The Animatrix
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Movie Reviews of The Animatrix
Movie Review: Anime Tricks
Summary: 5 Stars
The real trick of the Animatrix collection is how it tries to stealthily introduce an American audience to some of the stunning animation work developed from Japan's anime tradition. Or so it may have been envisioned when the project started. The award-winning "Spirited Away" may have already gone a long way towards revealing to American audiences that Japanimation does not end with Pokemon. Animatrix expounds on this, bringing more of an American storytelling element and presumably making the dazzling imagry more relevant to an American audience.To be honest, though, I found some of the stories submitted by the anime directors to be the most intriguing and engaging. Not that it all falls apart, either. Each of the 8 stories feels very distinctive, both in story and look. As such, the disc not only serves fans of "The Matrix" by exploring aspects of its world not covered in the films, but also explores the anime tradition with such wonderful variety. They short films are anything but a series (with the exception of a two-part episode) and this gives them each a freshness that is great for the viewer.
I especially enjoyed the two works by the man behind "Cowboy Bebop", Shinchiro Watanabe. "Kid's Story" is astoundingly imaginative in visual presentation. The "hand-drawn" look bleeding to distortion is not only great to look at, but propels the story forward. I kept thinking of "Waking Life" and how it played with reality as this film progressed. His other work "A Detective Story" is very reminsant of "Cowboy Bebop" without feeling derivative. Playing with color and tone really establishes the feel of the piece. The design of the characters and props, too, creates an appealing retro-future nevertime very appropriate for a story from within the Matrix. Very clever work, all around.
My favorite, though, is "Beyond." I simply cannot say enough about how stunningly artistic this film is. In many way's, its story is the most simple and is really the only one to be told from a life within the Matrix without any intrusion of "the real world". It is wildly imaginative in story and presenation, and you must see it for yourself. It is realistic and magical at the same time.
"The Second Renaissance" stories are interesting and really beg for a larger presentation. I'd have loved to see the story told with twice the time, as I think it would lend greater impact to the savage violence we see in the second part of the story. It is a fascinating mythology, and it does come across well here. The animation is a bit self-consciously inconspicuous if that makes any sense. The story is definetly what is important here, but the visual seems to be trying to hard to not be noticed, as opposed to the seemlessness of the other episodes I mentioned.
The remaining episodes, however, are all about the visual and usually to their fault, I'm afraid. It is hardly a horrible fault, but they do feel less cohesive. "Matriculated" is the best of the remaining episodes. From the creater of Aeon Flux (and believe me, you can tell), the visual is splashy and inventive and the play with color is supurb and important to the story. My only complaint is that I don't think enough story was told. Its a very intriguing concept, but a bit underdeveloped.
The same can be said for "World Record." A nice idea, but it seems a little hollow here. The visual presentation, however, makes up for it. It is very impressionistic and individualistic and impressive. I can't say the same for "Program", however, which is a shame because there is so little story here that it needed a powerful visual presentation to make the story. Instead, it just drags and is my least favorite of the bunch.
Which leaves the much talked about "Final Flight..." I'm not that impressed. Oh, sure, it is a wonderful technical achievement but as with the Final Fantasy movie, the characters don't seem alive which is a major problem when your animation is banking on its realism. Its a major step forward, and the action scenes are engaging, but this "photo-realistic" style just seems like bells and whistles to me. All style and no substance. Especially in contrast to the wonderful living characters created by Pixar. The studio would do well to employ more quality animators who have really developed an eye for the way people move and live. I've seen many, many traditional animation characters that exhibit more life. They just aren't living up to the promise of the technology. It felt like all of the effort was poured into the animation here, and it just didn't come together for me.
The extras are nice. Nothing of any enormous significance, but a solid compliment to the disk. I would certainly recommend this DVD to anyone with an interest in "The Matrix" or in anime.
Movie Review: Better than the movies!
Summary: 5 Stars
I really, really enjoyed the Animatrix. I am both a fan of anime and a fan of the Matrix and its sequel but I really think you need not be either to appreciate this package.The films obviously owe a debt to the storytelling devices and concepts that have been coming our of anime for years from Ghost in the Shell on, equally the films rely heavily on a video game inspired sensibility so it is my understanding that the directors put in equal time and energy to ancillary packages of anime as well as video games, that support and tie in with the films as well as stand alone as significant entries in their own genres.
