Cyberpunk Review: Bubbles in Space #1 — Tropical Punch
Tropical Punch is a cyberpunk tech-noir murder mystery written by Sarah C. Jensen, featuring “Bubbles Marlowe”, an irreverent private eye with a robotic arm and who loves chewing bubble gum, which apparently is an important detail since every book in the Bubbles in Space series (Chew ’em Up, Pop ’em One, and Spit ’em Out) seems to reference chewing gum. Or perhaps it’s a cheeky play on words with the author and her readers, setting the tone for the books themselves. If so, it’s brilliant and hilarious, much like the majority of this book.
A Fun Cyberpunk Setting and Sidekick
Bubbles is an ex-cop private detective who is given a seemingly easy job: to deliver a message to a girl in HoloCity. Once she finds her, though, everything seems to go wrong, and she quickly finds herself inextricably caught up in a confusing murder mystery to solve which leads her right on board an inter-galactic cruise liner. By her side is her trusty android pig, Hammett, a cute wise-cracking robot with the ability to hack into systems and who serves as a reliable sidekick to Bubbles.
A Fast-Paced Page-Turner
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Tropical Punch and, much to my surprise, it was a page-turner that I finished in record time. I simply couldn’t put it down. Starting in the rain-soaked neon streets of HoloCity before going to the rich people’s space cruise, I loved the themes of income inequality, corrupt cops, cybernetics, religious zealots, and advanced tech in a noir-detective style.
Meme credit: S.C. Jensen
A Female SF Lead written by a Female SF Author
Another thing I definitely enjoyed was reading a novel with a female protagonist written by a female science fiction writer, for once. So much of the Cyberpunk novels I’ve read, from Snowcrash to Neuromancer, from Total Recall to Altered Carbon, have all been written by men with male protagonists. The Cyberpunk that I know and love, however, is more diverse than that. So we need writers like Sarah Jensen to continue lending her voice and her characters in order to fill the cyberpunk canvas with more complex, interesting characters. Bubbles is a recovering alcoholic, for example, which was inspired from Jensen’s own personal struggles with alcohol addiction.
Meme Credit: S.C. Jensen
Final Verdict: 9/10
What stopped this book from getting a full 10/10 mark was the fact that once I finished it, I didn’t feel like I had a deep awakening or a new insight on life or anything. It’s not the kind of book that really sticks with you. Rather, it a fun, light-hearted, fast read that hits all the right Cyberpunk marks. It actually felt rather reminiscent of the Harry Dresden Files books. If you like Harry Dresden but wished he were more Cyberpunk, then look no further than Bubbles Marlowe. And even if you don’t, I highly recommend this enjoyable read for the funny one-liners, great cyberpunk elements, top-notch writing, and the refreshing female perspective. I for one can’t wait to read the rest of this series! Book 5 should be out by the end of the year 2021. Books 1-4 are available now on Amazon via paperback, kindle, and kindle unlimited.
The Matrix Resurrections finally released its official trailer this month, and I’ve finally found some time between moving and getting stable internet back to sit down and unpack everything it revealed. So buckle your seatbelts, folks, because there’s a lot of exciting things that we’ve learned about Matrix 4.
The opening shot
The trailer begins with an opening shot of the top of a hill in downtown San Francisco, with a lot more vibrant hues and colors than we’re used to, considering the green tint to everything we saw in the previous Matrix trilogy. While this may seem confusing to some, it’s important to remember that at the end of The Matrix Revolutions, we see a young Sati next to the Oracle overlooking a brightly-colored sunrise, which apparently Sati created. The hues and color tone of that final scene in the matrix matches this color scheme, so it’s not exactly without precedent, despite it being definitely something new.
In the therapist’s home
We then pop into the office of a psychologist, played by Neil Patrick Harris, who is asking Neo (Thomas) about himself. We immediately see a black cat like the black cat Neo saw in The Matrix that was a deja vu, which was a glitch in the matrix and an indication that something was changed in the code of the matrix. This cat is walking across a desk with a porcelain bust of a head with different markings of the brain, and behind it are two butterflies (symbols of rebirth) in both red and blue, mirroring the red and blue pills from The Matrix as well.
