Spoilers for “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” follow.There was a brief trend in blockbuster filmmaking in the mid-’00s that produced some of the most overblown sequels ever.
“The Matrix” and the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies were initially big and unexpected hits, each of them rattling the zeitgeist in their own way.
Rather than merely make traditional sequels, however, both “The Matrix” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” offered audiences gigantic two-part mega-sequels, released as two separate features. The Wachowskis’ “The Matrix Reloaded” was released in mid-May of 2003, with a sequel, “The Matrix Revolutions,” due the following November.
The two films locked together in a massive, sprawling action spectacular that would expand “The Matrix” to apocalyptic territory.
“The Matrix” was already a fascinating and heady sci-fi epic that flirted with revolutionary action filmmaking, ideas of gender euphoria and identity,