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The Animatrix Review
By admin | August 12, 2009
Animatrix HD Trailer
The Animatrix Review
Studio: WARNER BROTHERS
Genre: Animation
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 1.85:1
Screen Format: Letterbox
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Exposure: Color
Running Time: 89 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
Release Year: 2003
COMMENTS
Larry and Andy Wachowski have never been afraid to pave a unique path. Their first film, “Bound”, took the traditional love triangle one step beyond by injecting a controversial lesbian twist. In the second, a little trifle known as “The Matrix”, the brothers showed the world “bullet time” and dared other filmmakers to catch up. Now, the Wachowskis have developed a whole universe devoted to Neo and the other denizens of Zion to be revealed in two sequels, a video game with unprecedented story implications, and a DVD of short films entitled “The Animatrix“.
When the first film came out in 1999, one of its attractions was the hook (our reality is a manufactured dream created by robots who are really milking us for our energy), which opened itself up for all kinds of exploration. How did these robots take us over? Could any of us ever wake ourselves up from these comas? How did Zion come to be built? If you’re like me, the first film blew you away but you found “The Matrix Reloaded” to be a decent yet largely uninspired rehashing of the original. Whereas the “Matrix” sequels once sequels seemed so promising because of their potential to mine this universe for stories, it just wasn’t happening.
Well, now it is. “The Animatrix” consists of nine short films created by commissioned artists, any of which has more sheer excitement and originality than eighty percent of “Reloaded”. The best shorts in the bunch result in an orgiastic feast for the senses; the worst of them manage to entertain you. If you’re a “Matrix” fan, a devotee of anime, or simply enjoy having your mind expanded through the glory of good science fiction, this groundbreaking DVD is a mandatory addition to your collection.
The Wachowski Brothers have succeeded in taking the world’s foremost animation directors, providing them access to their universe, and allowing their creativity to run amok. The DVD, which retails at $19.98, is a particularly great buy because of its propensity to be watched over and over again, two or three episodes at a time. One can only hope that the third “Matrix” film, due this November, will absorb some of the magic that pours out of this DVD, which could easily have been called “Imagination Reloaded”.
SYNOPSIS
The first short, “The Final Flight of the Osiris”, was attached to prints of “Dreamcatcher” when that film ran in theaters earlier this year. The director, Andy Jones, is a former animation supervisor who figured heavily in the creation of the 2001 release “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within”.
Jones uses the same computer generated realistic effects pioneered by that movie to tell the story of the Osiris, a doomed ship trying to get word to Zion that a quarter of a million sentinel robots are drilling towards them. The film begins with two crewmembers, Thaddeus and Jue, erotically battling in the training simulation that fans will remember from the original “Matrix” film. These first three minutes, which don’t contain a single word of dialogue, will make you swear you’re watching real actors. Wisely nullifying the eyes (the combatants wear blindfolds) and lip movement of the characters, Jones shows just how close animation is getting to making the concept of actors as antiquated as 8 track tapes.
It is only when the characters remove their blindfolds and start talking that your mind’s eye begins to remind you that something is slightly incorrect about the supposed “humans” you are watching. At that point, “Osiris” turns into one part vehicle chase/one part “Run Lola Run” as Jue is dispatched to mail a package in the Matrix while the Osiris crew tries to escape the sentinels. It’s all entertaining and well done, but futile in its attempt to be anywhere near as jaw-droppingly amazing as those first three minutes.
The second and third shorts, entitled “The Second Renaissance, Parts 1&2”, are my personal favorites. Directed by Mahiro Maeda, creator of the cult anime classic “Blue Submarine 6”, they work together to tell the horrific story of how machines took over Earth and spiraled us from the world we know now to the nightmare that Neo awakened to when he took the red pill.
A futuristic machine called “The Instructor” briefs us on how man created robots to do his work, how a robot killed an owner who was trying to have it destroyed, and how that set off a war between man and machine that would have catastrophic results for both sides. Maeda wisely bases his story on real life events – the Jewish holocaust, Tianenmen Square, even the recent tape of those girls being groped in Central Park – that bring a powerful sense of familiarity to the events. His camera bounces around and retreats from the bloody newsreel footage to bring an even stronger realism to it all.
The traditional and computer-generated animation work in tandem with the spectacular story to…well…okay, I’ll be honest here…the “Renaissance” shorts gave me nightmares. I’m serious, they’re that scary. But when I woke up the next morning, I couldn’t wait to watch them again.
The fourth film is entitled “Kid’s Story”, making it something that I wasn’t looking forward to watching, having been familiarized with the “Kid” character during his not-brief-enough appearances in “Reloaded”. The “aw-shucks” quality of Kid reminded me of the eager-to-please batboy in countless baseball movies, the one that Kevin Costner famously told to “shut up”.
What was annoying in reality, however, is redeemed in this animated short. Helmed by “Cowboy Bebop” director Shinichiro Watanabe, the film tells us how the character awoke from his typical suburban school kid experience and literally jumped into the real world. Watanabe uses a rough style of hand drawn animation reminiscent of the rotoscoping technique that Richard Linklater used in “Waking Life”. It’s quite appropriate, since the film intends to tell us about reality and perception and the weak grasp that we have on them both. If only “Reloaded” had the creative spark that this, “Osiris” and the “Renaissance” shorts have, perhaps I wouldn’t have such a “Star Wars prequel” fear of the upcoming “Revolutions”.
“Program”, the fifth film in the series, is fun to look at but is too light in the story and character department. From director Yoshiaki Kawajiri (maker of “Ninja Scroll” – one of the Wachowski’s favorite films) comes this simple tale of mutiny aboard an unidentified human resistance craft.
