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The Animatrix

The Animatrix

List Price: $19.96
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good stuff on The Anime Tip
Review: A beautiful counterpart to a very well constructed sequel. (Hell, anything is better than Episode 1 or 2) A look into minor happenings of the Matrix world and relevant chapters of the main story at hand. If you dig the Matrix, or you dig anime, check this out.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Neat Idea
Review: I really liked the idea of the separate plot line that was created just for these shorts. I also think it important to see this to understand more about Matrix Reloaded (and also look at Enter the Matrix for more info on the Matrix world).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Pick your pleasure
Review: While you may not enjoy each and every story personally, they all offer something of the Matrix universe, and give a better understanding of things you already know about, or introduce you to things you've never considered.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: All a bit one-note
Review: I really wanted to give this two and a half stars rather than three, but there's no facility to do that.

I first saw this compilation in the cinema instead of as a DVD and despite the Dolby surround and the massive screen by the time it was two thirds of the way through I was looking at my watch and trying to work out how many more there were to go.

Maybe if they'd been viewed one at a time it would have been more enticing, but after about five of them I wasn't that entertained anymore.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Experiments In The Matrix Universe
Review: * Given the wild success of their movie THE MATRIX, it's not
surprising the Wachowski brothers, Andy and Larry, have developed
their ideas in THE ANIMATRIX, a set of nine short animated features
developed as a cross-Pacific effort and based on the same themes.

The result is something of a semi-experimental effort, 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, and KID'S STORY (which are both mostly
Japanese-produced conventional animation). FINAL FLIGHT and KID'S
STORY are fairly minor excursions from the Wachowskis' original
ideas, while THE SECOND RENAISSANCE describes 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 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 tell an epic story. 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.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Mostly disappointing. Occasionally distasteful.
Review: I was eagerly anticipating the release of Animatrix. Now, after viewing it, I am very disappointed in the product as a whole and even somewhat offended.

First, the Good. "Final Flight of the Osiris" was incredible. Clearly the best of the features. Some of the most expressive and impressive animation I have ever seen. "Kid's Story" was intriguing and clarifies a question I had after watching "Matrix: Reloaded." "Beyond" was also very interesting in that it shows a fascinating concept of a glitch in the Matrix and does it in a somewhat charming manner.

Now the Bad. I found the animation in most of the features to be extraordinarily poor. This is not because I am an anime hater! When it comes to Japanimation, I can take it or leave it depending on each individual work. Yes, I understand that there is a cultural difference between Japan and the US when it comes to animation, but I know what I like. What I don't like is human figures that are so grotesquely drawn that they become a distraction to watch (the best example of this is "World Record"). While I mentioned above that I liked "Kid's Story," the animation in that was so poorly drawn (albeit probably on purpose) that it became difficult to follow the action. Of course, there is also the tendency in anime to make things excessively gory, which I also find a tad unnecessary.

And finally, the Offensive. "The Second Renaissance" was absolutely terrible. The animation was decent (save the gore mentioned previously) but the story was trite and insulting. The viewer is expected to endure countless jabs at the Christian faith and the depiction of everyone in the world, with the exception of the machines' "liberal sympathizers," as blood-thirsty, intolerant, hateful, war-mongering cretins, especially Americans. We are then shown several well-known scenes from the worst of human history including communist Vietnam, communist China, and Nazi Germany. However, the scenes are altered to place robots in the victims' places and, although none of the original scenes used as inspiration in this feature occurred in the US or involved Americans, they now all feature Americans as the villains. I know that the intent was to push the limits and make the story very dramatic, even uncomfortable, but it blew past that line and went straight to contentious and vile.

Overall, I gave this DVD a 2-star rating, out of respect for "Final Flight of the Osiris." Otherwise, it would easily have earned the lowest rating.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Depressing yet sooo good. Best animation I've seen!
Review: This is such a work of art. This one deserves space in your permanent DVD library. Has information that is very relevant to the movie yet was not revealed in the movie. Sooo good.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: 2 of the segments were great, the rest were not.
Review: I was very disapointed with this film. I was looking forward to this DVD more then I was looking forward to Reloaded. But it did not live up to my expectations.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fills in some holes.
Review: This was very cool. Interesting to see the different styles of animation. Filled in some holes in the story.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: BETTER THAN MATRIx RELOADED
Review: Loved "The Matrix" and more than a little disappointed by "The Matrix Reloaded"? Then check out THE ANIMATRIX. This superb, eye-popping and mind-engaging anthology of nine short animated films fleshes out background info and parallel stories that make much clearer just how the human-created machine world was able to subjugate the human race. These visionary, stylized films were commissioned by Matrix writer-directors Larry and Andy Wachowski and feature seven of the best anime artist from Japan, America and Korea. My favorites: The photo-realistic (CGI) "Final Flight of the Osiris I" and the hand-drawn "The Second Renaissance Parts I & II." Not for little kids. Recommended.


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