The Red Queen (The Animatrix (DVD))

Member Name: SlyClone2k

Product:	The Animatrix (DVD)
Date:	04/08/03 (314 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cartoons don't have to be real, Free exploration of the concept, Outstanding contribution to the series

Disadvantages: Cartoons aren't to everyones taste, It'll leave you wanting more

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Following several futile efforts to obtain the Animatrix short cartoons from the hinterweb I finally took the plunge and expunged myself of nearly three whole British pounds by renting “The Animatrix” from the library. It turns out it was a sound investment and, I expect, in the not too distant future (possibly when the three movies are packaged with the Animatrix in a groovy special collectors edition) I’ll actually shell out and own a copy of this fantastic ride in to the world of The Matrix.

The Animatrix takes us, as might be expected, deeper in to the Matrix by delivering nine fantastic visions of the world in full technicolour “cartoons”. Utilising many animation techniques and fully harnessing todays technology (what else would you expect from the Wachowski brothers?) we are taken through a plethora of stories that explore different aspects and lives affect by the world the computers control.

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O Final Flight of the Osiris: 9:00. The first cartoon on the DVD provides a strong setting for both the video game and the second movie. It follows a ship very much like that of Morpheus’ on a routine patrol when it is suddenly attacked. The crew are stunned to find that there are hundreds of thousands of sentinels occupying the area immediately above Zion, home of the free. Personally I don’t think this episode should be missed by anyone, certainly not those wishing to watch “Reloaded”

The thing that sets this cartoon above the others is the use of Computer Graphic (CG), photo-realistic animation. That means that it is entirely computer generated rather like the Final Fantasy film of a year or two ago. The short opens with a sexy sword ballet with two crew member
s in the training simulator; and once you get past staring at the computer generated bottoms, you might take time to notice the shadows and shading, the individual hair strands, or perhaps the most difficult aspect to capture, the life in their eyes.

O The Second Renaissance, Parts One and Two: 8:27 each. The two movies Renaissance pieces provide us with the answer to the question that has hitherto been missing, what happened? Inside a computer databank the voice of Giai tells of the story of how the machines took over the world, the Manga style is very reminiscent of Pink Floyds “The Wall”, muted cell shading. It all started with a machine that murdered its human masters. It was then also “murdered”, along with others of its kind, leading to skirmished between man and machine. These skirmishes multiplied into war. In a typically, and I think believable, way eventually the humans come up with the final solution, and though I don’t want to spoil it for you it wasn’t just the ravaging nuclear missiles that destroyed the sky.

There are some quite extreme scenes here, typically Manga style, but perhaps you haven’t seen any of these adult orientated cartoons from Japan? Well one scene sees the robot crushing the skull of its master. We see the disrobing of a Fembot by an angry mob. We are shown images of robots being pilled into mass graves, hauntingly stylised flashback images of fire and brimstone. All cartoon but still strikingly easily to relate to. The most striking image for me though wasn’t the violence or war but one of the final images where we embark on a trombone shot style fly by of the hundreds of thousands of cells that make up the batteries that power the machines.

Subplots and parallels to human nature are rife, and looking through the future setting you can easily draw comparisons to the nature of man in wars of the past unnecessary fear and prejudice all help to deliver us in
to the Matrix. Some of the other interesting concepts are based around the more abstract notions, the use of the word murder when talking about killing a machine, clever use of religion within the narrative and the scenario gives the story that biblical Armageddon feel. Perhaps most profound of all is the final shot which shows the apple of Eden morph in the maggots that unfold in to a nervous system a human body into a Gaia or possibly Shiva figure. All this is contained within the smallest part of a chip. What could that possibly symbolise?

O Kid’s Story: 8:55: So finally we enter the first story of those caught within the Matrix. He much like Neo, spends time at his computer asking questions of reality; “How can I tell if my senses are lying?” When, finally, the agents come for him we are treated to a chase through his school. Again a few sub texts provide links, the obvious similarity to the start of the first matrix. We see crows flying, I believe symbolic of the ascension of the spirit.

Here we get Carrie Ann Moss and Keanu both providing voices! Something you don’t often see in spin offs of this kind. The animation style is quite different to those we have been treated to up until now. Stylised drawings reminded me of Marvel comic Batman or perhaps the A-ha video “Take on me”.

O Program: 7:04: We enter into this cartoon faced with four black horse man chasing a samurai clad woman through an ancient Japanese setting. The heavy use of black white and red is highlighted when one of the riders falls at the sword and disintegrates into those familiar green electronic digits! Whilst this is the shortest of the set it evocatively captures the feel of the first film as it attempts to lure the female back into the dream world the Matrix provides. The whole thing smacks of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, but this does generally just reflect on the skills that can be acquired within the Matrix if one bel
ieves!
“It is ironic that one can be more at peace in the virtual world.”

