The Animatrix
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Movie Reviews of The Animatrix
Movie Review: Cutting Edge Animation for Matrix Fans
Summary: 5 Stars
The Animatrix is a curiosity and it serves to highlight clearly the Wachowski brother's committment to this project. A series of short (each about ten minutes) animated adventures set in the world of the Matrix movies, The Animatrix explores the themes and possibilities of the movies using different techniques from CGI to traditional Anime.As a fan of CGI the two standout pieces for me were "Last Flight of the Osiris" and "Matriculated". "Last Flight of the Osiris" (from the team responsible for "Final Fantasy") is jaw dropping state of the art hyper-real CGI. It is obvious that much of the Matrix Reloaded was produced in this way. The opening scene is absolutely delicious as two very attractive CGI characters disrobe eachother in a virtual martial arts sword fight. The piece goes on to illustrate a link between the first two movies in the Matrix trilogy.
But the one that really got me was "Matriculated". An astounding blend of CGI and handrawn animation this film really explores the possibilities of the medium and the results are mind-blowing, and quite psychadelic in places. A curious story about a group of humans who attempt to convert machines to their cause, "Matriculated" really pushes the boundaries. For hardcore fans it is worth owning the DVD for these two pieces alone, however the other pieces are excellent too, using more standard animation techniques to tell their stories. Those with a passing interest in the Matrix movies will probably be happier just renting The Animatrix.
If you are unfamiliar with Anime it is worth noting that it often contains strong violence and sexual material, and the Animatrix is no exception. One scene in particular depicted violence against a robot made to look like a human woman and I found this quite uncomfortable to watch.
After watching The Animatrix I am left feeling confident that despite the unexpected success of the first Matrix movie, the Wachowski brothers are committed to bringing the Matrix to the World with integrity. A lot of people have been disappointed in the second movie, but seen in the context of an action packed comic book sci-fi saga it all makes sense, and its really working for me. It is not going to be to everyone's taste, but this is to the directors' credit, not to their detriment.
Movie Review: Not just eye candy, and not only for matrix junkies!
Summary: 5 Stars
Don't be put off the the negative reviews!First up this isn't directly relating to the Matrix films, it is a collection of animated short films set in the Matrix universe or setting.
Each is by a different animator/director and each is very different. This is it's strongest point, not a weak point.
The first is a computer gen'd short that most directly follows the matrix movies, but do be honest its more eye candy than story. On this point it is ABSOLUTELY STUNNING, the quality of animation is incredible, going beyond the realism of the Final Fantasy movie computer animation.
From here there are two shorts in traditional animation explaining the truly epic history that led to the creation of the matrix and the war. It is presented as a historical report, with news like footage of different stages and events. This is the disturbing highlight because it is very logical and plausible, and quite damning of human nature. Some might not like these two because of the savage imagery but they warn us to not assume that just because we are in a "modern" and "civilised" world we are above the mistakes of oppression made previously.
The remaining are very varied, and each is strongly stylised. One is from the animators of Aeon Flux, with the same surreal and disproportioned style that makes Aeon Flux fascinating to watch. Another is a detective story with an almost 1960's black and white style, in which a private eye is recruited in the hunt for Trinity. Read the above review for a rundown on each.
Each one for me was fascinating and I've watched this dvd a few times over already. There are more tie-ins to the movies than you'll realise at first, but at the same time the stories are independant of the movies, free to explore an idea to its end without limit like any good short story or film should.
By the way I'm no Matrix freak or even a massive Anime fan, this is just genuinely fresh and fascinating veiwing, presented with heaps of eye candy and an awesome soundtrack to boot. Perhaps other reviewers were looking for straight matrix bulls**t fight scenes and action, and were disappointed with it having some actual depth?
Movie Review: The Animatrix: a must have for any Matrix fan
Summary: 5 Stars
Final Flight of the Osiris: Many people liked this short alot. I have to admit the CGI was great but I thought it was lacking. It was very short and didn't really explain anything we don't know. But it is worth watching.The second renaissance parts I and II: These two shorts had to be my favorite on the DVD. They were AWESOME. The animation was beautiful and I loved the narration and whole explanation of how it was humans who were responsible for the beginning of The Matrix. Watch it and many things will be clear to you. Kind of a prequel to The Matrix movie.
Kid's Story- If you have seen Reloaded and was at all interested in the kid who claimed Neo saved his life you will definitely want to see this short. It shows what happened and how the kid is tied to Neo. I personally enjoyed this one. The animation was very very nice and I just thought it was an excellent addition to the explanation of Reloaded.
