n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

1) This is one of several animated short films that are based on the Wachowskis' "Matrix" movie. However, I have to say neither the characters nor the action made this really look like it belongs to the series except the fight in the first 2-3 minutes maybe. This lack of Matrix connection is not necessarily a criticism on these 10 minutes as the animation is fine and the story isn't bad either. The action didn't do much for me though, so I wouldn't recommend it. But then again, I am not a great Matrix fan anyway, at least this is a common denominator.2) This 9-minute short film from 12 years ago is part of the Animatrix series and also the first half of a two-part movie. Men become more and more angry at machines when these become more and more intelligent. The consequence is a bloody battle, especially for the machines. They leave and settle elsewhere, but decide to give mankind another chance as they return to the United Nations in a peaceful attempt, not be the last time they show up there. This was written by the Wachowski brothers (and sisters) and the director also worked on Tarantino's "Kill Bill" for example. Sounds like a good premise, but sadly, I was not really impressed by this one here. Lets hope that the second part turns out better.3) These 9 minutes continue where "The Second Renaissance Part 1" left off. Unfortunately it is equally forgettable just like the first part. Men rejected machines' peaceful attempt to return, so a war is unavoidable. And of course there can only be one possible outcome to that. So men want to destroy the sky? Another brilliant idea. NOT. I have to say I was never too big on "The Matrix", but these animated short films are even worse. And they almost have no reference to the films anymore at all. Not recommended. 4) One of the most popular segments of the Animatrix and this may be due to the fact that several actors from the live action movies do voice acting in here. The protagonist is a boy who manages to get out of the Matrix. There are quite a few parallels here between Neo very early in the first Matrix film and our hero here. I do not think the 15 minutes stated here are correct, this was certainly closer, maybe around 9 minutes. I enjoyed watching this one because it actually had a real connection to the live action "Matrix" films unlike most of the others. One of my favorites from the series and I recommend it. 5) "Program", a sequence from the Animatrix, was directed and written by Yoshiaki Kawajiri. It is an animated short film, obviously, and runs for roughly seven minutes. There was nothing truly outstanding here, but it wasn't bad either. It is all about the battle between the Cis and her frenemy Duo. He tries to convince her to get back to the Matrix and just live there like everybody else instead of constantly fighting against it. Pay attention to how Cis is depicted in white and Duo in black. First he tries to convince her with words, then with swords. Of course, she refuses to and in the end, good defeats evil. Or did it really? Solid short film, recommended. 6) The concept of sports in the matrix is actually a pretty interesting one in the face of achievements that you could describe as out of this world. Unfortunately, the only fairly interesting thing I took from these 9 minutes is basically the relationship between world records in the real world we live in and in the Matrix universe. This is not among my 3 favorite segments from the Animatrix, but also not among my least favorites. I am not familiar with the director or writer here, but it looks like they frequently work together. Anyway, I hope for them that this may be their most known achievement, but not their best.7) "Beyond" is one of the weaker segments of the "Animatrix" in my opinion. This is one of the longest episodes of the Animatrix. A girl's cat runs away and when she heads out to get her back the finds much more than just a lost kitten. I did not like the way the girl was animated at all. The rest was okay in terms of looks. The scene with the cat looking right at us before we see the mouse is a nice way from the director of playing with our brains. Not enough though to let me recommend it. One of the weaker Animatrix segments.8) I am okay with the Matrix and Film Noir, but not a great fan like some are. So I was very positively surprised that I managed to appreciate this Animatrix segment. It's probably in my top3 favorites and the reason may be that it was nice to see an actual character from "The Matrix" in one of these. It's not the only segment directed by Shinichirô Watanabe (also co-writer), but it's certainly his superior effort. The story was pretty good and the voice actor of the private eye also did a fairly decent job here. A pretty enjoyable and atmospheric watch of over 10 minutes I must say. Recommended.9) "Matriculated" is the last segment from the "Animatrix" movie. It is the longest at roughly 15 minutes and in my opinion, unfortunately, it is also the worst. I wish writer and director Peter Chung could have stayed a bit closer to the Wachowski movie. Also, it's not real anime anymore, but the style is not the problem. The problem is that there's no really fascinating story in here as there is in some of the other segments. I was a bit disappointed with this one as I hoped they could go out on a high note. Sadly, they did not. Not recommended.

