Excited for ‘Matrix Resurrections’? Watch the original

Above : Keanu Reeves stars in “The Matrix,” the first film in the franchise which premiered in 1999. (Photo/Warner Bros.)

There have been so many good sequels made that it’s hard to list all of them. I mean, there’s “The Godfather: Part II” and …

Well, that pretty much nails it. Fact is, most sequels are nowhere near as good as the original. And most are far worse.

When “The Matrix” premiered on March 24, 1999, it was a sensation. The story, which has Keanu Reeves choosing to wake up and discover that the life he was living was actually a simulation, hit on so many cultural and psychological levels that movie fans just couldn’t get enough of it.

That Reeves and his co-stars – including Laurence Fishburnem Carrie-Ann Moss, Joe Pantoliano and the great Hugo Weaving – were engaged in a film featuring a lot of thrilling action, augmented by then-state-of-the-art CGI, certainly helped.

But … and there’s always a but … the two sequels, “The Matrix Reloaded” and “The Matrix Revolutions” – both released in 2003 – were less enthralling.

As the saying goes, sometimes less is more. And adding to the original storyline proved to be – OK, I’ll admit it, for some of us – a mistake.

And now we have the forthcoming “The Matrix Resurrections,” which was directed by Lana Wachowski (sister Lilly was not involved). Scheduled to open on Dec. 22, the film has been preceded for weeks by intriguing trailers. We’ll see how that one goes.

Meanwhile, various area theaters are screening the original “The Matrix” over the coming week as a warm-up. If you’re at all interested in seeing the new film, and don’t want to watch the original on your television (or computer screen, iPad or – seriously? – smartphone), you might want to catch one of these screenings.

You’ll be able to experience that first thrill all over again, in just the way the Wachowski siblings planned.

As for the fourth film in the franchise, let’s hope for the best.