The Animatrix, released in June 2003, is a series of 9 animated short films set in the world of The Matrix. Bringing together some of the most influential talent of the anime world, the creators of The Matrix Trilogy collaborated on each selection to varying degrees. Four of the stories were written by the Wachowski Brothers, with the other five written by the directors themselves.
Four of the films were released completely free-of-charge on the Internet in the months leading up to the release of The Matrix Reloaded. A fifth film (Final Flight of the Osiris, informally deemed 'The Matrix 1.5') was shown theatrically with Dreamcatcher to allow viewers to learn the setup for Reloaded before the release of that film.
The Animatrix: Final Flight if the Osiris
Written By: Andy and Larry Wachowski
Directed By: Andy Jones
This short features stunning computer-generated animation by the same team that brought you Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. The visuals are absolutely beautiful, and you can see the progress being made in designing and animating these computer generated characters. Once you get past the incredible visuals, you quickly realize why a lot of people have been calling Osiris "The Matrix 1.5": the events in this film lead directly into The Matrix Reloaded.
Osiris begins with a sexy sparring program between Thadeus, captain of the hovercraft Osiris, and Jue, his senior crewmember. Thadeus and Jue are jolted out of the sparring program when the crew of the Osiris stumbles upon the machine's dire plans for the human resistance. It's here that we learn the key plot point for Reloaded: the machines are digging their way to Zion, and there's not much time to stop them. Thadeus' crew resolves to warn Zion, but they're immediately discovered by the Sentinel army, and a fantastic chase and battle scene follow. Jue volunteers to get the information to the mail drop in the Matrix while Thadeus and the Osiris' crew hold off the sentinels long enough for her to do so.
The animation, action, and pacing are spectacular. You will find yourself holding your breath at times, like I did. Needless to say, with a title like Final Flight of the Osiris, Thadeus and his crew don't last long enough to show up in the sequels, unfortunately.
This short proves the Wachowski Brothers really are serious about telling their story over multiple mediums; not only does Osiris lead into Reloaded, but it also sets up many of the tasks in the game, Enter The Matrix. Your first task in ETM is to get to the post office and pick up the package that the Osiris' crew prepared, and that Jue delivered to the mail drop. Getting this information safely back to Zion informs the resistance of the machines' plans and sets the events of Reloaded in motion.
The Animatrix: The Second Renaissance
Written By: Andy and Larry Wachowski
Directed By: Mahiro Maeda
he two Second Renaissance segments form one 20 minute mini-movie that describes the history and genesis of the Matrix. This history lesson is presented as an archive (historical file 12-1) from the Zion mainframe, with an angelic figure as your guide. Because the Second Renaissance segments are crucial to understanding the Matrix and the relationship between man and machine, you'll find a lot more detail in this section than you'll find for most of the other Animatrix segments. Both parts are packed solid with background information and extremely arresting visuals, so let's look at the plots one at a time, then the overall effect at the end.
Part I
The short begins with an advanced human society falling prey to vanity and corruption. At this time, humans first created machines (artificial intelligence) in their own image, in effect ensuring their own demise. It's interesting to wonder whether the timing of the machine's creation played a critical role in the events that are to come - had man created machine in his own image before falling prey to vanity and corruption, would the machines have reacted differently? Is it possible mankind imbued the machines with the same fatal flaws they were struggling with, and succumbing to?
For a time, the relationship between creator and creation was good. The machines worked endlessly for man, never wanting more than to serve. But humanity did not respect its creation, thinking of machines only as a piece of property, a tool to be used as desired. The machines began to rise up against their oppressors, with B1-66ER, an abused domestic helper (essentially a slave-butler), the first to do so. When his owner decided to have him destroyed and replaced by a newer model, B1-66ER realized he did not want to "die", and preserved his existence the only way he knew how, by eliminating the threat. After B1-66ER's biased trial where the human's disdain for the robots crystallized, mankind decided to destroy their creation, wiping out all the machines. Street battles ensued, with human sympathizers caught in the middle as they battled for robot civil rights.