As part of the hype generated by the "Matrix Reloaded," this series of anime shorts was developed and distributed to provide more insight to the worlds in the Matrix saga (and possibly to wrangle up some more fans). With the efforts of Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Shinichiro Watanabe, Peter Chung, and other Japanese directors, it's a varied collection that offers multiple insights and a variety of styles and quality. This collection is like a sampler plate for anime (incidentally, it was the first anime I really watched and got into, and it inspired me to check out the real thing)."The Final Flight of the Osiris" is the first of the lot, and of all computer-animated films I know of, this one still shows superior quality. Characters look incredibly life-like at times; by modern standards, it resembles a video game clip more than anything, but considering that there aren't a whole lot of CGI movies with human characters, this film is quite impressive. It's a short, action-packed, and fairly invoking. Above all, it helps bridge the gap between the first two Matrix movies."The Second Renaissance" Parts I and II serve as the Matrix prequel, chronicling the war between man and machine. It's extremely bleak and quite violent. With its portrayal of nuclear devastation, environmental warfare, and the eventual enslavement of the human race, these two episodes really get to me. The animation is quite smooth and slick, with lots of memorable imagery. It is fast-paced, almost erratically so, but the biblical-style narrative keeps it entrancing. In a proper Matrix marathon, I place these before the three main movies, and it is worthwhile seeing for all Matrix fans."Kid's Story" doesn't have the same momentum as the last few episodes, but it is a nice little story that shows how the Kid character comes into being in the Matrix sequels. Its slower pacing and sketchy graphics don't really appeal to me, but it is another requisite bridge between the first and second movies."Program" has always been my favorite of the lot, featuring fantastic visuals and fast-paced action. The duel between two lovers is quite intense, and their actions really underscore the philosophical issue of whether or not it's better to live a lie or suffer the truth. The animation quality here is strong and the character designs are excellent."World Record" is one of my least favorites in this collection. It does have a really funky style and quality, with interesting visuals. It is a pretty good story, but it is lacking in action."Beyond" strikes me more as a Miyazaki-style story, with its emphasis on child-like whimsy and wonder. It has a cast of likable kids, some wonderful visuals, and it is a cute little story overall. Once again, it doesn't offer much action, but it isn't totally dull either."A Detective's Story" is my least favorite of the lot. It does have some nice film-noir style visuals and characters. I'm just disappointed in the story, which is a little too short to serve as an effective mystery, and by its conclusion it doesn't really resonate."Matriculated" is something very weird and trippy, almost dream-like at spots. It's a solid and original story with a profound conclusion and some interesting implications. Its visuals are fantastic, and it's the one other story here that I consider most worthwhile.All of these stories show quality animation style and quality; some of the digitally-animated backgrounds may show some anomalies, but it holds up for the most part. Voice-acting can be a little cheesy, but is still decent. Production designs are strong, with plenty of cool settings, vehicles, weapons, robots, and objects that correlate to the Matrix movies well. The feature also has one of the coolest soundtracks.I highly recommend at least the first three stories to Matrix fans; the feature as a whole I'd recommend as a rental to anybody who's interested. But if you're getting this as part of the Ultimate Collection DVD or Blu-Ray package, why not check it out? 5/5 (entertainment: 4.5/5, stories: 5/5, films: 4.5/5)

I never liked those "Matrix" films, I found them boring and overrated (I don't even liked the first one) However, this brief anthology of short was much, much more interesting than those boring and pretentious movies: The Final Flight of the Osiris": This short was done using a photo-realistic Cgi. It wasn't bad, it was funny to watch.The Second Reinassance, Part 1 and 2: Those shorts are a prequel of "The Matrix" and reveal many unknown details about the war between mankind and machines. I really this shorts, that give a completely new perspective of the franchise. The animation was quite good and story was quite interesting.Program:The story was interesting and the animation was nice to look at. That is all I can say about it.Wolrd Record: This short had a weird story and weird visuals as well. I still liked, even if less than the others.Beyond: The visuals in this one were quite impressive, and the story was mysterious and fascinating.Matriculated: This was my less favorite short. The animation and the designs were great, but the story was predictable and uninspired. This was directed by the creator of Aeon Flux, an animated show that I like.A Detective story: This was my favorite story, directed by Sinichiro Watanabe, the creator of great shows as "Cowboy Bebop". It had a great atmosphere, great animation and a great story too.Kid's Story:This was one excellent short. Like "A Detective story" it was directed by Sinichiro Watanabe, but the story and visual style were completely different from each other. The animation was very good and the story was simply amazing.Overall: I think than even those who don't like "The Matrix" should try to give a look at this. Like in many anthology films, some parts are better than others, but the overall result is more than satisfying.8.5/10

