The Animatrix

[Krug]

Just saw the Animatrix at a movie theater. I have to say it looks amazing on cinema, though Final Flight probably had the best eye candy. Nonetheless, the others had great character and creature design, particularly Peter Chung's Marticulation, which introduced several new 'mechanica' like beings. However, besides that one, the other animations that have not been released are nothing to shout about, though Beyond is a decent. The storylines aren't fantastic, but the detail in the animations, particularly Detective Story and The Second Renaisannce are fascinating. I'm not really a HUGE fan of The Matrix but I do enjoy Anime and animation, and I think this was one of the best showcases of the possibilities of animation I've seen.

 

[Chun-tzu]

Program is still my favorite of the 9, which isn't surprising since it's the most anime in style, and it's done by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, of Ninja Scroll fame. And Phil LaMarr (aka Samurai Jack, Green Lantern, Static) does one of the voices.

I liked Kid's Story, and it was interesting how they imply (in both Kid's Story and World Record) that there are ways to break out of the Matrix without a red pill or external involvement.

The only thing that bugged me about the history stuff in both parts of The Second Renaissance is how glaring the scientific errors become. In the original movie, we know that darkening the sky and using humans for energy are highly implausible, but there are few details on the hows and whys, so I can let it slip. I can ignore both of those things, because they're important parts of the premise. But we see a few more details on that here, which make it even MORE implausible. Okay, so they find humans make good batteries, and more importantly, they're infinitely renewable. HOW the heck are they so renewable if they're plugged into the Matrix and never actually biologically procreate? They should have either continued to ignore those details, or offered a better explanation. I know, I'm nit picking. Sue me.

Overall, very well done. The different animation styles are pretty cool. I wish more franchises showed this kind of originality, instead of just the standard t-shirts and soundtracks.

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

Okay, so they find humans make good batteries, and more importantly, they're infinitely renewable. HOW the heck are they so renewable if they're plugged into the Matrix and never actually biologically procreate?

Given that all the freed people we meet are not clones of each other, my guess is that the machines harvest sperm and eggs from people in the tubes (look at when Neo wakes up from the Matrix - he's got a lot of hoses sticking out of him), and just use that to make children in artificial wombs.