Matrix 4 is an intense and suspenseful action movie with plenty of sound effects: Gunfire, explosions, and a plethora of sounds that keep the viewer engaged; perfect for those who want an adrenaline rush. It is, by the way, a combination of the sounds of the first three Matrix movies: the machines, the humans, and the code; composed of electronic beeps, boops, and other robotic sounds that create a tense and futuristic atmosphere. Some viewers on the Rotten Tomatoes comment section state that it is the sound of the future, idoneus for sci-fi movies and video games. The sounds in Matrix 4 are designed to create an immersive experience that will transport you to another world. Leaving aside your movie preferences (considering that not all people like the genre nor the trilogy), this is why you should watch it in the first place.

It was released in 2021. It is the fourth installment in the Matrix series. The film follows Neo (Keanu Reeves), Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) as they fight against the Machines. The film has been met with mixed reviews from critics. However, it was a box office success and grossed over $1 billion worldwide. Directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski, was a turning point for the film industry at the start of what would become one of the best years in the medium's history. This was a sophisticated, inventive, and, mostly, new theatrical boom that audiences had never experienced by sight or sound.

The key man in this work has undoubtedly been Dane A. Davis, the person in charge of the enormous task of supervising the edition of this blockbuster, and who has won an Oscar for best sound direction in 1999. One of the biggest creative challenges in the Matrix universe has undoubtedly been creating something of their own. Specifically, drawing a line between the false reality in which we first meet Neo, and the real world where Morpheus and the resistance take him. It was indeed a creative challenge, taking into account the absence of references. Despite the fact that there were already dystopian-themed films, even since the 1920s (Metropolis, for instance), this idea of Plato's cave myth taken into a science fiction film had never been carried out.

According to Davis, one of the directors' wishes had to do with an aspect that had not yet appeared in any of the three previous films: the matrix code. It was to sound electric, and, at the same time, biological, like a living organism, which is delightfully paradoxical. An additional problem relates to the very narrative of the saga: the matrix has been created five times, and this means that five codes have already been written, which have been improved and actually operate simultaneously. We are talking about five generations of code, and each one must have a distinctive feature that fits into the sum of the others, as orchestral instruments in a symphony. We can notice this from the very beginning of the film, when the viewer notices that someone is coding, and uses one of the ancient codes that mentally takes us back to the 1999 film.

Each of the films has brought with it its own challenges, and these have derived directly from the elements imagined by the directors. For example, when Neo first awakens in the real world, the viewer can hear a metallic, chaotic sound, which points to the total breakdown of reality. In this latest Matrix installment, there are new elements, the Synthients, for example, rebellious androids that do not work for the Matrix but cooperatively with the resistance. What should they sound like? Like a mix between the Sentinels of the first movie with human beings. This implies, of course, a new creative challenge.

The fight scenes, gravity twists, and other hallmarks of the franchise are still there, but on steroids, perhaps a bit more dramatic in terms of special effects, and that’s interesting. After carefully watching the movie (but, in general, the whole saga), it is easy to notice that the sound of the machines should sound raw, post-industrial; a large junkyard that tells of the post-apocalyptic world where the last awakened humans survive, and that, in effect, there is a tremendous contrast with the world inside of the Matrix, where everything becomes comfortable, familiar, and sometimes exquisite. 

Perhaps one of the most positive aspects of this work is the fact that the filmmakers always thought about the audience's reactions, about the way in which we were all going to perceive this new world that they have offered us on the big screen. It is such since it reflects one of the basic principles on which the cinematographic and theatrical experience has been built: the contract between the creator and the spectator in which the latter accepts as real what the former sells him. Let's not lose sight of the fact that the creative act in cinema goes far beyond the writing of the script, or the directing, or the acting work, but takes place to a great extent in the editing room. That's where the real magic happens. Sound editors have a great responsibility to contribute their work to the making of a film, considering that good sound is perhaps half the job; and this responsibility is to provide excellent creative work, an artistic operation, an emotional connection between the screen and the viewer, something that, let's be clear, we take very seriously at Enhanced Media.

*The images used on this post are taken from Pexels.com