a review of the animatrix (spoilers)

[FudLe Pucker]

Cons:

- Bad characters' animation
- Grosse (the scenes where the robot pops the guys brains out and a giant spider-like thingy ripping out a human out of a mechanoid ripping off his arms and legs - thats a bit too much.)

Props:
- Everything except the characters is 3D (well in most episodes)
- Explains how this whole machine-rise-and-overtake-the-human-kind thing started
- Fine 3D animation

Overall:
- Good stories
- Average animation
- Must see for Matrix fans.

Attention-grabbing scenes:
- 1st ep: the fighting scene, the guy eventually cuts off all the clothes on the girl with a sword.
- 2nd ep: the robot trial scene, they show how the robot squeezes its owners head untill the brain literally pops out
- 3rd ep: the war scene, cuz they show how a giant spider-like thingy rips out a human out of a mechanoid ripping off his arms and legs
- 4th ep: none
- 5th ep: none
- 6th ep: the running scene, where the runner runs so fast that his leg muscles burst and he awakens in his real-world pod thing.
- 7th ep: none really, but the house with all sorts of matrix glitches was pretty cool.
- 8th ep: none
- 9th ep: none

[Fit of Rage]

I've heard from a lot of people that it sucked major ass.

[FudLe Pucker]

well, it certanly isnt the best DVD ever, but hey, lots of people told me reloaded sucked major ass too, and i liked it.

[Webbb Llama v1.5]

the first 6 were good, so was 8. 7 and 9 were boring

[Heatha]

I liked all of them.

[GuruMeditation]

Animatrix achieves what I felt Matrix failed to achieve. Explain what the hell is going on. Keep in mind all I'm watching is a divx

Final Flight of the Osiris : I suppose this would be better suited to the cinema. The authors of Final Fantasy surpassed themselves again in bringing character to 3D rendered animations, yet keeping amazing quality to the animations themselves. 8/10

The Second Rennaisence Part I : I can't help but feel I shouldn't seperate the two parts, but may as well. An intresting piece. Maybe I'm not as deranged by the whole brain thing cause there's a lot worse in the world of anime. If you don't understand fuzzy logic, you won't understand it. If you do, you'll appreciate where the problems that lead to the matrix originate from. Some say humans wouldn't bring these kind of problems on themselves. Then they're forgetting the past 5 centuries of history. 8/10

The Second Rennaisence Part II : The skeleton clapping is quite an amazing image. The battle scene .. wow. Superb choice of music for it (Overseer - Supermoves), superb animation. Gotta love the camera viewpoint at certain stages. The progression of the machines artillery as they decide what works and what doesn't. Any gripes? That it didn't last longer. 9/10

Program : Now then, I wasn't a big fan of Ninja Scroll. But the plot here remains intresting. What is it with the guys always wearing clothes and the babes wearing light t-shirts and underwear all the time? Is this a Jap thing. I dunno. 8/10

A Detective Story : Maybe other people have seen this kind of animation before. But I havn't and so I was grinning from ear to ear watching this. Eye candy that suited the story perfectly. The music and ambience reek of private eye stories (and I don't mean by that that it's a bad thing). Does anyone else think that guys keyboard/typewriter is cool? Gimmick but cool. Anyhow probably my favorite short besides. 10/10, because I don't see how it could have been made better.

Beyond : The return of the flimsy t-shirt and underwear clad girl. This is a sort of let-off from the previous stories (without being a letdown). At times a little creepy but most of the time is just a little fun amoung the other stories. 7/10.

Matriculated : This makes me want to watch Aeon Flux. Took me a while to get into it but once I did... I had to stop and watch the rest of it the next day. If you fully comprehend the story, you'll be as gob-smacked as I was. The animation remains amazing. A blend of great 3D-animation, and during the link-up phase a style that couldn't help but make me think of sci-fi films of the 70's/80's (neon colors all over the place). The story however is the strong point of this short. Oh yeah, and we get the return of the t-shirt/underwear girl in this. 10/10.

World Record : No, I don't understand this. Maybe I shouldn't diss it because of this. Maybe it's trying to explain too many things at once for me to get it. 6/10.

Kid's Story : I had to smile at this, because the animation reminded me of a very old cartoon showed around Xmas time in the UK called The SnowMan. What is it with people having the green on black themes to chats? Anyhow, a nice ending to this compilation. 9/10.

Overall : If you're like me, and didn't like the Matrix because of the flimsy background then you should like this. If you liked it cause of the stunning special FX, then this may not be your cup of tea. This remains something for those who want to delve more into the world of the Matrix. Or those who want a sample pack of various japanese animation styles.

PS : Yeah, I suck at movie reviews