The Therapist is wearing blue glasses and a blue vest, and we see yet another blue butterfly behind him.
Thomas Anderson tells the psychologist that he’s having “dreams that aren’t just dreams” and asks if he’s crazy. So clearly Neo has no memory of what he was in his past life, or who he was before he was reborn. We then see him meet Trinity, and with a handshake they seem to recognize each other, despite Trinity not recognizing him either, clearly a sign that she lost her memory as well.
Memory: A Theme for Matrix Resurrections
Earlier this year, Lana sold a prop piece from the movie set for charity, a plaque for a hovercraft with the name “Mnemosyne”, which was the greek god for memory. So clearly memory and memory loss will be a major theme in this film. This also matches similar themes of lives connected across time and generations that we saw in Sense8 and Cloud Atlas (which was directed by the Wachoskis and written by David Mitchell, the writer for the book the movie was based off of, and Tom Tykwer, who composed the musical score for Matrix Resurrections).
Blue Pills
In the next scene, we see Neo taking prescribed blue pills (which in Matrix Symbolism, a red pill was the pill to leave the matrix and wake up in the real world, whereas the blue pill was to forget and stay asleep in the matrix, symbolism present in the original Matrix film). The label on the pill bottle is Ontolofloxin, a made up drug whose name suggests an antibiotic for Ontology, or the study of existence.
Screen Zombies
We then see Neo in an elevator looking at a variety of people all staring at their screens like zombies, a subtle reflection of our current media-obsessed society.
The Oracle and Alice in Wonderland
Next we see Neo throw out his blue pills and go see who looks like a new Oracle, quite possibly a grown-up Sati played by Priyanka Chopra wearing red glasses (possibly a subtle parallel to the psychologist’s blue glasses) as she puts down the novel Alice in Wonderland. The symbolism of Alice in Wonderland was also present in the original Matrix film, with a mirror leading to a new world and references to the novel from Morpheus and Cypher. In this trailer, the song “White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane plays throughout, with the words “go ask Alice” when Neo meets the Oracle in the trailer.
We next see Neo standing in front of a one such a mirror, and for a split second we see a balding Neo with a face that looks eerily similar to Agent Smith from the original trilogy. We know that Hugo Weaving will not be in the film, since he confirmed he was not able to join the cast due to a scheduling conflict, but there may be references to his character using digital animation similar to what we’ve seen with recent Star Wars movies bringing back actors digitally.
A New, Younger Morpheus
We then see Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s character looking like a young Morpheus, including bare head and round small sunglasses, offering Neo a blue and red pill once again. I personally think Yahya could do a great job as a new, younger Morpheus, but like everyone else I don’t know yet why Morpheus is young while Trinity and Neo are old(er). That must have been a very intentional decision not to invite Laurence Fishburne back, since he was such a central character in the original trilogy and he probably would have said yes if he had been asked. It’s probably due to the script instead of any bad relationships between the two, so far as I know the Wachowskis had worked very well with Fishburne during the filming of the original trilogy.
Follow the White Rabbit
Next we see Jessica Henwick’s character, with a rabbit tattoo on her shoulder similar to the girl who also had a rabbit tattoo that led Neo to meet Trinity, following the orders on his computer to “Follow the White Rabbit.” What I found interesting from Henwick’s character is that she feels similar to a new kind of “Trinity” character, but with a British accent, which makes me wonder why Lana wanted Henwick’s character to at least sound British. She then leads Neo through a door of white light, similar to the white light doors we saw from Matrix Reloaded, and the two emerge from yet another liquid mirror.
Trinity Crying Code?
A few scenes later we see Neo holding Trinity’s hand, and we suddenly see green code start streaming down the side of her face, which I am very curious to see what it was. Perhaps it’s an indication that Trinity, like Neo perhaps, only exist in the Matrix at that point in time, and don’t have physical bodies yet.
