animatrix



	THE ANIMATRIX * (out of **) Based on the films �The Matrix� and �The Matrix Reloaded� directed & written by Larry and Andy Wachowski. 2003 NR (should be R)

			�Kid�s Story� Directed by Shinichiro Watanabe & written by Larry and Andy Wachowski �World Record� Directed by Takeshi Koike & written by Yoshiaki Kawajiri �The Final Flight of the Osiris� Directed by Andy Jones & written by Larry and Andy Wachowski �Matriculated� Directed & written by Peter Chung
		�The Second Renaissance, Parts I & II� Directed by Mahiro Maeda & written by Larry and Andy Wachowski �Program� Directed & written by Yoshiaki Kawajiri �Beyond� Directed by Kouji Morimoto �Detective Story� Directed & written by Shinichiro Watanabe


The animated short films that comprise �The Animatrix� are all foreplay and no climax. The payoff to every film is stuff that we already know from having watched the two �Matrix� features. What we get are details, backstory, footnotes, a few samples of the limited variations of what can go on within the Matrix, and in a few cases, virtual re-enactments of interludes from the two feature films. �The Animatrix� is intended for fans who just can�t get enough, who don�t just gobble up sci-fi movies but the novelizations, websites, and fan-zines that go with them. They are unwilling to let their knowledge of their chosen pop-culture mythologies be anything short of exhaustive, and instead of the magical mystery of the unknown they prefer the diagnosis of a post-mortem. Film critic Roger Ebert says that �part of the fun is becoming an expert in the deep meaning of shallow pop mythology; there is something refreshingly ironic about becoming an authority on the transient extrusions of mass culture.� While I share a certain smiling affinity with those who take this approach, life is too short to make it my own. I never want to read Arthur C. Clarke�s �2001: A Space Odyssey,� I don�t need to understand �Mulholland Drive,� I don�t need to know exactly what happens to Nick Nolte at the three-quarter mark of �The Thin Red Line,� and I never want to know the identity of that guy who deactivates the nuke in �Goldfinger.� Some will say that art that does not cater to an audience by not answering all its questions is mere masturbation. But I say that trying to reduce the world to a list of dry facts, and rob it of its wonder in order to inflate one�s sense of intelligence, is vanity. But foreplay can be pretty cool, vanity has brought us all the wonders of science, and, as eye candy, �The Animatrix� is a success. The nine segments of �The Animatrix� are more often than not visually splendid, kinetically exciting, fast-paced, and lucid. The work of multiple studios and directors, they also serve as an accessible sampler of animation styles that haven�t quite broken into the mainstream. They are all based around the same points established in �The Matrix� features, which is that the world we know is a computer simulation (the Matrix) built by machines intent on eating our mental energy. A human resistance exists, both inside and outside the simulation, and their main adversaries are the agents, human-looking programs that keep order within the Matrix. The first two segments are the centerpieces of �The Animatrix.� Entitled �The Second Renaissance,� they bring us up to speed if we�ve never seen �The Matrix� or if our Matrix-ology is a little shaky. In the not-too-distant future (God, I love that�let me just say that again�in the not-too-distant future), mankind has become dependent on legions of robots to do everything for him. But when a particular robot becomes self-aware, and kills the family that intends to throw it on the rubbish heap, a schism between man and machine develops. The robots try protesting, creating their own nation, and joining the UN. All these attempts fail and soon there is an all-out war that the machines win, bringing us to the beginning of �The Matrix.� Page two of "The Animatrix." Back to home.

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