I don't have a Playstation, so i can't vouch for the video game, but I've read some of the reviews for the Animatrix and I think people are missing the point. I don't think it's meant to be the Matrix Reloaded broken down and reformatted, nor are the stories meant to be direct support structures to the film.
The Animatrix (as we have been told) is a collection of nine shorts which are basically riffs on the premise that the Matrix puts forward. Some are more straightforward (a second renaissance parts 1 & 2, for example, supplies a dispassionate history of the machine persecution and revolt that ultimately led to the supplication of humans as the dominant life form of the planet. The art is clean and the machines are reminiscent of what you may have seen in "Metropolis". Although, ostensibly supplying background information that fills in the blanks that movie did not have time to elaborate on, to consider it just a primer for the movie sells it short. It is beautifully animated and moving, specifically scenes of machine torture, riot and images of violence that deliberately recall some of the more disturbing images of this century. Both sides of the conflict are reflected in an objective and honest (if sometimes harsh) light. Perhaps it is because of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of the second world war, but Japanese animation in particular seems to have an eerie conscience in regards to rubble strewn devastation and bombed out cities and their aftermath and this has been the sharpest contrast when you compare their films on these subjects (Grave of the Fireflies, for example, or Jin-Roh) to our own. There is a sense of conscience, grief and a tendecy not towards valor, but rather towards regret and responsibility that infuses the storytelling in this short in particular beyond just being background filler.
Other shorts take aspects not presented in the film but suggested by it and develop them. In 'Matri(x)culated' a team of humans capture machines and re-program them (with hallucinatory, almost religious imagery ) to aid in the conflcit aganst their own kind. 'Beyond' (my personal fav'rite) explores the idea of a glitch in the matrix which evidences itself as a series of localised , bizarre phenomenon which a bunch of neighborhood kids believe to be a haunted house.
You don't even need to have particularily liked the matrix or its follow up to enjoy these shorts. What you have is a collection of shorts by some of the most impressive animators currently working, commisioned with a large budget and creative freedom and the result is pretty spectacular. The animation is some of the best I've seen, "Program" picks up with the moody atmospheres that dominated "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust". "A Detective Story" uses a monochromatic style that looks partially like watercolor washes, partially like newspaper photographs, and partially like sepia toned photographs to create a visual style that compliments both the noir-ish aspects of the film as well as it's techno driven frenzy. "Matri(x)culation" has a sequence of beautiful if cypherish images that are dreamlike and hypnotic, sort of like one of those "beyond the mind's eye" videos used to illustrate a symbolic allegory. Some of the shorts are slightly more stylised ("kids story" and "World Record") and "Flight of the Osiris" is the hyper-realistic CGI work that you may have seen in "Final Fantasy". Each story is well told and slight, more like a tone poem, which suits the idea of being a collection, each one relating to the story that came before it and to the one that will follow it, supported by, but not dependent on the greater story arc.
If you have seen or appreciated any fine animated films like Spirited Away, Metropolis, Ghost in the Shell, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Jin-Roh, or of course, Akira, then there is something here for you to enjoy.
Movie Review: A Fascinating Piece of Animation Work
Summary: 5 Stars
To anyone who is familiar with Anime, or Japanimation, the Japanese influences on the makers of the Matrix should be clear. The energy and style of the action scenes in this sci-fi modern classic are borrowed directly from the classic Anime features of the 80s and 90s like Ghost In The Shell, Akira and Ninja Scroll. What we see in Animatrix is a fascinating project: The best directors and animators in Japanime were approached by the Wachowski Bros. to create short animated stories taking place in the reality of the Matrix saga. The result: nine short films by seven different directors. Each of the creators took the ideas that make the Matrix to entirely different ends, and each film uses different styles and techniques of animation and storytelling. Not one of them is traditional Japanese animation, and though each one borrows from its old and respectable roots, each one is surprising and unique in a very different way. That makes this compilation of the nine films a very rewarding watching experience, if you're interested in either the Matrix or animation in general, or both.The first segment, The Final Flight Of The Osiris, is a direct prequel to Matrix Reloaded, though it features none of the lead characrers from the movies. It's my least favorite movie in the series, but makes for a good start to the collection. The animation here is entirely computerized 3D graphics, and as technology goes it's the most impressive film in the series.