After this we see Neo and a young Morpheus fighting in a dojo, just like we saw Neo learning Kung Fu fighting Morpheus in the original Matrix film.
Next we finally see some scenes of the real world, with the red pods of humans still plugged into the matrix, and a hovercraft floating through the ruins of a church.
Matrix 1 Projection in Matrix 4??!!
Then we see something particularly meta. We see a stage with a mirror, and a surveillance booth with military soldiers, but on the wall is projected Neo entering the Matrix from the first film! So a scene from Matrix 1 will be in Matrix 4. What could this possibly mean??
And So Much More
We also see more kung fu, a train fight scene, gun shootouts, corporate offices exploding in a building that may be called Deus Ex Machina, and Neo with a shaved head and a more modern neck plug connected into the Matrix, Trinity doing a special powered shout, gravity flipping (which we saw the Merovingian’s henchmen doing in Matrix Revolutions), wall running, agents entering human bodies in the matrix and dodging bullets, Henwick and someone else breaking through glass and falling toward the street (which Trinity did also in Matrix Reloaded, yet another parallel between Trinity and Henwick), Neo fighting someone in a train station (he fought Smith in what looks like the same underground train station in Matrix 1), Neo stopping bullets like he did in Matrix Reloaded at the Chateau, and finally…Neo and Trinity holding hands jumping off a skyscraper into the air, much like we saw in March of last year when they were filming in Alameda and San Francisco. This could very well be Keanu and Carrie-Anne actually doing their own stunts here between these 2 skyscrapers in San Francisco!
Also in the end scene with the credits we see some yellow code, which we saw in Matrix Revolutions as the way Neo sees the matrix, instead of the usual green code.
Want to Join the Conversation?
So those are all the major things I found! There was so much exciting content in this trailer that could all be unpacked and discussed and analyzed, but which unfortunately there isn’t enough time or space here on this blog post. If you’d like to add any additional comments on things you saw for this trailer, feel free to add them in the comments below. You can also check out the active Matrix subreddit for more discussions, or the Cyberpunk Matrix YouTube channel and comment on my reaction to this trailer in the comments there.
The Matrix 4: Resurrections Official Teaser Trailer
Breaking news for Matrix fans: Not only has Matrix 4 been confirmed to be titled The Matrix: Resurrections, but Warner Brothers have also suddenly released an interactive teaser trailer that can be found online at whatisthematrix.com, which will redirect to thechoiceisyours.whatisthematrix.com.
Also confirmed is that the official trailer will be released on September 9th, 2021 at 3pm CEST.
Whatisthematrix.com returns
Upon going to both web pages, the viewer is greeted with the same problem of choice that Thomas Anderson was given by Morpheus in The Matrix. CHOOSE YOUR REALITY proclaims the tab title, with only one phrase upon a white background: THE CHOICE IS YOURS presented with a red pill and a blue pill, once again.
“You take the blue pill, you wake up and believe, whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, and I show you how far the rabbit hole goes.”–Morpheus.
If you click the red pill, you will be shown a teaser trailer that corresponds to the exact time that you chose to take the red pill along with a voiceover by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. If you click the blue pill, you will be shown a slightly different, yet similar, teaser trailer that also corresponds to the exact time you chose to take the blue pill along with a voiceover by Neil Patrick Harris.
Amongst green and yellow code cascading both up and down the screen this time, the teaser trailer shows a variety of different scenes from the upcoming Matrix Resurrections film that promises not to disappoint, but that also have many similar themes to the original trilogy.
Twitter user @matrixresource noticed the many similarities already in a tweet:
We also finally had a chance to see what the color scheme and cinematography would look like, and many people are very excited with what they saw, myself included.
The scenes revealed showed us Jessica Henwick sporting blue hair firing a gun, Jonathan Groff losing the ability to speak, a new hovercraft that is surely the Mnemosyne (whose name was revealed when Lana Wachowski was donating the ship’s plaque prop earlier this year), Yahya Abdul-Mateen II looking at himself in a mirror, and many more. We also had a chance to see a variety of scenes with Neo: on a motorcycle seemingly controlling his surroundings with his hand, speaking with Trinity, and walking off the rooftop of a skyscraper.