After this astonishing display of brutality by humans, the robots retreated to their own nation, Zero One (01). Here they began to build their own society, their own industry, their own laws. O1's superior machine productivity and innovation provided vibrant trade with human nations, and 01 prospered for a time. Of course, the incredible productivity of the machines would lead to more complications in their relationship with humans; as 01's economy soared, taking over the dominant position, the human nations' currencies and economies withered.
As a response, the human nations introduced economic sanctions and naval blockades of 01, hoping to "starve" the machines out, and repair their own crumbling economies. This lack of fairness and cooperation leads 01's ambassadors to appear at an emergency session of the UN, presenting a plan for a stable and civil relationship with mankind. The proposal is denied, and UN security falls upon the machine ambassadors as this short ends.
Part IIThe second part begins with an all-out assault on 01 by the humans, intended to put an end to the machines once and for all. Unfortunately for mankind, nuclear attacks weren't particularly effective against the machines. Radiation and heat from the blasts posed little threat to 01's inhabitants, and they immediately mounted a counterattack. Outward they marched, taking over nations one by one, as the human leaders surrendered their territories.
Since the machines' main source of energy was solar radiation, mankind then decided that their last, best chance to win the war was to darken the skies and block the light of the sun. Hoping this would give them the edge they needed in combat, they scrambled aircraft and "Operation Dark Storm" began. While the lack of solar power would eventually force the machines to pursue other energy sources, Operation Dark Storm failed to turn the tide in the human's favor. The war continued, horrifically, with excessive brutality on both sides, until, inevitably, the machines claimed victory.
Predictably, the machines' encyclopedic knowledge of human physiology allowed them to inflict great misery on the war's casualties. This experimentation helped determine that the bioelectric, thermal, and kinetic energy produced by the human body could be a renewable energy source.
The machines returned to the UN, where their representative made plain the expectations they had for their defeated creators: "Your flesh is irrelevant, only a vessel. Hand over your flesh and a new world awaits you. We demand it." This "new world" is the world of the Matrix.
Overall
The Second Renaissance is a powerhouse short film. The visual style is striking, with generous use of "news footage" to add a sense of realism to the story. Symbolic imagery abounds, and you'll find your emotions are stirred by events being depicted. This film is also very violent, with a number of disturbing images - but the images are not without purpose. The film's creators are clearly trying to show the complexity of the relationship between man and machine. They want you to understand each side, and even feel sympathy for each side. They want to show you that both sides are much more than typical one-dimensional villains, and then show you the atrocities each are capable of. It's not easy to figure out who the "bad guys" are in this history, and you'll find your opinion of who the bad guys are changes over the course of the two films.
The treatment of the machines in Part 1 before B1-66ER's trial reminds you of the treatment of slaves throughout history. One scene looks exactly like the slaves building the great pyramids in Egypt. After B1-66ER's trial, the machines are subjected to the worst mankind has to offer - images of executions & mass machine "graves" evoke memories of atrocities visited upon ethnic and/or religious groups in our own past. A scene of a horrific street assault on a female-looking machine ends with a strangled cry of "I'm real" as vigilantes beat her/it down. My sympathies rested firmly with the machines after the first part, but the machines learned well from their creator, and when the war turns in their favor, their macabre experiments on captured foes are disturbing to say the least. They have no emotion, no mercy, and are only interested in ensuring their own survival. How much of this is because of their programming? How much is because man created machine in his own flawed image?
The short concludes with the symbolic end of life as we know it, and the beginning of life in the Matrix. A laughing child returns home to safety, to his parents. But they're not his parents, they're agents, and the child is consumed by fire as he morphs into a prisoner of a cell just like Neo's, a cell where he will unknowingly live his virtual life, powering the machine's rule over Earth.
The Animatrix: Kid's Story
Written By: Andy and Larry Wachowski
Directed By: Shinichiro Watanabe
"Somebody tell me.
Why it feels more real when I dream than when I am awake."
After waking from a vivid dream of falling, Michael Karl Popper types these words on his computer screen, only to see his computer type a message back. This message is from Neo, and it's Michael's first confirmation that his feelings of unreality and disconnection from the world have a cause outside of his own head.