The two part movie The Second Renaissance (directed by Mahiro Maeda) looks more like traditional anime. It's essential for eager Matrix fans, because it chronicles the Second Renaissance and man's war against the machines - events that were only referred to in the movie Matrix. It's a fascinating watch, more for the story than for the animation.
Kid's Story (directed by the brilliant Shinichirô Watanabe of Cowboy Bebop fame) is the first movie here that really caught my attention. A rather small story about one of the many people who realized the truth about the Matrix and were freed to reality (with Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss doing small cameos), the animation on Kid's Story is as far as you can get from any kind of traditional animation, Japanese or otherwise. It's energetic, powerful, and hypnotically beautiful.
The World Records was created by Takeshi Koike (director) and Yoshiaki Kawajiri (writer), the immensely talented team that worked together on the cult classic Ninja Scroll. Koike's very unique art style comes on strongly on this segment, with his deformed characters, exaggerated motion and expression and very strong shadowing, and the characters' motion is strong and beautiful.
The Program, directed by Kawajiri himself, is relatively closer to classic anime, but it's well written and has good energy. Not one of my favorites, though.
A Detective Story was both written and directed by Shinichirô Watanabe. Unlike his other work, Kid's Story, a Detective Story greatly resembles his work on Cowboy Bebop. It blends the atmosphere and clichés of classic film noir into the Matrix reality, and has great writing and animation. The art is in black on white, with a great gritty texture that gives it a real film noir feel.
Beyond is a rather small story about children in Japan who find a `haunted house', where objects appear and disappear, and people can float in the air and defy the rules of nature - actually, of course it's just a glitch in the Matrix and the Agents are soon sent to remedy the situation. The long scene of the children playing in the haunted house is beautiful and imaginative, and wonderfully animated.
Matriculated, the final segment, is a very difficult and disturbing one, and I didn't really care for the choice of putting it last in the series. Psychedelic and very philosophical, Matriculated is shown mainly from a machine's point of view.
The bonus features on the DVD are also fantastic: they include fascinating documentaries on all each film, and also on the project in general and on the history and tradition of Japanese animation. For animation enthusiasts, this DVD is a must.
Movie Review: Explains a bit more than the Matrix films
Summary: 5 Stars
The Animatrix is most succinctly described as being seven parts sublime and two parts above average. More often than not, the various shorts of this feature rise to the occasion in splendid fashion, with only a few tarnished spots that very slightly dampen the overall shine of this production.
To begin with, the animation in The Animatrix is brilliant. To those looking for eye-candy please look no further. Nearly every short features some of the most astounding visuals that have ever been seen by any fan of the animated medium. What's more is that there also exists an astounding degree of stylistic variety from feature to feature. The moving artwork here exists as sort of an animated smorgasbord, from which even the most discerning otaku will find something to his/her delight. The action from both "Beyond" and "Final Flight of the Osiris" would please the most hardened action fan, and the formalistic elements used in the animation of "World Record" are inspired. I for one will certainly carry some of the haunting imagery of The Second Renaissance within my psyche for a good time to come. The only exception to the mostly excellent visuals, in my humble view, was the animation in "Kid's Story", which just felt a bit sloppy when matched against its stately brethren. However, overall I cannot say enough great things about the general animation quality of The Animatrix.
One might be inclined to think that, since the average running time for each of these short films is only a mere 9 minutes or so, that character and plot development would naturally suffer. Often enough one would probably be correct, but certainly not in this case. In reality the most powerful surprise of The Animatrix is just how much it manages to cram into so little a package. The scope of each piece is usually limited enough (unlike its mother feature, namely the theatrical Matrix film) that a full and satisfying story can be found in an impossibly short span of time. In addition, since the continuity in which these films play has already been established, they are mostly free to explore the niche-like peculiarities of the matrix universe. In fact, the only two shorts that were lackluster in plot development were "Program" and "Matriculated". The plot of the former served mostly as an excuse for an admittedly entertaining adrenaline-laden fight scene, while "Matriculated", though conceptually interesting, was poorly executed. It left me wondering whether or not the feature really had any meaning at all or if I happened to eat some bad mushrooms prior to my viewing. Despite these missteps, though, the plot movement was unexpectedly strong.
