Matrix, Animatrix, Anime, Animation, DVD, Pictures, CG-Animation

Summary: A training simulation is quickly interrupted as the Osiris discovers hordes of sentinels and strange machines digging into the ground. The crew soon realizes that this army is planning to dig through the earth and reach Zion and attack. One of the crew members is then sent through The Matrix to send a warning message to Zion about the oncoming army.

The Art: Obviously the art in Final Flight of the Osiris is simply amazing. The sheer amount of detail is eerie and it is truly remarkable how realistic computer animation can look nowadays. The animation is astounding as well as the graphics. Final Flight is certainly one of the most eye pleasing clips of all the stories in The Animatrix.

The Story: The story is okay, and it does relate a little to the movies. I liked how it started with a simple, every day training program until the crew realizes what is going on. The dialogue, however, is not the most inspiring aspect of this short story. “I peeked,” and “So did I,” made me laugh, but not as the creators probably intended. I laughed more to the fact that I thought it was corny and stupid rather than actually funny. All in all, a decent story but you can find much better on the other Animatrix clips.

Final Thoughts: Overall, I feel this clip shows exactly why Final Fantasy, The Spirits Within failed at the box office. This entire clip was mostly an excuse to show off fancy graphics. Fancy they were but the other aspects of this clip were quite neglected. Somehow the Final Fantasy games must steal all the good storylines because whenever it is converted into movie form, somehow something is lost. Overall though, it is a good start to the Animatrix. Strong, solid, kick-ass graphics and animation starts the Animatrix off at a good level. And the lack of good story is soon made up for in the next two clips.

Summary: The Second Renaissance is split into two different sections and together they explain the history of The Matrix and the war between humans and machines. Part 1 mostly explains the birth of the machine race. This part also explains the first robot to ever rebel against his masters. B166ER was the first step towards the war between humans and machines.

The Art: The art in The Second Renaissance Part 1 is very good. The animation and graphics are what you would expect from a high class anime movie. The art isn’t really anything new, but it works and looks quite good. It is mostly a blend between classic anime and computer graphics.

The Story: The story of The Second Renaissance is certainly the most important aspect of the clip. It tells the tale of how the machines came to be and how the war between machines and robots erupted. There are many different scenes of how human beings brutally attacked machines, many of them making reference to former wars. It is definitely interesting to see how the war began and why. It is certainly one of the more interesting stories in The Animatrix.

Final Thoughts: Save it for after the second part ;)

 Summary: Part 2 of The Second Renaissance is mostly dedicated to the actual war between machines and humans. It shows how humans scorched the skies in an attempt to stop the machines, and how the machines took humans as their slaves and created The Matrix.

The Art: The artwork in Part 2 is pretty much the same thing as Part 1. It’s a good, almost seamless blend of computer animation and classic anime style. Very good.

The Story: Part 2 of The Second Renaissance is a bit different than 1. Part 1 mostly showed how the humans attacked machines, and Part 2 is how the machines retaliated. Then it shows how the humans scorched the skies and how The Matrix originated.

Final Thoughts: The Second Renaissance Part 1 and 2 are possibly the greatest short stories of The Animatrix. This is because the animation and art are very good, the storyline is great, and everything seems summed up very well for the short time the creators had. The story was also dark and disturbing, and it felt exactly how it would have been told if the original creators of The Matrix had told it. Excellent work I must say!
Summary: A boy, an outcast, a dreamer. He feels more real when he is dreaming than when he is in the real world. He talks to a strange person on the internet named Neo. Neo tries to guide the boy outside of The Matrix, but he becomes trapped by agents. The boy then jumps from the top of his school on to the ground and frees himself from The Matrix.

The Art: The Artwork in Kid’s Story is the oddest form of animation I have ever seen. However the creators did it, they managed to create a very sketchy form of animation and style. Each frame is like the initial sketchy stage of animation. While all the people are very sketchy the backgrounds are still images. This makes the entire clip look VERY surreal which actually makes it perfect for this type of scenario. Some will hate this style, others will adore it. All I say is that I loved it because it fit so will in this type of situation.

The Story: Kid’s Story actually does relate back to The Matrix Reloaded. Remember that kid that was so eager to help Neo with his bags? Well this story is how he escaped from The Matrix. It is definitely an interesting story. It’s like one of those typical suicide stories. A boy that feels out of place in the world decides to kill himself and ‘be free.’ This is pretty much the story here except that he actually does become free, from the bondage of The Matrix.

Final Thoughts: The Kid’s Story certainly has the most innovative and interesting art style of all the Animatrix stories. And in the end whether you adore or distaste this form of animation is probably what will allow you to enjoy or not enjoy this story. The actual story itself, though, is good in its entirety, but the artwork is the most standalone part of this short clip.
Summary: During a simulation sparing exercise, Duo tries to seduce the girl into going back to The Matrix with him. They fight and battle each other with weapons and words and the girl ends up the victor. She awakens from the battle to realize that it was only just a training exercise.

The Art: The animation is very slick and the graphics look exceptionally smooth as well. I noticed that the use of colors added to the element of the story. The blood-red sky certainly added to the chaotic action going on during their fight. There nothing really too original or innovative in this style but it works very well nonetheless.

