The Animatrix

This anime Supplement to The Matrix trilogy is comprised of 9 different animated short films from 8 different anime directors. The variety of animation styles is visually pleasing, although the stories themselves are hit and miss. The cinema version has sort of rearranged the order of the shorts from the original order of the home video release. Overall: 3 1/2 stars.

The Second Renaissance Part I:

This all is crazy and yet eerily plausible. The humans may be the good guys in the movies, but it's clear they were the bad guys at the start of the war. This mess is entirely on them. 3 1/2 stars.

The Second Renaissance: Part II:

This part however is MUCH less credible. The blacking out of the sky is not something humans would EVER do for any reason. And frankly if the humans were able to do it, that SHOULD mean the robots should be able to undo it pretty easily. The more I think about it, the more that bit of The Matrix canon doesn't hold up. 2 1/2 stars.

Program:

The animation in this one was excellent. 3 1/2 stars.

World Record:

The character designs and animation are stretchy, pulsating, and somewhat grotesque. It's not pretty, but the visuals are very interesting to look at. 3 1/2 stars.

Kid's Story:

The has dream-like imagery with "sketchy", squiggling animation very similar to Bill Plympton's. And Neo and Trinity pop up at the end. The echoing voices at the school heighten the feeling of unreality in the short. It's very interesting. 4 stars.

Beyond:

The story is ambiguous and the animation is far brighter and more colorful than the other (non-Peter Chung) segments. 4 stars.

A Detective Story:

The black and white animation is ultra detailed and seems to have somehow been treated so it looks as grainy and weathered as an old black and white film. The story is intriguing and the ending mysterious as well. I liked it very much. 4 1/2 stars.

Matriculated:

This has the best animation of the shorts. It is gorgeous. Peter Chung is the only director on the project I recognize, and the long lips and angular chins are totally his trademark. He is finally allowed to play around with 2-D CGI models too. It all looks great.

The premise of humans creating a Matrix for robots is a very unusual and interesting idea. .

The short isn't perfect however. I found the ending far too bleak considering the fanciful tone throughout most of it. 4 stars.

Final Flight Of The Osiris:

The story is good and the CGI effects are great. However the computer character animation from 2003 is creepy, unsettling, and totally uncanny valley. It's tough to look at. 2 1/2 stars.