Like most people, I can remember walking out of the theater after watching The Matrix, and telling myself I had watched one of the greatest films ever made. It had action, kung fu, tons of guns, wire fu and a solid and compelling story. You might have been a little confused, because I had not collected the whole concept of the movie until my second viewing a few weeks later. It was a ground breaking moment for live action cinema here in the states, and the film made a bajillion dollars, Warner Brothers wasted no time in announcing two sequels as well as multimedia properties like games, animated films and comics. So how did this beloved franchise go so horribly wrong with all of its follow up material? Was it a victim of its own success, or grandiose plans from its creators and publishers?
Shortly after the release of The Matrix, the two film sequels were announced. We found out that we would not have to wait long for the outcome of this trilogy as the two films would release six month apart in 2003. Now sporting a huge budget and lofty expectations from critics and fans alike, the Wachowski brothers set in motion their vision of the endgame for this new franchise. However, when fans saw the second film, there was a feeling of indifference towards the second film. While I have always loved the action sequences, including the crazy freeway chase scene, I always felt that Neo ended the first film as the man who could modify the system from the inside. At that point he is similar to a god, having all the power, and yet he felt so neutered when you see him fighting hand to hand with every two bit agent in the film. It would only get worse with the third film, where the story ran completely off the rails, with all kinds of religious symbolism, and of course, a computer program transferring out to the real world. What the hell was that all about (yes it happens in the second movie, but he really does nothing of significance until the third film). Mix in crazy rave parties and other missteps, and the films really shot the series in the foot, which ended up spilling over to most of the other ventures in the franchise.
About the time that the first film was taking off to the stratosphere in the hearts and minds of sci-fi fanboys around the world, Warner Brothers was auctioning off the rights for a team to make a Matrix game, that would be titled Enter the Matrix. Again, upon the announcement of the franchise, I was immediately grinning from ear to ear. The idea of taking Neo on some bad ass adventures through The Matrix mainframe was a geek dream. Unfortunately, the dream would fall to Earth faster than a meteor. Gamers found out that after Shiny Entertainment was picked to make the game, they announced that the action would focus on Niobe and Ghost, two characters that had some prominence in the films, but for the most part were peripheral characters. While having some of the best video sequences on record, and a story that directly linked parts two and three of The Matrix trilogy, delays would only kill the game at launch. Scarred with last generation graphics, horrible character animations, and a dull, and unentertaining story, Enter the Matrix went on to sell well, but in the eyes of most gamers, it was a dud that sold on the expectations, not what was actually delivered.
Things went even worse for The Matrix Online, the very concept of which should have been so easy to pull off. I mean the whole concept of an MMORPG is to create a virtual avatar that will represent you in the real world. Is that not what The Matrix is all about at its core? Again, horrible design decisions deterred what could have been a solid title. Delays and a congestion of MMORPGs at the time of release lead to some of the worst sales numbers ever for an MMORPG launch. Rumors were that the game sold approximately 10,000 copies at launch, which is dismal for a video game that is supposed to be supported by monthly subscriber fees. Players that did try to traverse The Matrix Online at launch had to endure some of most confusing gameplay, as well as ongoing transitions. Server consolidation started things down a rocky path, and watching the sale of The Matrix Online by Warner Brothers showed a lack of faith in the title. After Sony bought the title, all the content updates were scaled back. Gone were the digital cutscenes, replaced by comic book stills. The development team was cut back to a skeleton crew, and by August 2009, the game disappeared with a whimper.
Path of Neo was a second attempt by Shiny Entertainment to fulfill the promises to the audience for a good Matrix game, and one that would allow you to play as Neo for a change. While it was a better game than Enter the Matrix and The Matrix Online that does not really say much for the actual game. The Path of Neo did give you some cool skills to use, and you did get to play through some key moments that happened in the movies, but it was too little, too late, and buggy as hell. I did like the way that they spun the ending of the game to make it a little happier, but overall, it just did not feel like fans of the series go much out of the title.
Not everything was slapped with the ugly branch when it comes to The Matrix brand. The animated titles were considered great by many fans of the series. The Final Flight of the Osiris aired in front of the movie Dreamcatcher and most felt it helped the opening weekend gross for the film. Its stunning animations, along with more adult oriented dialog and story really hit well with the fans. The Animatrix continued this streak, with some of the best Matrix work outside of the first film showing up in this title. Who didn’t think The Second Renaissance, parts one and two, and were some of the finest animation and storytelling ever.
Looking back at all of this, and as I read it back to myself, it feels like Warner Brothers knew they had something great, but I don’t think they totally understood what they actually had. I can imagine the board when they heard the pitch, just scratching their heads at it all, but Joel Silver probably fed them some Sci-fi BS that appeased them. The fact that it was all put together on the other side of the world probably helped. Out of sight out of mind is what they say. When Warner Brothers saw the healthy receipts for the film, plus all the gushing of the geek community, along with the mainstream gushing, they felt the need to expand it, even though the end of The Matrix really was closed. You made Neo all-powerful. There was no real way to neuter that in the following movies.
As for the rest of the tie-ins to the movies, the games just suffered from developer apathy. I loved all the cutscenes in Enter the Matrix, and have gone so far as to compile them on to a DVD so I can watch them without having to play the game again. The MMO title was easy to see failure, as it was announced at a time when every other day a new MMORPG would come along. Remember this was announced about the same time as Tabula Rasa, Auto Assault, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and several other MMORPG titles. Several of those titles are now defunct, or never left the drawing board. The animated films ended up being the bright spot, and it seems more because the creators were each given their freedom to create their own story. Sure, they each had a framework of The Matrix lore, but they were all allowed to create rich and compelling stories, all in an 8-15 minute time frame. I mean, you can watch something like “World Record” in the Animatrix, and see such a great story being told with the animation and the characters. It would have been great if they Wachowski brothers would have watched this everyday in the morning before they put together the sequels. It might have reminded them of the world they had created.
Can the world be revived? Possibly, but to be honest, I think the fan base has decided to let The Matrix die. Most of my friends only acknowledge the first movie and the Animatrix as cannon. They just treat the others as extended fiction, similar to the countless Star Wars novels that have been written. I, for one, would love to see something else done with the Matrix, but only if they let the animators work on it. They are the only people that still understand what The Matrix is all about.
