I think the saying "set and setting" applies to movies as much as it does to psychedelics. I was hyped to watch it, I was nicely toasted, I watched it as soon as it came out, and it did everything right in my book. For starters, it grabbed me from the get-go: the shot of a SWAT operator's foot stepping into a puddle was totally gorgeous. Everything else that happened was interesting as hell - a program being evolved in a simulated environment, an agent realizing he's Morpheus, Jessica Henwick being totally gorgeous and speaking in a soft honey voice. If the first moments of a film charm you, you are much more predisposed to like it.
Other things I loved without getting too specific:
+bullet time rewind
+Trinity's fresh eyes after nearly dying
+the ballet of the helicopters
+Sati
+Sati's wink
+the design of the Anomaleum
+holding hands in the sky
+army in a coffee shop
+the music when the dojo gets initiated
+the view from the prison cell
+bathroom stall encounter of grandeur and hilarity!
I'm sure I'm missing twice as much amazing things but these are just off the top of my head.
I’m absolutely with you here. I walked into it having intentionally avoided the trailers, and treating the whole existence as a thrown-bone, a “here’s one last throwback to something truly special, in a time when we could all use some familiarity,” while remaining self-aware, and tongue-in-cheek. It knew what it was, looked that right in the face, and said ‘don’t take it too seriously.’ And I didn’t, and it was great.
Other things I loved without getting too specific:
+bullet time rewind +Trinity's fresh eyes after nearly dying +the ballet of the helicopters +Sati +Sati's wink +the design of the Anomaleum +holding hands in the sky +army in a coffee shop +the music when the dojo gets initiated +the view from the prison cell +bathroom stall encounter of grandeur and hilarity!
I'm sure I'm missing twice as much amazing things but these are just off the top of my head.