Just to round out my revisiting of "The Matrix", I decided to watch "The Animatrix" again. It's a collection of animated shorts that fill out the world of the films, with more detail about specific events, or a secondary unrelated story set in the same world. There are nine films that make up the series, they are as follows.
Final Flight of the Osiris. This one ties directly into the films, as it's how the crews learn about the machines drilling towards Zion. It's a CGI effort that was cutting edge at the time, but is now superseded by most video games and certainly by all contemporary efforts. It's a little odd, there's a sexy fight scene which is made a bit weirder by the fact you know there's an operator watching them but on the whole, this was good.
The Second Renaissance. This one is split into two parts and is the history of the war between machines and man. Backstory written by the Wachowskis, this has more traditional animation techniques and some horrific imagery of violence and gore.
Kids Story. Again, this feeds directly into the film, as it's the story of the kid from the sequels and what Neo did to rescue him. Keanu and Carrie-Anne Moss both voice their own characters. It's a CGI/traditional animation mix this time, but the results were a bit to underwhelming for me.
Program. Another mixed animation style. This one is again inside the Matrix, with a feudal Japan setting as a character tries to convince another to join him in re-entering "The Matrix". Better than "Kids Story" but not as interesting as the previous ones.
World Record. I found the traditional animation style on this one to be quite ugly. It's about a sprinter who self-actualises and sees the truth of the Matrix without outside help. I found myself not really caring about he story though.
Beyond. A woman tracks her cat into a "haunted house", which turns out to be a house where the Matrix has glitched somehow and the rules of physics aren't applied correctly. Though an interesting idea, it's another episode I struggled to get much enthusiasm for.
A Detective Story. Though again I struggled to care about the storyline, about a detective hunting Trinity for reasons I can't quite remember, this one, at least, had some stylish pencil art designs to keep me interested.
Matriculated. A colourful effort about humans trapping a machine within the Matrix, to try and teach it some emotion ( I think). Again, nice to look at but a dull story.
Overall, the ones written by the Wachowski's themselves are solid additions to the series, and the final flight of the Osiris is perhaps even essential. Many of the rest though don't have either the premise, or the story, to be worthwhile.
Final Flight of the Osiris. This one ties directly into the films, as it's how the crews learn about the machines drilling towards Zion. It's a CGI effort that was cutting edge at the time, but is now superseded by most video games and certainly by all contemporary efforts. It's a little odd, there's a sexy fight scene which is made a bit weirder by the fact you know there's an operator watching them but on the whole, this was good.
The Second Renaissance. This one is split into two parts and is the history of the war between machines and man. Backstory written by the Wachowskis, this has more traditional animation techniques and some horrific imagery of violence and gore.
Kids Story. Again, this feeds directly into the film, as it's the story of the kid from the sequels and what Neo did to rescue him. Keanu and Carrie-Anne Moss both voice their own characters. It's a CGI/traditional animation mix this time, but the results were a bit to underwhelming for me.
Program. Another mixed animation style. This one is again inside the Matrix, with a feudal Japan setting as a character tries to convince another to join him in re-entering "The Matrix". Better than "Kids Story" but not as interesting as the previous ones.
World Record. I found the traditional animation style on this one to be quite ugly. It's about a sprinter who self-actualises and sees the truth of the Matrix without outside help. I found myself not really caring about he story though.
Beyond. A woman tracks her cat into a "haunted house", which turns out to be a house where the Matrix has glitched somehow and the rules of physics aren't applied correctly. Though an interesting idea, it's another episode I struggled to get much enthusiasm for.
A Detective Story. Though again I struggled to care about the storyline, about a detective hunting Trinity for reasons I can't quite remember, this one, at least, had some stylish pencil art designs to keep me interested.
Matriculated. A colourful effort about humans trapping a machine within the Matrix, to try and teach it some emotion ( I think). Again, nice to look at but a dull story.
Overall, the ones written by the Wachowski's themselves are solid additions to the series, and the final flight of the Osiris is perhaps even essential. Many of the rest though don't have either the premise, or the story, to be worthwhile.