character of John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is, at heart, an absurdly tragic one.

The world’s deadliest assassin, his attempt to settle down to an ordinary life is made impossible; first, by the death of his wife, and, second, by the theft of his beloved car and the murder of his dog.…

There’s more to The Neon Demon than meets the eye

 

Like its predecessor, Only God Forgives, Danish director Nicholas Winding Refn’s latest, The Neon Demon, was also booed at Cannes. Unlike its predecessor, only the film’s final third might merit any such reaction.

The film starts as a glossy, lurid scrutiny of beauty and what it elicits.

John Wick burns cool and bright

 

Like Nicholas Cage or Christopher Walken, Keanu Reeves is a very particular type of actor, a specialised tool best used in a particular context.

Put him a role that requires emotional heft and he’s wooden; give him an accent to master or reams of dialogue, like in Dracula or Much Ado About Nothing, and he flounders.…