released 20 jul 03 / last mod 01 jun 07 / greg goebel / public domain
* Following the wild success of the Wachowski brothers' movie THE MATRIX, they have evolved their ideas in THE ANIMATRIX, a set of nine short animated features developed as a cross-Pacific effort. The result is semi-experimental, with the "semi" meaning that the eight stories (one is in two parts) all do try to tell a real story related to the Matrix, though they jump all over the landscape stylistically.
The Wachowski brothers wrote three of the stories, including FINAL FLIGHT OF THE OSIRIS, a pure computer graphics exercise; THE SECOND RENAISSANCE PARTS I & II, which is Japanese-produced animation; and KID'S STORY, also Japanese-produced animation. FINAL FLIGHT and KID'S STORY are fairly minor excursions from the Wachowskis' original ideas, while THE SECOND RENAISSANCE outlines the history of the War With The Machines that led to the creation of the Matrix.
The next four stories are purely Japanese creations, including PROGRAM and WORLD RECORD by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, BEYOND by Koji Moriomoto, and A DETECTIVE STORY by Shinichirou Watanabe. WORLD RECORD is about a sprinter who becomes aware of the Matrix and A DETECTIVE STORY is a "film noir" takeoff on the concept. I found PROGRAM and BEYOND particularly intriguing, with PROGRAM casting the Matrix into a samurai adventure, and BEYOND putting the Matrix into the context of a "virtual Japan" and imagining what happens when some bugs occur in the system.
The last installment, MATRICULATED by Peter Cheung, is one of the most interesting of the set, a mix of conventional and computer animation that operates on the intriguing notion that Zion, the underground refuge of mankind, does not restrict its recruiting to humans.
Overall, this is a very entertaining DVD, though it might not be for everyone. THE MATRIX and the Wachowski brothers tend to be more style than substance, leaning towards amazing visual wizardry on top of comic-book story concepts that have at least their fair share of logical holes. I can live with that, since nobody in charge seems to be expecting the audience to take the whole thing too seriously.
In addition, if you're expecting a thrill ride like THE MATRIX, THE ANIMATRIX probably won't make you happy. The production teams are tinkering with ideas and styles here, not telling an epic; these are all little stories, and no one person will like all of them equally. However, if you can live with that you should find THE ANIMATRIX a good use of your time -- possibly a better use than the live-action sequels to THE MATRIX. I haven't seen them, but when all the reviews grade them as absolute junk, I figure it's wise to take the warning.
