After the release of “The Matrix” in 1999, a lot of work went into expanding the franchise. We got two sequels in 2003 as well as “The Animatrix”, a collection of shorts set in the same universe. Each short has a different animation style and the segments vary massively in terms of quality.
Final Flight of the Osiris – 2 1/2 stars
“Final Flight of the Osiris” starts off this whole thing and it’s not the best start to anthology film. This one looks great and reminded me of “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within” but that’s where the positives stop.
After a blindfolded swordfight where they slice their clothes off in a virtual reality dojo, crew members of the Osiris discover an army of robot Sentinels. They see that the robot army is using giant drills to tunnel their way into Zion so the crew must get word to the people of Zion. Jue volunteers to go into the Matrix to deliver the warning so that lives can be saved. Can she make it before the Osiris is destroyed by the Sentinels?
The C.G.I. effects in this are amazing for the time and the characters looks so lifelike. Unfortunately, they don’t have any personality. All we are doing is looking at photorealistic characters with absolutely nothing about them. We have to see Thaddeus’ muscular physique and Jue in some tight underwear once they are through taking each other’s clothes off with their blades. It’s clearly meant to be sexy but it’s just not. The robot Sentinels look as good as they did in the main movies as they were obviously C.G. in the movies.
“Final Flight of the Osiris” must have been very visually impressive for the time but now it just looks like a cutscene from a videogame. The lack of interesting characters is a huge problem. I get that this is only a short but maybe they should have focused less on blasting the robots. The sexual stuff with the swordfight just comes across as really weird and rather awkward. It is certainly not bad by any means but it’s not going to get you hooked in the way that an opening short in an anthology should.
The Second Renaissance – 4 stars
“The Second Renaissance” is split into two parts but I’m just going to treat it as a single short because I don’t really see the point in reviewing the two segments separately. I have no idea why they decided to do that. This short is much better as it gives some meaningful backstory to the main films.
We see how the rise of robots led to a struggle between man and machine. After a robot is put on trial for murder, machines begin to rebel against their human masters. They eventually create their own nation, which soon outperforms the world’s other countries. Mankind responds with hostility towards the machines and is not long before there is a global war.
This one doesn’t focus too much on the characters but that’s okay. It covers a lot of ground in very little time so it wouldn’t really work if it focused on any specific characters. The animation on the characters is good but it’s not my favourite style. Some of the robots are destroyed in a very brutal fashion and many humans are violently murdered too. One of the robots is clearly meant to be like ‘Tank Man’ from the Tiananmen Square protests.
“The Second Renaissance” is easily one of the better shorts in this collection. Some of the events in it seem to defy any logic. For instance, why do the machines suddenly develop the desire to rebel? It’s never explained properly. Still, this one helps to give some much-appreciated detail about what exactly led to the dystopian future shown in “The Matrix” trilogy. This would have been a much more logical place for the collection to start as well as this one clearly explains the whole franchise’s origins and concepts. Some of the symbolism in this is pretty strong and actually works but I can see some people viewing it as either cheesy or merely exploitative.
Kid’s Story – 2 stars
After the epic that was “The Second Renaissance”, “Kid’s Story” decides to slow things down and focus on one specific character. This one is another disappointment and doesn’t really bring anything new to the table as it’s very similar to some of the early scenes in the first of the main films.
Michael Karl Popper is a disaffected teen, who feels that there is something wrong with the world. After an online computer chat with a hacker online, he finds himself in danger. During school, he gets a call from Neo (Keanu Reeves “The Matrix”, “Speed”) and is forced to flee from the agents pursuing him.
The Michael character is not remotely interesting. I didn’t care about this kid. Before he became a Neo, we saw Thomas Anderson try to flee the agents in the first movie so we don’t need this short to do basically the same thing. This is the only short in the film where Neo appears. The focus really is on the Michael character so it’s a shame that he is so bland. His presence does not really add anything. The animation style in this short is not especially captivating so I don’t think any of the characters look all that great here.
“Kid’s Story” feels completely unneeded. The office sequence in the first movie was way better than this so I don’t feel this short adds anything of any value. It’s not awful by any means but it just feels rather underwhelming. The visual style is okay but just didn’t really do anything for me and that’s a real shame. I think this is easily the most forgettable short in the collection as it doesn’t have a particularly unique visual style and the story is too similar to stuff we have seen elsewhere in the franchise.
Program – 4 stars
“Program” is probably the best short in the entire collection. This one is clearly inspired by films such as the popular “Ninja Scroll” anime movie. It’s a shame that this is probably the shortest of all the films in the collection when it’s easily the most entertaining.
Cis is a young woman that enjoys spending her time training in a battle simulation of feudal Japan. She plays a female samurai battling against an enemy cavalry. Her friend Duo then appears as a male samurai. He informs her that her communications with the operator are blocked as tries to convince her to return to the Matrix. The two then engage in a deadly swordfight.
Considering we get so little time to spend with them, the characters in this short are surprisingly engaging. The samurai costumes work terrifically well as the unsettling mask of Duo helps to perfectly convey his character. Cis reminds me of the female protagonists in anime films such as “Ninja Scroll” and “Princess Mononoke” so that’s great and high praise from me. I actually cared about Cis and the emotions she was expressing. Everybody looks brilliant in this style. It’s almost like watching “Princess Mononoke” mixed with “Sin City”.
This short is over way too soon. It’s a shame because I was really having fun with this one. This is a rather simple short but it shows that if you do things well, you don’t need complexity in terms of the story. The animation is absolutely brilliant here and I think this is also the best looking short in the anthology. Fans of anime films such as “Ninja Scroll” are likely to be very appreciative of this work. Those less familiar with anime movies may find this a fun gateway. If you only see one segment from “The Animatrix” then it simply has to be “Program”.
