The Animatrix
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Movie Reviews of The Animatrix
Movie Review: A great addition to the Matrix 5 Stars
The Animatrix is an interesting work.It features nine anime shorts that are wonderfully animated. The shorts are as follows:Final Flight of the Osiris:As mentioned in Reloaded,this is about the ship The Osiris and its crew who find out the sentinels,the squid-looking machines,are digging towards Zion and now the crew must try to reach Zion before the machines do in this wonderful CG animated short from the makers of Final Fantasy.The second best of the set.
The Second Renaissance parts I and II:This story,separated into two parts,is the story of how the war started beween the humans and the machines.This movie explains how the humans blackened the sky,how the machines rose to power,why all the cities were destroyed,etc.But be warned,this is a very graphic and distrubing work,so I wouldn't recomened this for the very young.Still,in my opinion,this is the best of the set because it explains how everything started.
Kid's Story:Remember the Kid who from Reloaded and Revolutions who said Neo saved him? Well,this is his story.It explains how he met Neo and how he escaped the Matrix and got into the real world.Due to the fact it has a image of an imparent teen suicide,this is also not a good one for the very young.However,if you liked the kid for the matrix sequals(you learn his actual name in this),then this is a good one to check out.
Program:This is a short about a woman who is training in the Matrix when a fellow member of her crew tells her he wants to go back to the Matrix and wants her to come with him.She responds with no and a violent fight ensures.This one has some good action and a good story.Definently one of the best!!!
World Record:Certainly the worst of the shorts,this is about a man deternined to break a world record in track and ends up escaping the Matrix for a couple of seconds.Very confusing and somewhat dumb,it is good to watch once,then never watch it again.
Beyond:This is about a girl who loses her cat and ends up at a house that kids play at.The house has a glitch in it,allowing the kids to defy gravity.But soon,the agents find out.Overall,a good but disappointing short which is kinda enjoyable.
A Detective Story:A detective,who wants to leave the profession,gets a call from a mysterious person to find and capture Trinity.He gets on a train and meets her,which leads to a encounter with agents.Better than Beyond and World Record,Detective Story is a well done short that will please fans.
Matriculated:The last of the shorts,this is about a crew which capture one of the machines and take it inside the Matrix.This one doesn't make much sense,but has some good animation and action scenes.Still,I think this one will take multiple viewings to really understand it.
I hope my review was helpful.This is worth checking out,especially Final Flight and The Second Renaissance.But or rent today.
Movie Review: Deserving of Five Stars
Summary: 5 Stars
This sweet prize for us real anime fans (before it was all "mainstream") is exactly how I billed it, a sweet prize.And now ladies and gentleman an average episode by episode review!
Final Flight of the Osiris
An interesting short; however it only really needed one go. The story that it provided was, indeed, important to the continuity of the Matrix storyline. Yet, it was mostly just showing off the new rendering software. I believe that is enough on that.
The Second Renaissance Part I & II
These deserve more than their first impression. The information that needs to be conveyed within these shorts its not of the most pleasant nature. While utterly gruesome at moments, it does all have meaning. Watch them through a second time and you'll know what I mean.
Kid's Story
Ah, the first short by the director of Bebop. A flowing tale with an equally flowing animation style. Probably my favorite of the shorts. A long drawn out story with an amazing conclusion. Although the few people that may be able to relate to this story will possess a deeper understanding. Not to be missed.
Program
A short, classic clip. Poses ideas upon ideas upon ideas while keeping the visuals very cool. At the minimum you have to admit that the girls hair is awesome. Not to be missed.
World Record
While some may say the visuals are un-pleasing, I agree with the old saying "A picture is worth a thousand words". Seeing as this is a nine minute clip, hand drawn, with 24 frames per/second, I'd say it's worth about twelve million nine hundred and sixty thousand words. That's quite a few. Again, not to be missed (under any circumstances).
Beyond
One of the most amazing. Poses a glitch in the system that a girl stumbles into. Not to miss.
A Detective Story
Very classy. I've never actually seen artistically B&W anime before but it is a very nice touch. I'll just call this the Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass short. It is more the latter though.
Matriculated
Peter Chung. What more needs to be said. Well other than a review of course. Taking on the feeling of Aeon Flux Matriculated asks a simple question: What happens when a robot is introduced to a human created matrix? And what happens when it falls in love with anti-reality? Not to be missed.
To sum it all up The Animatrix requires a certain level of...depth. Not to insult various reviewers *mumble* but this collection should be treated as a set of independent movies, not a mainstream bit. Now while The Matrix offered the independent movie feel it also kept a mainstream feel. You could say that is where this collection is lacking. Bottom Line, if you enjoy Anime (or are an old fan) then buy it. If you've never seen anime but find yourself on IFC all the time, buy it. If both apply, buy the special edition. If neither, *shudder* rent *shudder* it.
Movie Review: Right out of Wachowski's Head, if slightly unsettling.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one DVD you can't miss if you liked the movies. Don't expet movie quality in this. THAT'S NOT WHAT IT IS! I can't belive you people, You critisize this for being ugly or having no plot. DUH! It's not suppost to have plot. What it is are the Ideas the Wachowski brothers had that didn't fit into the movies in any way. They wanted to publish the cool ideas simply because they are cool! Allright, here's the episode by episode break down:Final Flight of the Osiris -
This is photo realisticly computer animated. It is basicly a prequal to the game "Enter the Matrix". At the end of FFOTO, a crew member drops of a message in a mailbox in the matrix, and the game starts with retriving that message from the post office, and after that first part, "Enter the Matrix" parallels the Movie, "Matrix Reloaded".
The Second Renaissance -
Done in realistic drawn animation, this explanes the history of the world before the matrix up to the creation of the Matrix.