The characters of each short are also by-and-far ingeniously planned. Every action taken and every word spoken lends itself to the understanding of the motivations of the players within each story arc. The characters of each minor anime flick are additionally quite easy to sympathize with, despite the brevity of their screen time. Indeed, I was very intrigued by the purpose and demeanor of the leads in "World Record" and "A Detective Story", as well as being touched by the final tenderness between lovers in the "Final Flight of the Osiris". Again, considering the length of the various individual features, the characterization cannot usually be described as anything but exemplary.
Very few viewers would not be impressed by The Animatrix. It seamlessly blends an assortment of unique and dynamic perspectives into an anthology that is so close to flawless that I was left in near-awe. Virtually every component of this viewing experience lends itself considerably to building an atmosphere of electrifying excitement and profound intrigue. It belongs in an elite category of animated features that deserves to be viewed by all willing anime fans. Aside from very minor mishaps, The Animatrix is plainly worthy, 'nuff said.
If you really don't like sci-fi or the Matrix films I would drop a star from what I have rated. But really I think if you hated the film due to confusement; this will explain a bit more.
Movie Review: A lot better than it's live action counterpart
Summary: 5 Stars
-The shorts start with "Final Flight of the Osiris" which lets us know where the scans that we hear about from "Reloaded" came from. After it's over we move into what I think should have been in the movie which is the "The Second Renaissance". It lets us know the whole history of how the war between man and machine began, who struck first, and why the machines are so hostile to us. I would have loved to see a live action version of that for the movie but the version we see hear is also very nice. The other stories "Kid's Story", "Beyond", "A Detective's Story", "Matriculated", "Program", and "World Record" tell different stories that range from a kid that commits suicide only to wake up in the real world to a wheel chaired bound athlete that almost breaks out of the Matrix due to his will to push himself. Out of the nine stories I'd say I loved about 8 of them, the only one I can't stand and never watch is the weird one with the program that is trapped inside the matrix or something like that. It's just one big mess of a story and never really holds any interest.
-If I had to pick 3 stories out of the 9 to live on an Island with I'd go with "A Detective's Story", "Beyond", and "The Second Renaissance Part 2". All three have their own unique visual style and all have no connection to each other that I know of. I love "A Detective's Story" because it lets you know how desperate the machines are to capture Trinity and also lets you see Trinity in a completely different light. The Detective in the story is a very likable man who doesn't realize that he's being used by the machines till it's too late. It's a very nice story with a sad ending and one of the best in my opinion, "The Second Renaissance Part 2" is great because that's when you really get to see why the sky in the real world so messed up and also get the answer to the question that Morpheus asked in the first movie which is whether it was us or the machines that struck first. It's told in this mystical way computer way that feels like you're watching a documented history than a fiction animated story and it also helps explain some lines from the 3rd Matrix from the architect especially the line "What do you think I am, human?"
-My favorite story is "Beyond" which a very, very simple story of a girl looking for her cat that discovers a building that no gravity which some kids take full advantage of. I just love how mystical and dreamlike it is, the weird Hisashi like music also helps in creating that mystical aura. The trick to Neo's power is not that he's super human but that he can manipulate the codes in the Matrix and make it into anything he wants. If he wants to fly then he'll remove the codes for gravity and start flying or if he wants to stop bullets he'll just remove the codes that propel it and they stop. That concept is further explored in this story. It's a really great piece of writing because there's not a whole lot that goes on there but just rather you watch kids have fun in the with broken codes for gravity.
-One thing this does a lot better than the movies ever did was to show you the size and scope of the Matrix itself. In the movie you're confined to one city and that's it but in this we pretty much go all around to see what a vast and detailed program that the Matrix is. A couple of the stories should have definitely being in the movie too. "Second Renaissance" and "Flight of the Osiris" should have being in the movie instead of us watching Neo get into one long pointless fight scene after the other. I can understand why because of length they might have cut it but they could have at least given us a truncated version of it.
-I know "The Matrix" movies are suppose to be over but where the movies end that's where stuff like this can go on so I'm hoping that we get more short stories that are as engaging as the ones featured in this pack.