Program- I liked it because I didn't find it at all predictable. I didn't know where it was going and until the end you are left kind of confused. A 3 out of 5 rating for this one.
World Record- I definitely did NOT like this one AT ALL. It was bland and the character was not appealing. I only watched it once and maybe i didn't get the jist of it but I didn't find it appealing enough to watch again.
Beyond- Many people enjoyed this one saying it was "touching" but i thought it pointless. I guess it was "cute" but other then that, not much point to it.
A Detective Story- I LOVED this one! If you like Trinity you are in for a treat, the only short which features a character from the movies (besides a short appearance by Neo in "Kid's story"). It's filmed in black and white and gives it a styliazed feel. Not much explanation about where Trinity is from or her real name though...
Matriculated- I didn't enjoy this one much. Characters weren't all that great. Very bizzare. But deep meaning, i suppose.
So in conclusion, This DVD was jam packed with excellent shorts and I recommend it for any Matrix fan! It's a must have!
Movie Review: Amazing
Summary: 5 Stars
After watching the Animatrix, I was amazed at how good it was, but also what a powerful effect it had on me. I'm not ussualy a person who is affected a lot by violence in films or animation, but some of the stuff in this really disturbed me, more than stuff I had seen before.The best and also worst animation in the collection has to the The 2nd Rennaisance parts 1 and 2. Some of the scenes depicted in this come accross as serving no purpose except for the director to serve his total morbid and frankly sick imagination. Another thing that strikes me as a read the reviews is the amount of people saying how hard done by the machines were. The most distrubing single thing that happens to the machines is probably a female machine being torn up and shot by a group of human thugs, or some thousands of bodies being dumped, machines being run over or executed. For one, these are artificial beings, humans have more right to be on the earth than they do period. Secondly, it doesnt even come close to the acts the machines carry out on humans. Against humans we again see the thousands of skulls piled up, but how about a man being ripped out of his mech armour slowly and calculatedly by a sentinel with no mercy, or the tank crews having the turrets ripped off and then being killed? Oh, and then there's the terrible experiments the machines carry out on humans.
However, there are some of flaws in this that make me worry less about it actually getting to the stage it does in the future. For one, if the machine city was nuked, there would not be 'no effect' as the 2nd r tries to say, superheat? electromagnetic pulse? War over. I also doubt that having the technology for much more effective weapons (as shown by the large stationary weapons placed on the battlefield) that the humans battle mechs would be equipped with woefuly inadequate machine guns.
Overall though, this was a great DVD with the 2nd rennaissance being the highlight, although it can be hard to watch because of the overly vile violence. Another great one is Matriculated.
Movie Review: Incredibly artsy and fantastically entertaining!
Summary: 5 Stars
The Animatrix is one of the best anime films I've ever seen. It's nine segments are all intriguing, plunging you further into the world of The Matrix. The first four segments are based on the story written by the Wachowski brothers, the remaining five are simply random tales from the mythology of The Matrix. FINAL FLIGHT OF THE OSIRIS - Visually stunning (can we expect anything less from SquareSoft?) and an integral part of The Matrix story...especially if you've played the Enter The Matrix video game.
THE SECOND RENAISSANCE PART I AND II - An in-depth look at how machines took over the world. It's in-your-face violence and depiction adds a huge impact on the story.
KID'S STORY - Remember the young kid in Matrix Reloaded that Neo saved? This is his story. It's animation style is reminiscent of the film Waking Life and features the voice of Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss.
PROGRAM - A very short piece involving a sparring program. The animation style is traditional anime.
WORLD RECORD - Not my favorite, but still an alright story of a runner who accidentally discovers the matrix while trying to break a world record.
BEYOND - There's a house where the program of the matrix is not entirely stable and some kids enjoy the effects of this glitch. Very cute story.
A DETECTIVE'S STORY - An agent hires a private eye within the matrix to find a hacker called Trinity. A very dark style. Also features Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity.
MATRICULATED - This is my absolute favorite. Some rebels try to convince some machines to defect to the human side by jacking them in to a human-generated program. The visuals in this segment are breathtaking and trippy. This is from the animators of Aeon Flux.
Overall, a great DVD. Bad-[rear] soundtrack and better-than-average surround sound. The picture quality is crystal-clear. If you have a 16:9 TV or even just component video hooked up this will be a fantastic ride. Enjoy!