The Hollywood film "The Matrix" was a massive hit when it was released in 1999. And the directors (the Wachowski Brothers) did not hide that the film was largely inspired by Japanese anime, both in the sci-fi story and the style of action choreography. Warner Bros. would go all out on the franchise a few years later, incuding Matrix overload in 2003 with two sequels, a video game, and a Japanese anime anthology called "The Animatrix." Curiously, of all the "Matrix" followup media, only "The Animatrix" seemed to receive positive reviews.And Warner Bros wasn't lost on that. This was a time when Japanese anime was hitting a new renaissance of sorts: DVD's were a new media, and capable of holding more content with mutliple language options, perfectly suited to carrying several episodes of anime for both die-hard fans and newcomers. The Internet was becoming more mainstream for everyday use, and improved video-playback options meant fans could learn about upcoming anime productions in real-time, instead of waiting months or years for fan-translated magazines to come across the sea. Anime was even being shown on broadcast television, typically alongside American cartoons on dedicated animation channels. The underground popularity of "The Animatrix" seemed to be a culmination of that. It would inspire anthology films on other American properties, including "Batman," and the video-games "Halo" and "Dante's Inferno." But none quite captured the brilliance of "The Animatrix." And to this day, if anyone asks about "The Matrix" and what to watch of it, I would recommend "The Animatrix" first, even higher than the original film.I think part of the movie's success is that the shared theme across all of its' shorts feels unique, but also wide-open for interpretation. The core theme is the idea that the world as we know it may not be real, but just a computer program controlled by an army of A.I. machines. Some shorts are more literal, featuring known characters from the "Matrix" universe and telling stories with direct relevence. Others expand the universe of "The Matrix" in a way that might be outside of canon, but otherwise feels inventive and informative. And others yet tell completely original stories that have to do with glitches in our reality. With 8 different shorts crammed in over 1.5 hours, "The Animatrix" is filled with ideas. And amazingly, unlike most anthologies, all of the shorts are pretty great. Or maybe, just ranging from good to incredible. But that the worst short is still "good" is remarkable.To write about all the shorts in detail is difficult within a single review. "Final Flight of the Osiris" is one of those shorts that directly refers to events and characters in "The Matrix," and despite using impressive CGI from the studio behind Square Enix's later "Final Fantasy" feature films (hey, the best video game cutscenes from 2003 still look pretty cool today, if slightly dated), the story and action isn't all that interesting without being a die-hard fan of the main film trilogy. "Matriculated" is the last film, and a strange film to end on: directed by Peter Chung of MTV's "Aeon Flux," its character designs are lanky, and it has a bizarre sense of humor, making it feel a little too experimental, despite having a fascinating ending. And "Program" has a fantastic visual style, by an experienced team at Studio Madhouse (the same type of bold an stylistic choices are applied from "Vampire Hunter D - Bloodlust"), but feels more like an excuse for cool action and animation due to a lack of a real story. I consider these the weakest of the set, but would still be happy to watch any one of them again.
The other films are each standouts, even without being packaged as an anthology. "The Second Renaissance" ("Part I" and "Part II") provides a documentary-style view, acting as a prologue to the world of "The Matrix," and how robots came to manage the human race. The story is incredibly fascinating as a warning, and uses interesting imagery to make its point (its' director, Mahiro Maeda, would go on to direct "Gankutsuou - The Count of Monte Cristo"). "Kid's Story" is a pencil-sketch animator tour-de-force by Shinichiro Watanabe, of a teenager convinced of another world outside of reality, ending a chase scene through his school with his suicide off the roof. "World Record" is a stylistic entry by Takeshi Koike (later known for "Redline" and his designs for a modernized and edgy "Lupin the Third"), and while its' story of a sprinter pushing his limits beyond what reality's computer code will allow is... simple, it's also effective, and the short's animation is simply outstanding. "Beyond" is an a neat short from Studio 4C of a teenage girl discovering a neighborhood hideout where children play with glitches in the world, making objects teleport or float without explaination. And "A Detective Story" is another short by Shinichiro Watanabe, and more his style, a black-and-white pulp mystery of a gumshoe detective who gets too close to discovering the secrets of "The Matrix."A common thread is fantastic animation and direction, often by either talent already known to be among the best in the industry, or up-and-comers who would prove themselves in the decade to come. And truly, the animation is fantastic: not only are the designs varied across each short, but most of the animation is smooth and executed with intent. It's a beautiful showcase. It's rare for an anthology film to be this good. And in this case, it hapeens to be a franchise-tie-in, often confused to be a simple cash-grab by the producers. It can be hard to encourage the average viewer to give an anthology of shorts a chance. "They'll be bored." "Most of the shorts are a waste of time." But not with "The Animatrix." It's a perfect gateway into the genre for just about anyone. And after making the jump, it's hard to go back.