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Produced by Various
Directed
by Various
In
1999 the Wachoski brothers changed western movies, TV shows and computer games
forever with the introduction of “Bullet Time”. This makes the camera spin 360 degrees around a character
while everything in the background goes blurry to simulate speed.
Of course this was revolutionary, shocking even. It was on this
alone that The Matrix was praised as the biggest movie ever!
On closer inspection The Matrix is in fact a one trick pony
dressed in a pandas’ clothes. “Bullet
Time” was the only thing that separated The Matrix from any other movie
in the west and now all of them do it as for the clothes put simply all the
Wachoski brothers did was take Ghost in The Shell and fuse it with Hard
Boiled, sad but true. And so
with the release of the second movie Larry and Andy [Wachoski] decided to pay
tribute to anime in their own unique way with The Animatrix.
First
things first this package is nine separate movies written by the brothers
Wachoski and directed by many famous Japanese [or in some cases Chinese or
American] anime and CGI directors. As
you would expect form such a package the quality is mixed some movies boarder on
excellent while others are simply appalling.
I feel that looking at every movie individually is the best thing to do
so I’ll start form the very beginning [it’s a very good place to start!]
The
first episode [Final Flight of The Osiris] is tied in with the second Matrix
and acts as a prequel of sorts. This
episode takes the form of a CGI movie courtesy of Square Films [Final
Fantasy: The Spirits Within] and is directed by Andy Jones.
The film places the two protagonists in a simulation swordfight where
gradually their clothes fall off. This is used to show Square’s advanced skin
and muscle rendering systems in play and of course the whole thing looks
wonderfully realistic. Despite the
fantastic visuals the opening sequence is the only worthwhile piece of action
[that and the heroine making her way through Zion in acrobatic fashion in order
to deliver a distress package] apart from these sequences the space combat and
general goings on are quite boring to watch pretty but boring none the less this
is beautiful eye candy but nothing that challenges one’s intellect.
Following
the first film we have Maeda’s The Second Renaissance a deeper look at
the relationship between man and machine and the differing opinions surrounding
the treatment and rights of mechanical beings.
This episode comes in two parts and while it is not the prettiest of the
nine shorts is one of the more interesting in terms of ethics and scope.
It charts the machines rise to power after near annihilation by the
humans. Maeda uses computer effects
to create some wonderful imagery and this stands as one [or should that be two]
of the strongest shorts.
After
the Renaissance we have A Kid’s Story directed by one Shinichiro
Watanabe [Director of Cowboy Bebop and the upcoming Samurai Champloo].
Watanabe adopts a very interesting art style for this piece the lines are let
bend on their own free will giving the movie quite a surreal dynamic in the
chase scenes the action flows smoothly although the animation does seem a tad
jittery. The drawings themselves
are very sketchy and the colour pallet’s dreary but this adds to the unreality
of the piece. Being a Watanabe film A Kid’s Story contains some
fantastic music that lends itself to the action superbly.
Following
the fantastic Kid’s Story is Program a samurai themed action
sequence thanks to the people that bought you Ninja Scroll.
The designs and backgrounds are breathtaking every thing moves with such
fluidity the colours used remind me of Japanese woodblock work and the whole
thing has a very old fashioned feel to it.
The action is done in quite a Matrix esque fashion and is the
first episode to do so the camera movement and angles are particularly
reminiscent of the films.
Next
up is world record the most adventurous of all the projects.
The designs within the movie look as if they were drawn by a graffiti
artist, the characters are deformed and the colours stark.
The sound is however the real star of the movie every sound is emphasized
in order to show the strain placed on the athlete [the main character in the
story is trying to break the land speed record.]
Every crack of a bone, every swish of air and every stretch and tear of
sinew and tendons it’s absolutely brilliant.
Be open minded when viewing this it’s not anime style but it is
directed with the greatest of care and skill a fantastic debut from a fantastic
artist.
Beyond
is the worst
of all the films. The character
designs are boring compared to the beautiful backgrounds and the whole film
serves as nothing more than a distraction from the other eight pieces the plot
concerns a girl who’s cat leads her to a bug in “the matrix” it’s not
very exciting at all the direction is interesting enough but lacks a purpose and
the piece feels unfinished and badly scripted.
The
penultimate movie A Detective’s Story a film noir styled look at the Matrix
universe and in my opinion the best of the lot director Shinichiro Watanabe
is in his element mixing hard boiled direction and visual prowess with his
trademark musical accompaniment. The
visuals are the most exciting part of the film mixing black and white film grain
with coloured fire and gunshots it all looks fantastic and is presented in such
high quality that it is hard to ignore just how damn pretty it is.
The story also fits in nicely concerning the hero [a private detective
named Ash] on the trail of none other than Trinity there are nods to previous
works such as Cowboy Bebop in the style of the piece.
This film never disappoints and is proof of just how good a director
Watanabe-san is.
The
final piece Matriculated, directed by Peter Chong [Aeon Flux] centers
upon the relationship between a woman and a machine. The movie is reminiscent to
me at least of early Heavy Metal comic book stories [so too Is the art]
and looks suitably strange. There
is however a problem with the look of the movie.
As with previous experiments in the medium the 2D and CG art clashes and
looks unnatural characters appear to be out of perspective or running on nothing
however the use of CG does allow some fantastic effects to be implemented.
The dream sequences in particular look splendidly surreal and complement
to the fact that the characters are indeed in another world.
The love story between the robot and the main heroine is also quite
touching and the ending is frighteningly dark and rounds up the package on a
less than happy note a great ending movie even though it’s not the best
looking of them all.
Warner
Brothers have put together a fine package with The Animatrix however the
fact that none of the movies are available to watch in Japanese is disappointing
however the dubs are fantastic [it’s as if the characters were animated to
speak English maybe they were I don’t know] the extra features are also of a
high quality including some eye opening directors’ commentaries.
Not a movie I would buy it does warrant a rental recommendation the movie
throws a new spin on the otherwise [in my opinion] boring Matrix universe
and serves as a good diversion for fans of the series as well.
Seven out of Ten
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