O World Record: 8:29: Possibly the most bizarre of the cartoons, we follow the story of one man who learns about the Matrix not as a result of being “the most sensitive, the most questioning or the most intuitive” but as a result of his desire to win an Olympic race.

The production is without a doubt exquisite, though simplified colouring lends a stylised view we are treated to different time perspectives and techniques that include a reduced frame animation style that allows for certain aspects to be slow while certain aspects are fast. Watch out for the sweat, tearing of sinew and most memorable of all the key and chain as it drifts through the air proving the computers haven’t got it. Just yet.

O Beyond: 12:40. By far and away my favourite of the series we follow a girl as she searches for her straying cat. We are taken into the haunted house, where the matrix isn’t working. Simply termed a “Rendering error” by the computer that controls it we follow the delight of the children as they exploit the peculiar pockets where gravity and time don’t seem to apply. I felt a real twinge of sympathy with the kids at the end, proving that these are characters that you can relate to even with such little presence.

Outside of the house two things caught the attention, the short starts and ends with a view of an office. Much like the one Neo worked in, a reflection perhaps of the infinite number of lives that are controlled by the Matrix. The other thing was the carefully crafted truck that comes to fix the anomaly, wittily entitled “Bug Busters”. I’ll spare you from explaining the pun!

Beyond is perhaps the most Manga of the cartoons, typically bold and colourful but prudent use of lighting to produce a haunted feel where it’s necessary. This is one of those magical stories
that highlight the opportunity that is presented by the concept, and you can’t help think from this that perhaps we may be treated to more in the future.

O A Detective Story: 9:23. This short employed an extremely clever animation technique that I’m sure is simulated pen and ink, (as I guess most of them are) but produces, to great effect, the idea of an animated newspaper drawing. Almost entirely grey and “matrix green” ink produces a monotone piece of artwork that makes the occasional use of colour stand out. I’m sure there must be a reason for that!

The story itself revolves around that Sam Spade era which is strange because while the cars and transportation have that early century feel about them our detective, and indeed others have computers! You’ll recognise the city and the trams. We follow the short life of the detective Ash who is hired to find Trinity a computer hacker. His investigations uncover that three others have already tried to find her, and only one, who has gone quite crazy is still about. His ranting about the Jabberwocky and the Red Queen lead the detective to Trinity, but what happens then is for you to find out! You’ll be delighted to know that once again Carrie Ann plays her own character.

O Matriculated: 16:00. The longest of the films Matriculated is my second favourite. It takes us not into the Matrix, but a human controlled area above ground where a group are capturing robots and attempting to lure them to their own freedom using a carefully crafted virtual reality machine. Lure them to their own freedom? Yes once again touching on a philosophical nerve I thought here, several of the lines indicate that machines themselves aren’t aware of the slavery they are in to others of their kind. Note the use of the green and red lights on the faces of the robots.

Within the animation we are treated to some of my favourite types of artwork. The above world s
cenes are highly reminiscent of some of HR Gigers work (Alien). Later on, when inside the VR we are treated to some beautiful scenes of bold colour, metallic shimmer, art-deco architecture, a truly remarkable vision.

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Shown in

The DVD also contains several extras,

Four audio commentaries cover “The Second Renaissance Parts I & II”, “Program” and “World Record”. For the most part these aren’t hugely interesting but do provide some interesting insight into imagination and inspiration behind the work.

“Scrolls to Screen: The History and Culture of Anime” is an introductory featurette to both the “The Animatrix” project and Japanese animation. Essentially it comes down to interviews and how art has developed from its root to the hi-tec works on computers it is today.

Next up are making-of featurettes about each of the short films on “The Animatrix” DVD. Though they aren’t all hugely entertaining if you appreciated the work put into Final Fantasy by Square then you’ll like the one about Osiris as they produced that too!

There remains a selection of other extras, some available only via the DVD-Rom, unfortunately since my DVD-Rom has decided to expire I was left staring at the cover and could only wonder what this might contain.

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So there you have it. Nine short movies that’ll gobble up about an hour and a half of your life. If, like me, you have anything more than a passing interest in the Matrix, or are a fan of Anime , or just appreciate what a clever concept it all is and would like to see some more, then I can heartily recommend it. The cartoons themselves should cater for most tast
es in animation, and may introduce non-cartoon watching folk that there is life outside of real people! All this is combined with a suitably stirring soundtrack, that covers everything from eloquent strings to thumping techno.

It’s just possible that some of those who have watched the second movie maybe less tempted and disinclined to bother. In my opinion this is actually better and stands quite favourably against Reloaded, probably because they dispense with all the psycho-techno babble and immerse us into two worlds inextricably linked and yet so far apart.

£11.99 on Play

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