intelligent agent 2003.2 animatrix.lichty.01 v03.02.reviews DVD reviews nature oftheMatrixitself. offered agreatdealmorecontextforthe the movieinthat'TheMatrixReloaded somewhat different ifIhadseenitbefore reaction to'Animatrixmighthavebeen of themovie--Imightassumethatmy release ofthistitlepredatedtheopening 'The MatrixReloaded,and--sincethe Secondly, IviewedtheDVDafter seeing assessment iseducated,butfair. non. Insayingthis,I'mhopingthatmy Culture andtheentireMatrixphenome- deep interestinbothJapanese Pop title like'Animatrix,Ihavetoadmitmy But beforeenteringintoanyreviewofa of its inspiration. be aninterestingritornellotothesource treatment ofMatrixstorieswouldseemto anime andmanga. Therefore, toseeananime-based and visualstyleof'TheMatrixisheavilyinfluencedby Square. Thisonlymakessense,asmuchofthenarrative Japanese Anime (animation)artists, suchasXand nine shorts basedintheMatrixuniversecreatedbynoted awaited byMatrixdevoteesisthe'Animatrix,aseriesof currently with TMR. One of theprojects moreeagerly the otherassociatedMatrixmediaprojects releasedcon- Brothers Wachowski, youareprobablyalsonotawareof campaign thatparallels theverystoryputforthby not awareofthejuggernaut'TheMatrixReloadedmedia If youareoneofthefivepercentFirstWorld thatis the masters ofthegenre from whichtheMatrix creatorsdrew. less questionable astheartistsproducingvideos aresomeof on thefirstpoint, andforthesecondpoint,Animatrix isalittle Given theseparameters, theseriessucceedsforhalf theworks language oftheWachowskis andlikewiseexpanded onitaswell. interested inseeingiftheshortstook themanga-inspiredvisual that stillfitwellwithintheMatrixmatrix. Secondly,Iwasalso movies, oriftherewereexpansions intonovel,unchartedterritory animations weresimplyextensions oftheelementstwo under whichIwatchedtheseshorts wasprimarilywhetherthe Having beensofamiliarwiththeextant Matrixoeuvre,thecriteria written bytheWachowskis themselves,Iwouldhave cursors to'TheMatrixReloaded.Althoughtheplotwas on plotbeyondafairlystraightforward expositionofpre- -- namely,thattheshortwaslongonvisuals,but lems Squarehadwith'FinalFantasy,TheSpirisWithin of sensitivitytovisualstyle,Osirisreflectedsimilarprob- tation oftheworld'TheMatrixdonewithagreatdeal met. Although itisavisuallystunning3DCGI represen- ning ofMatrixReloaded),mylowexpectations were Flight oftheOsiris'(whichfiguresheavilyinbegin- tations thanothers;inthecaseofSquare's'TheFinal However, therearepiecesforwhichIhad lower expec- Warner Bros./VariousArtists, Review byPatrickLichty The Animatrix Images courtesyWarner Bros 2003 . intelligent agent 2003.2 animatrix.lichty.02 v03.02.reviews the results arenot the humans. Although them tothecauseof cation, converting direct Matrixcommuni- machines and,through humans capturing short: theideaof unmentioned untilthis a conceptcompletely Matriculated explores play intheiryouth). places wherechildren subtle analogyfor (perhaps anottoo area intoaparking lot youth andpave the to removetheplaying cal playuntilthesystemadministratorsarrive bows. The afternoon turnsintoasiteofmagi- the roofwhereitrains,andunexplainedrain- bizarre glitchesinthelawsofphysics,holes to findhercat.Withinthehouse,shefinds encounter witha"hauntedhouseasshegoes greater extent.'Beyonddescribesagirl's within themoviesandexplorethemtoamuch well, butalsotake elements onlyhintedat 'Beyond andMatriculated,whichareexecuted Matrix universewonderfully, amongthem Nonetheless, othersegmentsexpandonthe alized bytheteamatSquare. ticular segmentthatwouldbebeautifullyvisu- liked tohaveseeafewmoretwists tothispar- Matrix saga. provide suitable intellectualfodder untilthenextinstallment ofthe for thosemorecriticallyinclined, theDVDholdsupwellenoughto winter. It'sanexcellentaddition to aMatrixenthusiast'slibrary,and mation astheseriesofmovies culminatesin'MatrixRevolutionsthis of thegapsinmovie,andaddsome interestingcontextualinfor- watch theDVDbeforeseeing 'MatrixReloaded,asitwillfillinsome flat; somearemerelybetterthanothers.Butifyouget thechance, prises andintellectualchallenges,noneoftheshorts completelyfall cism ofapproximatelyhalftheDVDstemsfromwanting moresur- themes, andsomejustplainenjoyableeyecandy. Although mycriti- on theMatrixuniverse,somemarvelousexpansion ontheoriginal movie, butthedisciswellworthpricetogainfurther background to myinterestinvirtualcultureandoriginalpassion forthefirst Perhaps myreviewofthisparticular titlehasbeenabitstringent due allow fortherichertonalqualityoforiginalvoice acting. strongly recommendswitchingtoJapanese withEnglish subtitlesto offered, andalthoughthesoundtrack defaults toEnglish,Iwould including interviewsand"Makingof"footage. Multiplelanguages are Wachowski projects todate,andoffers awealthofDVDextras, All inall,'Animatrixistypicallywellcrafted,asareallofthe tance, perhapsanallusiontohisbeinganother"discipleofsors. in thesecondmovie),andhowheactuallyawokewithoutassis- that freedom.And,in'Kid'sStory,weseeNeo'snew"friend(asseen environment, helacksboththecontextandconnectionstoretain Record' suggeststhatalthoughhehasatainedknowledgeofhis "self-substantiation"). Theawakeningoftheproagonistin'World its physicalcapabilities tothesurvivalofperceptualdeath(termed some extremeexperience,frompushingone'sbodytoofarbeyond terms. Ineachcase,itappearsthatthecommondenominatoris unique perspectivesonwakeningconsciousness,inthemovie's insights intohumanperceptionandtheMatrix.Bothshorts offer Two otherpieces,'WorldRecordandKid'sStoryofferunique machine interaction,makeupforthesomberovertoneofpiece. the animators,aswelluniqueglimpse intootherhuman- optimal forthehumans,fantastic Moebius-likemilieudevisedby Images courtesyWarner Bros .