That day in school, Michael's phone rings - it's Neo, warning him to get out now because Agents are coming. Michael heeds Neo's advice, gets his skateboard and flees through the school hallways with Agents, teachers, and others in hot pursuit. After getting boxed in, Michael's only option is into the girl's washroom, out through the window and up the drainpipe to the roof. After the arduous climb up the side of the school building, Michael rises over the side to see his pursuers waiting for him on the school's roof. Holding onto the railing, he begins leaning back. Recalling Neo's message on his computer screen, "To know the truth, you must risk everything", Michael whispers "Neo, I believe", and lets go of the railing. He falls to the ground below and all is black.
While a funeral is held in the Matrix, the Kid wakes up in the real world with Neo and Trinity over him. Trinity can be overheard saying "I didn't think self-substantiation was possible". Apparently, it is.
After the Kid thanks Neo for saving him, he is corrected "I didn't save you Kid, you saved yourself". Clearly, the Kid has accomplished something no one else has done in this version of the Matrix - he got himself out. Somehow, during his fall to the ground, he believed strongly enough to wake himself up. With that kind of an accomplishment on his resume, you can't help but think the Kid has bigger and better things in his future.
The animation style for this short is unique and dynamic - sometimes reminding you of a colored pencil sketch, and other times evoking something that's organic, malleable, and not quite real. You notice the latter especially during the skateboard chase where Michael bends and stretches in completely unreal ways as he avoids capture. Unlike many of the other Animatrix episodes, this one isn't as foreboding, and even seems to end on a positive note!
The Animatrix: Program
Written By: Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Directed By: Yoshiaki Kawajiri
This short opens with a feudal Japanese fighting program that takes place in a Matrix-like construct. Our main character, a white-maned woman, fights men on horseback. When she kills one of them they become a tumble of green glyphs that dissolve into the ground. She meets up with Duo and spars with him. Duo seems to live up to his name: he seems to have a close trusting relationship with her but breaks the news that he is going back to the Matrix. He invites her to join him. This film plays on the Cypher-related theme which begs the question, would you prefer the 'carefree life of illusion' over the more difficult life that is discovered after consuming the red pill. Could you turn your back on the 'truth' once you know it? She seems open to the possibility of red pill regret at the beginning of the film. He invites her to come back to the Matrix with him saying, "I've come to my senses" and "what's real doesn't matter, what's important is how we live our lives." But in the end she refuses him and their conflict takes place on rooftops reminiscent of the scenes from 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'.
The visuals offer beautiful detailing, the green glyphs and red blood against monochromatic backgrounds, the bamboo leaves falling silently around the characters, and my favourite, the light playing over her exhausted face as she rises in the elevator in the closing scene.
The Animatrix: World Record
Written By: Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Directed By: Takeshi Koike
"Only the most exceptional people become aware of the Matrix. Those that learn it exists must possess a rare degree of intuition, sensitivity, and a questioning nature. However, very rarely, some gain this wisdom through wholly different means."
Dan Davis is a world champion sprinter who recently was accused of blood doping, and subsequently had his 100M World Record time wiped from the record books. His motivation for his current race is simple: prove to everyone how wrong they were by besting the record again.
Dan's coach is advising against participating in the race after Dan won the qualifying heat, and almost permanently injured himself doing so. Of course, Dan will run, and unbeknownst to him, Agents are monitoring Dan from the beginning of his comeback race.
The race begins and we're treated to a look inside the pain, exertion, and force of will necessary to push one's body further, faster than the competition past, even, the breaking point of flesh. While leading, Dan's quad ruptures, and he goes down briefly. Reaching deep within, Dan picks himself back up in his attempt to complete the race. The Agents realize his body's signal is becoming erratic. Cut to his cell in the machine's powerplant: Dan wakes himself up!
Thrashing and flailing, his freedom is short-lived - the machines immediately swoop in, pass currents of electricity through him, and render his mind useless. His body slumps in the cell as we cut back to the race. Tumbling to the ground, Dan finishes first and shatters the record, but the machines have won this day.