World Record – 1 star
We go from my favourite short in the anthology to my least favourite segment. This is “World Record” and it’s a horrible addition. This a really boring and really ugly short.
Dan Davis is an athlete that had his Olympic medal revoked due to drug use. He goes to compete again and attempts to break his own record. However, he is informed that he risks pushing himself too hard and that this could lead to a crippling injury. He begins to run so fast that the Matrix itself cannot contain him. Will he break the record? Will he break free from the machines?
I just did not care about this character at all. When you are dealing with life and death situations, the idea of a sports race just seems to be completely irrelevant. The animation is really unpleasant and Dan looks hideous. It makes it so hard to get invested in the character when you are just so repulsed by their design. The animations when he starts running unbelievably fast made me feel ill. The way his flesh twists is ghastly. There are other characters but they don’t really get to do all that much. The focus is on Dan but I wish it was anywhere else.
“World Record” has such a thin plot that it could not even sustain my interest for the mere ten minutes that the short lasts. I really just hated watching this segment because of the animation style. Different people will have different ideas about what styles of animation appeal to them so maybe so people will adore the visuals here. However, I just thought pretty much every aspect of “World Record” was unbearable. It’s such a shame that we go from the brilliance of “Program” to this monstrosity. At least the movie doesn’t finish here.
Beyond – 3 stars
“Beyond” is a more subtle short and it has a similar feel to Japanese animated films such as “Whisper of the Heart” and “Only Yesterday”. It offers a refreshing change of pace after the intensity of some of the earlier segments. I somewhat like its rather calm style yet it doesn’t really feel like it goes anywhere; it leaves you wanting a lot more.
Yoko is a teenage girl that goes in search of Yuki, her pet cat. She finds a house that is allegedly haunted. However, it turns out to be a glitch in the Matrix. This is a weird place where the laws of physics do not apply. Yoko has now found something she was never meant to find and that makes her a target of the sinister agents.
The Yoko character is okay and definitely did remind me of some of the female protagonists in anime films such as “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time”. Yoko also encounters some children that enjoy playing in the strange house. The agents briefly appear near the end of the short. The animation on the characters is perfectly fine but this is certainly the least visually striking short in the collection.
“Beyond” is soothing yet ultimately unsatisfying. It feels like things are just getting interesting when it all ends. It’s a real shame because I think there was certainly potential here for a terrific segment. I like the idea of defying the laws of physics as part of a glitch. It allows for some calm yet intriguing imagery as the characters float around aimlessly. If you are a fan of the gentler anime movies out there such as “My Neighbour Totoro” and “Kiki’s Delivery Service” then maybe you will like this short. However, I just wanted more to have happened. This one could have benefitted from being a lot longer.
A Detective Story – 3 1/2 stars
Clearly taking inspiration from the film noir genre, “A Detective Story” is a decent addition to “The Animatrix”. I really adore the film noir style and I think the film even made a reference to the classic “The Maltese Falcon” at one point.
Ash is a struggling private detective that sees his fortunes change when he receives a job from an anonymous client. He is now tasked with searching for an elusive hacker, known as ‘Trinity’. Ash discovers that other detectives that have tried to pursue this criminal have either gone missing or been found dead. He must figure out a way to find this hacker. However, there are other forces at work, which may make this his most dangerous case yet.
I like the Ash character. He clearly is modelled after the rough and tough detectives of the film noir genre. Trinity appears in this short and I think she’s okay here. It’s almost a shame that this has to tie itself into the franchise because this feels like a good film noir short that didn’t need to be connected to anything else. The animation on the characters looks terrific. I really like this style a lot and everybody looks great.
I think that “A Detective Story” is enjoyable and I think they really have captured the essence of film noir. The visual style even reminded me a little of “Sin City”. It’s not quite as visually captivating as “Program” but it does look really good. As mentioned, I think some of the better shorts in this collection would almost work better independent of the franchise. I was a little disappointed by the ending. If you like film noir and films such as “The Maltese Falcon”, “The Big Sleep” and “The Killing” then this will probably put a big smile on your face.
Matriculated – 1 star
Sadly, “The Animatrix” ends on a really bad note with “Matriculated”. This is easily the most psychedelic of the shorts and although it has some interesting ideas, its execution is awful. I really also did not care for the visual style of this segment.
A group of human rebels lure hostile machines to their laboratory. They then plug the machines into their version of the ‘Matrix’. Here, the humans attempt to teach the machines things about humanity such as emotion. What will the machines make of this? Will they learn of humanity’s best traits? The rebels soon come under attack from more machines so they hope the one they captured will help in the fight.
The rebel characters are not remotely interesting. The idea of teaching a robot about humans is interesting but I just felt the execution was really lousy. I didn’t really feel like this robot got a chance to learn anything meaningful. It’s then just not believable when it reacts the way it does. The animation is just really ugly and it makes looking at the characters rather unpleasant. Some of the weird psychedelic effects on the characters actually comes across as rather horrifying even though I suspect it was intended to make them look endearing during the Matrix scenes.
“Matriculated” is a weird and uncomfortable place to end this collection. It’s disappointing to go out on such a low note. Some may find the concepts explored in this short rather intriguing but I think most will agree that it could have been done better. I was creeped out by this short but I really don’t think that was the intention of the makers of “Matriculated”. The only real positive here is that it’s not quite as bad as “World Record” but that’s not saying much at all.
In conclusion, “The Animatrix” is hit and miss. Some of the segments are really entertaining but the bad ones are really bad. Fans of “The Matrix” may want to check this out but also if you are really into animation and enjoy looking at different styles then I think you might get some enjoyment from it.