These segments are particularly gruesome and disturbing, first in the vicious murder of the human family, then in the obliteration of a robot rally, then in the unheard-cries for mercy made by the human soldiers, and finally as mankind is enslaved. Flesh and metal look surprisingly similar when they are being ripped apart. When enslaved, all of mankind is plugged into the same computer simulation, which creates an illusory world circa 1999, where they live in complacent ignorance of the world outside. “The Second Renaissance” uses comic book art and is told in a documentary style by a record-keeping program, whose female voice is both slinky and synthetic.
One Robert Mobbs, in a moment of cynicism that brings a smile to my face, commented on the Internet Movie Database “for years sci-fi has been attempting to sell us this navel-gazing, ‘mankind sucks’ line of BS. The humans in this story are needlessly cruel - because to sci-fi geeks that's all humans ever are (why can't they accept me-and-my-wizard cape?)” Well said, Robert; I’ve always tried to put my finger on that thread in science-fiction that takes pleasure in seeing the aliens beat the humans.
“The Final Flight of the Osiris” takes ten minutes to explain five seconds of dialogue from “The Matrix Reloaded,” in which a ship in the human resistance tries to outrun angry robots in order to pass on valuable intelligence. “Final Flight” is the work of the same studio that made “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within” and uses many of the same avatars as that film. “Detective Story” is all style, terrific style, and no substance. In brilliantly-visualized black-and-white, a noir detective follows a trail that leads exactly where we think it will go. “Kid’s Story” is similarly exciting and pointless; in “The Matrix,” the human resistance lured in Keanu Reeves by a cell phone call and a foot chase. Here, a new draftee is given a cell phone call and a skateboard chase. But it’s a fun chase. “Program” is pure kinetic action in a feudal Japanese style, as a lone warrior within the Matrix does battle with enemies who first try to slay and then seduce her.
More intriguing is “Beyond,” in which a girl looking for her cat finds a haunted house, that is, a place where the Matrix’s computer simulation is faulty and physical laws don’t work right. Inside the house she can fly, watch smashed glass bottles reassemble by themselves, and see rain coming from a sunny sky. “World Record” tells the story of a short-distance runner who breaks out of the Matrix, albeit momentarily, by sheer willpower to break his own record. The nine seconds of his race are brilliantly rendered by the sounds and images of his muscles in slow-motion. Fans of “Aeon Flux” cartoons will recognize the style of Peter Chung in “Matriculated.” Here the tables are turned: a captured robot is plugged into an artificial world created by the human resistance, where bizarre imagery and an amazing labyrinth are used to coax it into rebelling against the machines.
Larry and Andy Wachowski, the creators of “The Matrix,” are said to have been heavily influenced by Japanese action cartoons, and “The Animatrix” is the work of several directors and animators they must have long admired. Their works include “Vampire Hunter D,” “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” and “Cowboy Bebop.” Like most of the anime industry, there is much exploitation of cartoon women in “The Animatrix” (only “Kid’s Story” does not feature nudity, cleavage, or at least one woman in her underwear, but maybe I should look at it more closely). That aside, this is a slick, glossy series of splendid visuals that left me wanting to explore the original works of all these animators, instead of hearing them repeat someone else’s song.
Finished May 28th, 2003
Copyright © 2003 by Friday & Saturday Night
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