Kid's Story -
Done in "paint-style" animation. Kid is that anoying kid from that begining of Matrix Reloaded, who keeps thanking neo for saving him. Well this shows what happens and how Kid escapes from the matrix.
WARNING - PAST THIS POINT THE SHORTS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MOVIES!
Program -
Done in Japanise style animation, this is a fight between to people in a medival training program, in which one of the W... brother's ideas comes out. I'll give you a clue (Syfer Training).
World Record -
Done in a plain funky animation style that makes agents look like elvis... Basicly a track runner runs so hard his legs explode, but he keeps running anyway through sear will, and wakes up from the matrix for a moment...
Beyond -
Done in the same style as Second Renaissance, this is a nicely done piece about just your average matrix inhabitants who find an old building that the local kids call a "Haunted House". When really it's just a glitchy place in the Matrix. Very Iteresting.
A Detective Story -
Done in Black and White animation, this is a short story about a detective (among others) that was hired by an agent to find a mysterous Hacker by the name of Trinity...
Matriculated -
Done in the same style as TSR, this is the most disturbing piece, about turning the machines in a virtual world to get them to swich sides willingly. "To a machine, all reality is vurtual"... well that dosn't apply to humans, as when the machine trys to help this person, it plugs them back into the dream-world, but to catisrophic effect...
Don't forget that there's also a bunch of speacial features incuding a trailer for "Enter the Matrix".
Movie Review: Very good
Summary: 5 Stars
I wasn't expecting much from this DVD after suffering through the horrible "Director's Cut"-style editing of "Matrix: Reloaded" (despite the Wachowsky brothers' enthusiasm for Japanese anime, they have not caught on to the philosophy of minimalism). However, I feel that they have redeemed themselves with this creative effort through their favorite medium - anime.What is so brilliant about this collection? It would help to remember all the movie-based cartoons that were aired on TV. The animators were restricted to plots that were solely made to market the franchise (do you remember any Star Wars based cartoon that left any impresson on you?). The results were invariably a derivative of the live-action original. Instead, the brothers respectfully allowed each producers to interpret their world in the producer's own style. The result is simply amazing - the collection's central theme is a framework rather than restriction, and the creativity and the skills of these animators really shine through.
The collection is good for the most part. There are some weak points: Matriculated relied too much on visual elements that were better told in spoken words (besides, robots do understand words and reason, don't they? And so does the audience). Detective Story was stylish but got choppy and was hastily ended at the scene on the train. The Program was the most disappointing, with many repeating visual elements that points to lack of effort, and the quality falls far short of the producer's earlier work, "Cowboy Bebop". The rest is okay.
The most outstanding work is "The Second Renaissance I & II". It deals with the one of the main theme of the Matrix series - the fraility of human kind. The compressed imagery has the pace of an Osamu-styled (a la "The Phoenix") manga - many of the scenes are taken from our recent history but re-styled for cohesive storytelling. This will explain why many young viewers will not understand the message that is conveyed by the choice of imagery.
Also, the origins of the idea of interdependence of man and machine (also presented in Matrix2) is presented as the rational extension that follows the miseries brought on by both sides - an idea that confused many revieweres here.
As far as violent nature of the imageries goes - since many images are re-take of the actual events in human history (just replace humans with robots), it is far from gratuitous and it is meant to get your hands dirty. I would understand that children and the undereducated will have a hard time understanding this. That said, just take it easy and enjoy the ride, this is simply an entertainment!
Movie Review: An amazing project.
Summary: 5 Stars
Having been lucky enough to have seen the 9 episodes, I can say that the Wachowskys are the best thing to happen to movies in a long time, and this generation's creativity icons in Hollywood. That they could take The Matrix's success and share the wealth with this incredible project, giving so many people a chance to showcase their talent while giving the world of The Matrix an exciting new medium in which to express itself, shows their brilliance, and that they are no one-trick ponies.I'll start by commenting on the overwhelming rave reviews for "Final Flight of the Osiris". In truth, with all the hype, when I finally did see it, I was sorely disappointed. Technically, yes, it is brilliant, as I feel is the usual with Square's work (definitely including the Final Fantasy film). But the execution is way too juvenile. The initial fight scene and the pipe acrobatics (while the fate of humanity is ticking) scene are so ridiculous and juvenile that they are almost embarrassing to watch. You'll know when you see them. Suffice it to say that everyone will be awed by the CGI quality, but its overall appeal will only lie with the pre-teen crowd. Good action, fabulous animation, but disappointing plot execution.
The best of the 9 are, in my opinion, the two Second Renaissance parts and Kid's Story. They are the most entertaining, bold, intelligent, and artistically brilliant of the bunch. The dark Second Renaissance will bring chills down your spine, and the touching Kid's Story takes a basically action-oriented short and enhances it with brilliant artistic shifts and terrific music.
The worst of the bunch is, without hesitation, Program. It is the one regrettable mar on an otherwise brilliant DVD. Very derivative and juvenile, both artistically and plot-wise, it's the only one that wasn't brave enough to examine The Matrix's world in any real way...it is just a very weak, over-the-top Samurai fight scene that just happens to take place in a Construct program. It's nothing that isn't dime-a-dozen with TV-cartoon-quality anime, and the fact that the Program team wasted the incredible opportunity to push the envelope (that the other shorts took advantage of), is a real shame. Program does not belong on this DVD.
That aside, however, The Animatrix is one of the most exciting and different projects to come out of the Hollywood machine in a long time. It is incredibly entertaining, often brilliant, and vrey reasonably priced. And as an aside, the Wachowskys and the incredible anime talent they shared their good fortune with, all deserve your support. This is the no-brainer purchase of the year, especially (though not only) for anime and Matrix fans.