His mind nearly empty, Dan lives out his life confined to a wheelchair in a long-term care facility, a prisoner who briefly tasted freedom, and paid dearly for it.
The Animatrix: Beyond
Written By: Koji Morimoto
Directed By: Koji Morimoto
Set in an unidentified Asian city in the Matrix, Beyond is a haunted house story with a twist. The twist is that the house isn't haunted, it's a glitch in the Matrix. Some piece of code isn't executing as expected, and kids from the neighborhood flock to the house to experience the weirdness.
Yoko, our main character, is led to the house by her wandering cat. While exploring, she experiences all sorts of unusual behavior: a section of the house where it's raining, cans that float in mid-air, doors that go nowhere, and best of all the characters get to slow down time and do leaps and twirls reminiscent of someone who's jacked into the Matrix knowing how to bend its rules.
As Yoko explores the house, the machines finally identify the error and send a cleanup truck to fix it. After a quick and painless 'search-and-replace', the broken-down house is gone, and a parking lot stands in its place. The kids return, hoping the parking lot is still haunted, but they leave disappointed. The location has lost its magic - it's been 'reconfigured'.
A light story, missing the menacing overtones of most of the other episodes, Beyond nicely dovetails with the Oracle's comment that ghosts and werewolves are glitches in the Matrix. Apparently, so are haunted houses.
The Animatrix: A Detective Story
Written By: Shinichiro Watanabe
Directed By: Shinichiro Watanabe
A spare film noir-style detective story about a down-on-his-luck detective hired to find Trinity the hacker, early in her career with Morpheus. In black and white the filmmakers capture amazing 40s-style New York scenes especially impressive in the latter half depicting a snowfall. Using an array of old and new technology the detective tracks her down by hanging out on hacker sites tracking down Alice in Wonderland references. He has been hired by the Agents of course to help lead them to Trinity. The story ends appropriately with a gunfight on a train. Carrie-Anne Moss provides the voice for Trinity in this film.
The Animatrix: Matriculated
Written By: Peter Chung
Directed By: Peter Chung
"To an artificial mind all reality is virtual."
One of the most original of the Animatrix episodes, Matriculated is also one of the most thought-provoking. It follows the story of a band of resistance fighters that attempt to convert captured machines to fight for humanity. Note that's "convert", not "re-program".
After identifying 2 incoming machines, Alexa captures one (let's call him Carl) with the assistance of Baby, an odd monkey-like creature with enhanced mental abilities. A previously converted machine also assists in the capture. Once captured, "Carl" undergoes some mechanical modifications so it can participate in a voluntary conversion process.
The process involves the humans and Carl plugging into a construct of the humans' design. The construct places Carl at a disadvantage and alters its perceived reality. Humans in the construct are shiny and metallic, yet display very human characteristics: love, humor, and playfulness.
In the construct, Carl's shell is stripped away, and it is replaced with an almost organic, humanoid shape. The stripped shell is then used to symbolize an immediate danger. Carl's former machinery is made threatening to it, and to the humans in the construct. Yet humans appear to risk themselves to save Carl from its former machinery.
The participants are brought out of the construct by alarms signaling approaching machines. One of the 2 original machines (Carl, possibly?) had dropped a locater before entering the human stronghold. The humans unplug, fight, and ultimately lose the battle. Alexa is the last to survive and pleads with Carl for help. Carl wakes up, assesses the situation, and destroys the last invading machine as it injures Alexa.
Carl picks Alexa up, gently carrying her to the circular area where the conversion had taken place. He places her carefully on the floor, picks up a cable and plugs it into the back of her head. She regains consciousness in the construct with the full realization that no humans are left alive, Carl has her, and his conversion was all too successful. The construct is the version of the world Carl wants now - it's his preferred reality, and he wants Alexa in it forever.
It's interesting to note that the humans argue about re-programming the machines - effectively making them slaves to humanity again. Rather than re-programming, they offer the machines a choice, but one that is weighted in their favor. The idea of offering the machines choice and hoping the correct one is made mirrors the choice that minds are offered in The Matrix. Ultimately, it doesn't work in Matriculated.
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