Cis and Duo are training in a simulation when the latter tells the former that he plans on giving up his fight and returning for a life of blissful ignorance in the matrix. As they discuss the ramifications of such an act, the two embark on a rocket-fueled battle where their sexual tension is as evident as their skilled weaponry. Duo tries to convince Cis to regress with him, while she tries to talk him out of it. The artwork is great to look at, but won’t be new for anyone who has ever seen an episode of “Samurai Jack”. The plot is a real weak point and has seemingly no impact on the rest of the matrix universe. While the film is worth watching, it is undoubtedly one of the weakest of the nine shorts.
Next up is a beauty, however – “World Record”, an amazing film by a young director named Takeshi Koike. “Only the most exceptional people become aware of the matrix,” a narrator tells us. “Those that learn it exists must possess a rare degree of intuition, sensitivity, and a questioning nature”.
Koike tells the story of a world-class sprinter who, while pushing himself to no end to set a speed record, breaks out of the matrix for just an instant. Agents are dispatched immediately to contain him and cover up whatever he may have seen. It’s a heartbreaking tale in more ways than one, and it successfully plays with the notion that you and I are in the matrix right now and would realize it if we only got to the level this runner does.
The craftsmanship on the film is something to behold, particularly in the exaggerated details of the runner’s physique (I defy you to not grab your leg in fear when the animators depict the runner’s muscles exploding from overuse). A great story, a great ending, and you can’t take your eyes off it.
“Beyond” is the next film, a flawed but occasionally inspired tale that gets you thinking about a lot more than it actually bothers to explore. The catalyst for all this speculation is the notion that glitches in the matrix occasionally occur that result in “hot spots” – areas where natural laws do not exist.
One such spot is located in an abandoned home so the local kids assume, naturally, that the joint is haunted. It’s a fine idea, and some of what the kids do with it (breaking bottles and watching them fix themselves, competing at who can jump from the highest spot and still land safely) is entertaining.
The main character, a young girl looking for her lost cat, simply doesn’t have enough personality to make her interesting in the least. The same goes for the other characters in the film, leaving the gaps between freak occurrences feeling even longer than they actually are. As would be expected from director Koji Morimoto, the animation supervisor on the anime masterpiece “Akira”, the visuals are never anything less than stellar. Compared to the others, however, “Beyond” leaves a lot to be desired.
Which brings us to another of the best shorts, entitled “Detective Story”. Like the best of the rest, “Detective” uses a component of the original “Matrix” (in this case, Carrie-Ann Moss’ character) as a springboard for a wholly original tale.
A Sam Spade-type private dick is handed an unusual case when he is asked to track down a computer hacker named Trinity who has a tendency to leave a trail of “Alice in Wonderland” references wherever she goes. What the detective doesn’t realize is that his employers are agents of the matrix who are using him as their puppet.
Mostly filmed in a stunning, black and white shadowy manner, the look of the film is perfect for the noir-ish elements that the story invokes. The trashed office, the beautiful mystery girl, the habitual smoking and the double-crosses are here, presented well enough to make you think that Dashiell Hammett himself had penned the thing.
But director Watanabe (working double-duty after his “Kid’s Story” short) blends in the patented “Matrix” edginess to make it all fresh again. In what is ultimately a tragic tale of a man discovering the imprisonment he’s been living, and the logical repercussions that discovery, the film makes you feel an amazing amount of sympathy for this patsy (especially when you consider how short it is).
Finally, we have “Matriculated”, an unfortunate end to the series. Directed by Peter Chung (the man responsible for the amazing “Aeon Flux” series that once aired on MTV), the short film is visually appealing, but devoid of any real narrative structure. As a result, it plays like the hybrid of the “Into the Mind’s Eye” series and a Pink Floyd video. While this might be appealing for those members of the audience who have heavily imbibed in illegal drugs, the rest of us will have a hard time keeping awake. Being a big fan of “Aeon”, I was more than a bit disappointed by this film. “Matriculated” may be technically impressive, but it’s sorely in need of a screenwriter.
IMAGE
This is the kind of disk that is made for DVD and home theater enthusiasts. Just pop it in and behold all the different state of the art forms of animation explored in the film’s nine stories. Warner Brothers has taken great measures in presenting each film with the care and reverence they deserve. Frankly, this is the type of disk that you put into your system when your buddies come over and you want to knock their socks off.
SOUND
The sound is equally impressive, and exploited fully thanks to a dynamic, varying soundtrack (provided by omnipresent “Matrix” composer Don Davis) and the talented work of the sound effects teams. Presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, the auditory pleasures of the film stay right in line with the visuals.
FEATURES
Each short film can be heard in either English or Japanese, and have optional captions in English, French or Espanol. The main menu is a simple box-type design that keeps within the look of the “Matrix” films (basically green, black and lots of falling numbers) and is simple to navigate. In the bonus features section, viewers are rewarded with an informative and entertaining documentary called “Scrolls to Screen” that traces the history of anime from its roots in Japanese scrolls, to the comic strips of the early twentieth century, to films like “Akira” and “Ghost in the Shell”, and on through the “Matrix” phenomenon. Interviews with creators, historians and such genre-friendly faces as Todd McFarlane and Harry Knowles provide an excellent background on the art form. Each director and producer has a two-paragraph biography in the “Profiles” section which is too brief, but required reading nevertheless. Some directors then return for commentary tracks encompassing the “Second Renaissance” films, “Program” and “World Record”, each one decent but not particularly worth listening to. A cool-sounding feature called “Enter the Matrix” brings you to a publicity trailer heralding the video game of that name, and the “enhanced features for your DVD-rom PC” just take you to a website. Basically, the “Scrolls to Screen” docu is the only feature worth investing your time in, but it’s superb enough to make up for a lack of excitement in the rest of the subsection.