Behind-the-scenes details reveal The Matrix Resurrections used a harrowing practical stunt for its skyscraper jump scene, a decision made more significant due to The Matrix's long-running themes. The discourse regarding The Matrix Resurrections still continues to be divisive, but the return of Neo and Trinity had its spectacular moments. One of those moments, and arguably the highlight of the whole movie, was the pivotal scene where Neo and Trinity took a running leap off the top of a skyscraper set against a golden San Francisco backdrop.
According to a behind-the-scenes feature from Warner Bros., that scene was actually a practical stunt featuring Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, a 43-story building, and a whole lot of wires. Moss called the stunt “probably one of the most courageous acts that I will have ever done.” Knowing that The Matrix Resurrections filmed the skyscraper jump scene practically is already an interesting tidbit, but it means more coming from a franchise rooted in questions about reality, perception, and technology. The fact that the movie eschewed the use of "fake" technology to ground the stunt in the real world adds an extra dimension to the scene. In a franchise as layered as The Matrix, every overlap between the real and computerized worlds carries extra significance.
The Matrix 4's Skyscraper Scene Was A Practical Stunt, Not CGI
The Matrix Resurrections scene where it's revealed Trinity can fly was something director Lana Wachowski wanted “to feel completely real.” According to Keanu Reeves, that’s exactly what happened thanks to "a rig that was at the top of this one office building and then went to a kinda slightly lower office building." Scott Rogers, one of The Matrix Resurrections’ stunt coordinators, noted the wire-heavy stunt took about a month of training as Keanu and Carrie-Anne Moss practiced their jump, fall, and body positioning from gradually higher altitudes before culminating in the final scene set over 500 feet in the air.
The Matrix's Running Themes Make The Skyscraper Scene More Significant
Using a practical stunt for a terrifying scene like a building jump is already noteworthy. However, it means more coming from a franchise that has always leveraged radical ideas like The Matrix. The long-running sci-fi series has a storied history of revolutionary special effects that go hand-in-hand with philosophical musings ranging from free will to technology to reality itself. It's significant that a pivotal scene in a Matrix movie forgoes special effects and goes the practical route; that The Matrix Resurrections is a subversion of its own franchise is just another added layer to the symbolism.
Neo and Trinity’s reunion in The Matrix Resurrections wasn’t perfect, but it had its share of emotional, memorable moments. The skyscraper jump in particular was, in the words of Lana Wachowski, “pure cinema magic.” The question of what is real and what is an illusion has been asked by The Matrix franchise since 1999, but in the case of The Matrix Resurrections’ skyscraper jump, the answer adds an extra dimension to the movie as a whole.