The Story: The story has absolutely nothing to do with The Matrix besides the concepts. The story doesn’t intertwine with either movie and doesn’t explain anything from the past. In a sense that is cool because it is like its own standalone story. But at the same time it’s a bit disappointing, since one of the reasons to get The Animatrix is to learn more about The Matrix Trilogy. Regardless though, it was a good storyline. It was basically like Cipher when he betrayed everyone and tried to return to The Matrix.

Final Thoughts: Overall this story is probably my favorite over all the rest. The action is packed and nonstop, the art just looks exceptionally smooth, and the story is interesting. I also liked it because, as opposed to the other stories, this one really only had two characters in it, which made the dialogue much more personal and the storyline much more linear.

Summary: “Only the most exceptional become aware of The Matrix. Those that learn it exists much possess a rare degree of awareness, sensitivity, and a questioning nature. However, very rarely gain this knowledge from wholly different means. This man is one of these few.” In this episode of The Matrix, a man escapes from The Matrix by setting a world record in a track run.

The Art: I love the art in this one! The main character, Dan, is one of the smoothest looking characters I have seen. The art in this clip has only two colors for shading, which makes the entire thing look really slick. Everything in this story looks very smooth, but at the same time has a very surreal look to it. Overall I think this is my favorite art style of all the stories.

The Story: The story in World Record, although is unrelated to The Matrix Trilogy it is still an innovative and interesting look at The Matrix. Instead of learning that he was trapped inside of The Matrix, he instead discovered it through strange means. Overall, it is an interesting story and one of my favorites.

Final Thoughts: World Record provides an interesting look at The Matrix with a very stylish and slick-looking form of art. The sound effects also add greatly to the movement of the animation. Overall, this story is certainly one of my favorites for the slick animation style and the interesting look at The Matrix.
Summary: The Oracle told Neo in Reloaded that all the strange stories about Vampires, Werewolves, and other such things are in fact true, and that they are renegade programs doing things they are not supposed to be doing. This story provides a look into that sort of a thing when a young girl tries to find her cat at a haunted house. Strange stuff takes place in there while she and three little kids play around.

The Art: The art is a lot like The Second Renaissance. The most noteworthy part of the artwork, though, is the use of colors. The main character, Yuki, has complementary colors of Orange and Blue in her hair, making her stand out a lot. Plus the rest of the story is very colorful and beautiful.

The Story: Beyond is another one of the stories that does not directly relate to The Matrix, but is certainly related to it. What I like most about this story is that it is unlike the others as it not based around deep dark disturbing concepts or violence like The Second Renaissance. It provides an interesting look into The Matrix as World Record did.

Final Thoughts: This story is definitely unlike the others as it is more relaxed and laid back than the other ones. The story is not quite as serious, it just shows an interesting look at The Matrix. Overall, it looks good, it feels good, and sounds good. So… it’s good.
Summary: A detective, named Ash, takes on a mysterious case to find a hacker named Trinity. In amidst his search he found that other detectives took on the same case and all of them either went insane or was killed. When he finally finds Trinity, he discovers that it was all a set up. Trinity tries to free Mr. Ash from The Matrix but it is too late.

The Art: The Art in A Detective Story is quite unique. For starters, the picture is deliberately gritty and black and white to give it an old-fashioned theme. A Detective Story is very stylish and fits perfectly for the story. It’s not very impressive, but it still looks damn good.

The Story: The story to A Detective Story is similar to Dick Tracy. Mr. Ash takes on a weird case to find a hacker named Trinity. So the story does tie in a bit with The Matrix, but as with most of these stories it doesn’t directly tie into The Matrix Trilogy. Overall, if you like suspenseful and mystery-solving stories then you should love A Detective Story.

Final Thoughts: A Detective Story was a great addition to The Animatrix. It ties in an interesting story with a slick art style to make the overall movie clip very smooth. Detective Story is not for all, but personally, it’s certainly one of my favorites.
Summary: A small group of humans outside of the matrix lure a few machines into their hideout to do some testing. They try and convert one of the machines to their side by showing it a different world inside of the virtual one. Everything goes well until the group is attacked and killed by another group of machines.

The Art: The art in Matriculated is very sci-fi looking and it looks very futuristic. For a story that takes place outside of the matrix I see it as very fitting. But then, when the group takes a trip into the virtual side the graphics get very colorful and quite beautiful.

The Story: The story in Matriculated is an interesting one indeed. I found it interesting that instead of reprogramming the machine to their side they decided to try and get it to convert. The way they did it through the virtual world was really cool too. But then… the sentinels came and everyone died… it was rather an odd end to the clip, needless to say. I enjoyed everything about the story until the ending. The ending was just… disappointing.

Final Thoughts: Matriculated was one of my least favorites of all the Animatrix stories. Not to say it was bad, I just didn’t think it was as good as the other ones. The art was excellent, especially inside the virtual world and the story was good, but it all ended terribly. If the clip had a better ending I certainly would have enjoyed it much further.