The Wachowski's The Matrix franchise sees Neo and Agent Smith clash several times, establishing one of sci-fi's most enduring conflicts. Stretching back to The Matrix's release in 1999, Neo (Keanu Reeves) and Agent Smith have maintained a symbiotic relationship, with the pair's fates intrinsically linked to both the Matrix and the real world. Agent Smith's desire to be free of the Matrix's code puts him in direct opposition to Neo, particularly from The Matrix Reloaded onwards, with the pair's battles ranking as some of the most iconic Matrix franchise scenes to date.
Initially an Agent of the Matrix designed to hunt "Redpills" within the system, Hugo Weaving's Agent Smith iteration undergoes several changes in the original Matrix trilogy. After being temporarily deleted by Neo at the end of The Matrix, Smith becomes an exile program able to assimilate others, forcing an inevitable clash with Neo, who eventually decides to broker a peace between man and machine in The Matrix Revolutions finale. Some 60 years later in The Matrix canon, Jonathan Groff's version of Agent Smith exists outside of the Matrix's bounds until Neo's reawakening puts the two on a collision course once again, with Neo and his allies attempt to extract Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) in The Matrix Resurrections.
Naturally, then, Neo and Smith's long and interwoven history has resulted in some titanic clashes that often decide the fate of various Matrix versions. From their first clash in the Megacity subway station to their latest meeting in The Matrix Resurrections, the pair often represents the quintessential example of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. Here's every time Neo and Agent Smith fought in The Matrix movie franchise, which one was the best and why.
The Matrix Room 303 Hallway Fight
The penultimate scene of The Matrix sees Neo reborn as The One after being shot and killed by Agent Smith. As Trinity whispers in a flatlining Neo's ear aboard the Nebuchadnezzar, his body in the Matrix reawakens with renewed powers, confirming his status as the prophecized savior of the city of Zion. While Smith and Neo's bout in the Hallway is by far the shortest fight in their respective Matrix narratives, it remains one of their most memorable, with Neo deflecting Smith's attacks with consummate ease. The Room 303 Hallway clash affirms Neo's newfound potency, with the elation of his revival contributing to a wholly satisfying scene that concludes the first Matrix movie's spellbinding narrative.
The Matrix Reloaded's Burly Brawl
The first Burly Brawl is one of The Matrix franchise's most iconic scenes, in which numerous Smith clones attack Neo in the playground after he meets with The Oracle (Gloria Foster). Neo fends off waves of attacks before eventually becoming overwhelmed, fleeing the scene using his powers of flight. The original Burly Brawl is high-quality entertainment from The Matrix sequel that announces the raised stakes of The Matrix Reloaded and acts as a signal of The Wachowski sisters' intent to up the action ante from the first film.
The Matrix Revolutions' Super Burly Brawl
Neo and Smith's clashes in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions were retroactively named "Burly Brawls" by The Matrix fandom, with the Super Burly Brawl the second of these fights. Super Burly Brawl arrives in The Matrix Revolutions' penultimate scene as Neo attempts to purge the near-omnipotent Agent Smith to stop him from controlling Matrix. The clash itself is titanic, with Neo eventually being beaten into submission by Hugo Weaving's Smith before realizing that he must allow the Agent to assimilate him to end the Smith program. Super Burly Brawl certainly has the highest of stakes of any Smith vs. Neo confrontation, but it falls short of three other fights due to its over-reliance on CG. It must be noted that this is partially due to the fact Neo and Smith are at the height of their powers in the Matrix at this time, but it nevertheless detracts from the action as the pair become a blur of motion across Megacity.
The Matrix Resurrections' Building Site Brawl
Midway through The Matrix Resurrections, Neo and his allies from Io return to the Matrix and attempt to locate Trinity within the simulation. However, before they can begin their mission, Smith and an older Merovingian (Lambert Wilson) ambush them at a building site, forcing a ferocious battle. During the fighting, Neo is separated from his allies by Smith, who knocks him down to the site's basement level before pummelling him with his trademark rib-punches. Despite Smith gaining the upper hand, the beating he hands out to Neo reawakens his powers as The One, with Neo eventually unleashing a blast from his hand that throws Smith off-screen, ending their brawl.
While The Matrix Resurrections' building site brawl is a fantastically choreographed scene, it lacks the grittiness of Smith and Neo's other fights. There is less emphasis on martial arts technique in this brawl, with Agent Smith's attacks on Neo appearing rage-driven and with less cohesion that Matrix audiences have grown accustomed to. Furthermore, Neo ending the fight with his new blast technique feels a cheap way to end a battle 60 years in the making, meaning there are far more engrossing Smith vs. Neo fights than this one.
And The Best? The Matrix's Subway Face-Off
By far the best fight of Neo and Smith's long-standing rivalry is their first inside the Megacity subway, with this bout steeped in tension and foreboding as Neo chooses not to exit the Matrix via the phonebooth. The ensuing clash represents The Matrix's bone-crunching choreography at its finest, with Neo coughing up blood a chilling example of Smith's unbridled power in the first Matrix movie. Put simply; this scene hits hard and fast due to Yuen Woo-ping's martial arts direction, which sees both Neo and Smith employ all manner of styles to try and best one another. The subway face-off also contains a chilling reminder of the adversary facing Neo and his allies in the first movie, with Smith re-emerging from the looping subway train moments after Neo throws him under it. Neo and Agent Smith's first fight is one the franchise has been trying to emulate unsuccessfully since, cementing it as the pair's best clash in The Matrix movies to date.