BREAKING: A first look teaser for THE MATRIX 4: RESURRECTIONS has been released, with the full trailer dropping this Thursday. The highly anticipated film will arrive in theaters & on HBO Max on December 22nd. Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/McD8kczna8
There was actually another Cyberpunk Matrix content creator, yours truly, who could hardly contain his excitement. Enough so that he made a reaction video that you can now see on the Cyberpunk Matrix YouTube channel.
Although I am a little concerned about the use of too much CGI, which is all too easy to see nowadays, I am generally super excited and hopeful for The Matrix: Resurrections. The story seems very intriguing, the costumes and characters look great, but we will have to wait until Thursday’s actual trailer to get more information and a better impression. It will be great to see the old cast, and to see how the new cast do as well. As for the trailer delivery, I did truly love its interactive nature, it was very unique and refreshing–I certainly don’t know of any other film that has kept its production under wraps so well and then revealed a teaser trailer so mysteriously, with such a (to me) complex code.
The Matrix Campaign for Matrix Resurrections is Here
Finally, the marketing campaign for The Matrix Resurrections has arrived. One user saw ads for the actual trailer coming in 2 days, and I can only imagine what additional marketing materials we will see coming our way in the next few months.
For more detailed thoughts and analysis, make sure to check out the live reaction video on the NeoMatrixology YouTube channel, as they did an excellent hour-long breakdown of their thoughts and impressions.
But what did you think? Did you like this new website, and the teaser trailer? Are you excited for the actual trailer to drop tomorrow? Will you be watching? Let me know in the comments below.
Welcome to the Third Episode of the Cyberpunk Matrix Podcast
In the Cyberpunk Matrix Podcast Episode 3, I am joined by Cyberpunk writer and novelist Matthew Goodwin, creator of a 5-book Cyberpunk Saga starting with his first book, Into Neon.
In today’s podcast we discuss:
How Matthew defines Cyberpunk and how he got into the genre
What his favorite Cyberpunk Media are
How to recognize Cyberpunk tropes and stereotypes
What litRPG is and how it’s appearing in Cyberpunk media
Different kinds of Cyberpunk as they are appearing, in particular with his writing compared to other Cyberpunk media
How NaNoWriMo inspired both of us
The future of the Cyberpunk genre
The Cyberpunk community
How the Amazon series Upload fits in the Cyberpunk genre
The Matrix, and Matrix 4
Cyberpunk Day
And a lot more.
For more from Matthew Goodwin, all of his books are now available on Amazon. Hope you enjoy! Feel free to write your responses in the comments below, and if you’d like to be a guest or want some questions answered on the podcast, send us an email to thecyberpunkmatrix@gmail.com
Love, Death, & Robots is a series of animated shorts, an anthology all loosely related to love, death, and robots. Which means that many of which are also cyberpunk related. Volume I released in 2019, and we here at Cyberpunk Matrix covered the cyberpunk-related episodes here. Well, it took a couple years, but I’m happy to report that Volume II is finally here. So fasten you seatbelts, punks, because we’re about to dive into a new wild series of surreal, curious, cyberpunk worlds.
4 Cyberpunk Episodes, 8 Episodes Total
The first thing one notices about Volume II is how short it is compared to Volume I. While Volume I was a generous 18 episodes in length, Volume II contains only 8 episodes. Volume II’s longest episode clocks in at 18 minutes in length, although a considerable part of all episodes contain credits and thus shorten the actual run time, and the shortest runs at 7 minutes in length.
