Brandon Sanderson Defends Keanu Reeves’ Most Maligned Franchise — And His Take Might Change Your Mind

Brandon Sanderson waded into the Matrix sequel debate and, honestly, he is not here for the hate. On his Intentionally Blank podcast, the bestselling fantasy author said he straight-up enjoys Reloaded and Revolutions and doesn’t really get why they took the beating they did. Bold stance, considering how online film discourse has treated those two for, oh, 20 years.

What Sanderson actually said

On YouTube’s Intentionally Blank, Sanderson walked through what clicks for him in the Wachowskis’ follow-ups: the ideas, the setpieces, and the way the series leans hard into sci-fi. He also thinks his background with cyberpunk probably made the sequels land better for him than for general audiences.

"I like a bunch of the concepts from it. I like the action scenes, and I like it going full-on science fiction, and having the big battle with the monsters... I don't understand... it was cool to see a big-budget, action, sort of pop culture version of cyberpunk."

Worth noting: he didn’t weigh in on the fourth movie, The Matrix Resurrections, or even say if he’s seen it.

Why a lot of people bounced off Reloaded and Revolutions

The first Matrix is one of those lightning-in-a-bottle movies: a mystery that peels back layer by layer, with the world-building and philosophy tucked inside sleek action. The 2003 sequels aimed bigger. Reloaded blew out the universe but dialed up the info dumps and cut back on the mystery; some folks still had fun with it, but plenty felt the momentum stall. Revolutions doubled down and got dinged the hardest for piling on new ideas without fully developing or resolving them.

Meanwhile, the franchise itself has only grown in stature. The Matrix is basically a modern cult classic now, boosted even more by Keanu Reeves’ career resurgence. But back when Reloaded and Revolutions landed (both in 2003), the critical mood was very different.

So why does Sanderson vibe with them?

Short version: he lives in this sandbox. Sanderson’s steeped in cyberpunk and has talked before about how he likes to evolve tech across his worlds. He’s described a long-term plan that jumps from epic fantasy to urban fantasy, then into cyberpunk and eventually space opera. If you already speak that language, the Wachowskis’ world expansion feels more like a feature than a bug.

How the movies have fared on the scoreboard

• The Matrix (1999) - 83% on Rotten Tomatoes
• The Matrix Reloaded (2003) - 74% on Rotten Tomatoes
• The Matrix Revolutions (2003) - 33% on Rotten Tomatoes
• The Matrix Resurrections (2021) - 63% on Rotten Tomatoes

The Matrix movies are currently streaming on Apple TV.

Where do you land on the sequels? Reloaded apologist? Revolutions defender? Or still wondering how we got to the Architect speech? Drop your take in the comments.