The Animatrix [DVD] [2003]

The total playing time for the collection is only 89 minutes, so the animations are fairly short. This means that each is a very brief affair, and means there is only so much characterisation and detailed story-telling that can be done in each. For me this detracted from the enjoyment slightly, but I still enjoyed it immensely. Some of the cast (Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss) of the films provided voice-overs for their characters in the Animatrix, but mostly the animations feature characters not in the films. Over-all the DVD is excellent, featuring fantastic art and imaginative stories which, fans of the Matrix will be pleased to hear, fit in with the over-all style of the franchise fairly well. The only issues which stopped it from receiving five stars from me were the unsatisfying shortness of each animation - when something's this good, you always want more, the headache I got while watching one of them (I think it was Kid's Story) as the camera angle on bright green text kept flipping, and the enormous confusion my poor, mortal brain suffered at the hands of the monstrously dreamlike, largely close to abstract, Matriculated. However, in order to get a decent impression of this product, because the individual films are so different, you really need a mini-review on each, so that's what I'll provide.

ANIMATRIX ANIMATIONS REVIEWED [in order of appearance on disk]

Final Flight of the Osiris: This comes, chronologically, immediately before the beginning of the second film, Reloaded. It details, aptly, the final flight of the Osiris, the ship that first discovers the sentinel army digging its way down to Zion. The animation here is very impressive computer-animation. Not quite up to the standards set by Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, but very much indebted to it. I did like this one, but the somewhat pointless acrobatics (in the first film, while the cartwheels, backflips and impossible jumps were very impressive, they were never entirely without reason), and the near lack of story (two members of crew realise they're in love, find sentinels, try to get message out, manage but the ship is destroyed - it's a story I suppose, but it didn't seem like it when watching). 7/10

The Second Renaissance (Parts 1/2): From an animation point of view, probably my favourite of the lot - a truly beautiful blend of computer-generated and hand drawn, telling the story of the creation of the machines, their revolt against their masters, and the eventual enslavement of the human race. These two stories are told in pseudo-biblical voiceover in the form of a 'historical document' existing in Zion. It's main twist on the Matrix as we know it is that the machines are portrayed as being far more human than the clinical, alien sentinels, making the holocaust-reminiscient persecution of them by the humans rather disturbing. If you like the books of Isaac Asimov you'll love this. 9/10

Kid's Story: Not my favourite this one. The animation is hand-drawn and fairly realistic, and though impressive, it's not the nicest style to look at. This tells the story of 'Kid' - the obsessed-fan of Neo in Reloaded. A school-kid hacker, he is shown glimpses of the truth by Neo, who then calls him on his mobile (in lesson, how inconvenient) to tell him that agents are after them. Can he get out before they kill him or change his memories? Well guess why don't you - he's in the film. 6/10

Program: Some stunning art here, particularly at the opening and on the rooftop. A woman is in her favourite simulation program, fighting a small army of horse-riding attackers who fire burning arrows at her. A crew member arrives, telling her that he's going back into the Matrix, and that it's 'all sorted with them'. It's a test of her faith in The Truth, but how will she cope with his proposition of her joining him, particularly as he says he loves her? Featuring a classic 'it was all a dream' ending, Matrix style. 8/10

World Record: Answers with the question of whether or not someone can awaken from the Matrix under their own steam and without being told about it. A world-class athlete experiences a spiritual awakening while breaking world records, but the agents are out to stop him. Again, not my favourite style of animation, but pretty good all the same. 7/10

Beyond: This one's a little weird, but still great. A young girl goes looking for her missing cat and finds a run-down haunted house where the rules of gravity apply in strange ways, letting the local kids invent games involving jumping from great height onto the floor, only to stop just above the ground. To begin with I thought the kids were special, like the 'potentials' in the first film. However it turns out the explaination and resolution of the story is rather different. Features another class 'was it all a dream' ending. 8/10

A Detective Story: A beautiful Matrix-universe film noir, animated stunningly purely in noir et blanc, this film involves a detective (who also narrates the story) being hired by a mysterious person on the end of a phone to hunt for a certain... Trinity. Featuring more of those Alice in Wonderland references Matrix fans know and love, and some great art, this is a favourite of mine. 8/10

Matriculated: The last of the 9, this is just totally bizarre. The animation is slightly similar to The Second Renaissance, but the story is totally different. In it, a crew of a ship is attempting to defeat the machines by persuading them to join forces with them. To do this they plug themselves in, and enact 'dreams' for robots they've captured involving some seriously mad imagery. This one raises the same questions about the possibility of the consciousness of machines and their ability to feel as have been raised many times in the past, but is just too darn bonkers to be truly likeable. 6/10

Final Flight of the Osiris: This is a sort of prequel to the Matrix Reloaded and tells the story of a ship, The Osiris, that discovers the machines digging down towards Zion, they have to warn the city, but have the problem of being chased by about 100 sentinels. The animation in this short is the most sophisticated, and it is one of the best of the 9 shorts. 4 stars

The Second Renaissance parts 1&2: These are two excellent shorts that show how the machines came to be in control of the humans, i.e, the events leading up to the enslavement of mankind. Two very good stories with some good action and can be brutal at times, i've also heard they have a link to the ending of Revolutions. 5 stars each

Kids Story: This is the story of how the character 'The Kid' in the Matrix Reloaded breaks out of the Matrix. I really liked the animation in this one, everything is made to look like something out a dream, which is what the Matrix is meant to be like, strange ending thought. 3 stars

Program: Tells of how someone training within a Matrix program falls in love with a programmed character, that has she thinks has done something to betray the humans, quite good, but not the best. 3 stars

World Record: This short tells of how an olympic runner wakes up from the Matrix through sheer willpower, also has a confusing ending, but listen to the commentary on it and you'll know why. I cant put my finger on a reason but i just love this short, i really enjoy it every time i watch it. 5 stars

Beyond: In my opinion the worst of the shorts, and the one i have watched the least. Some kids discover a 'haunted house' which is really a glitch in the Matrix program, they have plenty of fun there, until exterminators show up to spoil the fun. 2 stars

Detective Story: Back to form on this one. A detective is hired by an anonymous person to track down Trinity, and discovers all sorts of surprises along the way, very good. 4 stars

Matriculated: Humans capture a machine and try to 'convert' (not reprogramme as other reviews suggest) it to be human friendly using a form of virtual reality to sort of fool it. But they didnt know the machine had a tracer. Will it help them when more machines come? Again very good. 4 stars

Extras are also quite good, i highly recommend the purchase of this to Matrix fans.