It’s hard to tell with these episodes which ones would truly be considered cyberpunk and which ones wouldn’t, since they are all so short, but since here at Cyberpunk Matrix we’re used to considered if something is Cyberpunk, I’m fairly confident with the episodes we selected. So here it is, folks, all the episodes related to Cyberpunk from Volume II of Love, Death, and Robots, complete with my own thoughts and review of each episode. Ironically, these four episodes are also the four that are first in the 8-episode anthology series
Cyberpunk episodes from Vol. 2:
Automated Customer Service
Ice
Pop Squad
Snow in the Desert
Cyberpunk Episode 1: Automated Customer Service
This episode reminded me a lot of the episode called blackhead from Black Mirror: a small, automated robot which threatens a nearby human with its cold, relentless hunt of the human it’s searching for. Unlike Blackhead, however, this episode is delivered with a side of dark humor, a parody of automated customer service answering machines that is as much critical and social commentary as it is ridiculous. It features a future society in an elderly community where all electrical devices have been made automated, so as to give the elderly people who live there as assisted an experience as possible. All seems well and good, a prime utopian experience, until of course one of the automated robots malfunctions and starts threatening every living being inside the home it’s supposed to be cleaning.
I personally didn’t care for the animation itself, with its sharp angles it felt much too similar to a badly rendered videogame. Nonetheless, it ended up being very funny in the end, and as always I’m a sucker for a film, whether it be short or otherwise, that takes something that exists in present day and shows the negative sides of it by speculating what would happen if we took that same system to the extreme.
Basically, if you like dystopian futures with robots, and you like dark humor, then you’ll love this episode.
Cyberpunk Episode 2: Ice
Ice is a coming of age story about a teenager who is struggling to fit in with the other kids at school. A classic tale, of course, except the twist for this one is that the town they live in seems to be in the middle of a frozen tundra, with only oil wells of some sort and the residences of the workers who maintain them. Oh and the majority of the kids in town are genetically augmented, which makes the only un-augmented younger brother feel out of place and thus compelled to prove himself that much more.
At first I wasn’t going to classify this entry as a cyberpunk short, until I considered the genetic augmentations, the drugs, the punk-like artwork, and the rebellious nature of the teens sneaking out of their homes to take part in dangerous games to demonstrate their fearlessness and ability.
If you like stylistic artwork, high contrast, and a coming of age story with a dramatic thrilling end, then you’ll like Ice.
Cyberpunk Episode 3: Pop Squad
Pop Squad was my personal favorite of all eight episodes. Closely resembling a film-noir style set in the future (which is just like what Blade Runner did to pioneer the cyberpunk style), Pop Squad features a government operative, a detective of sorts whose mission is to find and process unregistered, or illegal children. Illegal children in this world doesn’t mean immigrants, however. Rather, it’s a type of population control police force to ensure that humanity isn’t having too many children, or any children at all for that matter, which seems to be a luxury reserved for the rich and powerful. This society also seems to have solved the problem of ageing, allowing many of its citizens to live hundreds of years. So what happens when one such population-control detective develops a conscience? Well, you get pop squad. The voice acting, visuals, and acting are all incredible. The episode also asks the question of what makes life worth living, where we as a society place our values, and why seeing the world through a child’s eyes is important.
Cyberpunk Episode 4: Snow in the Desert
Perhaps the most fun, interesting, and well-animated episode of all (it seems to be a favorite for many), Snow in the Desert is about an albino bounty hunter with an unusual physiological special ability that everyone wants to kill him for. Set on what looks like a desert planet similar to Tatooine from Star Wars, it features some calm moments and some exciting moments, with a surprise ending that really drives home the Cyberpunk elements. The animation for this episode was incredible–it really felt like live action even though it was digitally animated. I was also left wanting more, and Snow himself reminded me a lot of an old, grizzly Han Solo.
If you like desert planets, high-quality digital animation, action/mystery and great visuals, then you’ll like Snow in the Desert.
Final Verdict: 8.5/10
For the quality of the visuals, the great voice acting, the action and compelling stories delivered in these short segments, I give Volume 2 a high rating of 8.5. I only wish we got more episodes, 8 is a woefully low number considering how short each episode is, but otherwise I felt the quality of all the episodes were really good. If I had to pick I would say Volume 1 was better, simply because there was more there so they had some better episodes and some worse episodes overall.
But what were your thoughts? Which episodes were your favorite? Make sure to let us know in the comments below.