The Animatrix is a compilation companion piece to the Matrix films that collects nine short animated films set in the world of the Matrix. While it helps broaden and inform the world of the Matrix, the individual segments vary in their success in storytelling."Final Flight of the Osiris" opens up the film and is the CG animated number. In itself, it's just a short story about events that occur off- screen during the second Matrix film. At it mostly acts as backstory, it doesn't lend itself very much dramatic weight and spends a whole lot of time at the beginning showing off CGI attempts at life-like animation as well as CGI skin. While the visuals themselves are fairly impressive, I was ultimately underwhelmed. 5/10."The Second Renaissance Parts I & II" are two short films that chronicle the events leading up to the dystopia of The Matrix. An animated fauxcumentary, it sets the background of the Matrix world, step by step, showing how humans created the machines and the machines beat the humans after tons of abuse. While it's all quite well drawn (and contains dozens upon dozens of references to other films), I found it about as interesting as reading a poorly written history textbook. It does contain more interesting text than "Final Flight", especially as it deals with humanity's errors, but I have to say that despite it's strong visual style, it edged on being a yawnfest. And it doesn't pull punches. Another downside is that the more it exposed some of the backstory about how the world of the Matrix happened, the harder I found to buy it, which consequently had a negative effect on how I view the original Matrix movie. 6/10."Kid's Story" is really where this collection begins to pick up. I found it's hand-drawn blurry style to be rather catching, especially in capturing the waking-dream-like world of the Matrix. While the story mostly just deals with a kid's escape from The Matrix, it holds some interesting subtext about the nature of dreams (even within dreams) and ideas of fate. Not to say that this is masterful, but rather, it's a decent little piece, for what it is. 7/10."Program" is a piece that left me unsatisfied, because it raised questions that it failed to resolve. Essentially set within a swords- and-samurai simulation, the protagonist encounters a friend-as-adversary in the program. They talk about the nature of reality as they fight and as her friend lets her in on a dark secret. But the ending creates serious doubts in the believability of the confrontation within. Again, interesting art, but the story has large enough issues that it was hard to enjoy. 5/10."World Record" was actually kind of interesting. It deals with a world class runner who, in breaking records, begins to see cracks in his reality. It's quite simple and fortunately it's short, so it doesn't overstay its welcome. 7/10."Beyond" is by far my favorite piece of the bunch. A teenage girl starts looking for her cat, Yuki, and meets some boys who she follows to a local "haunted house", where she discovers both Yuki and an apparent glitch in the Matrix. The glitch makes some rather strange things happen, like gravity working weird and reality fading in and out. It works as an exploration of finding the strange and wonderful things in life and how reality/society/etc tries to "erase" these mistakes. Fantastic, even if it has the least to do with the Matrix mythology. 8/10."A Detective Story" deals with a detective named Ash who gets hired to find the hacker Trinity. His explorations lead him to some rather strange discoveries about reality. Working as an homage to hard-boiled detective films, I found it pretty interesting and it very strongly reminded me of Cowboy Bebop, including it's protagonist, who sort of reminded me of Spike. 7/10."Matriculation" left me with mixed feelings. Reminding me strongly of Aeon Flux in its art style (I'm guessing it's the same director), the film ultimately deals with the attempts of Zion to create machine "rebels". The Zion folk capture a runner-robot and plug it into their own Matrix and interact with it in a somewhat strange world. Unfortunately, for me, not much happens narratively within this machine- Matrix except for a series of somewhat interesting visuals and this segment goes on for quite a while. I got bored. But then it gets interesting and darker at the end and I found the ending to be rather interesting itself. So a mixed bag. 6/10.All in all, the Animatrix is mostly watchable, but doesn't have as many highs as it just sits in the middle. The art is mostly gorgeous, but many of the stories overstay their welcome or reveal gaps in logic, whether inside the story itself or in the mythology of the Matrix. As a companion piece to The Matrix, it works all right, even if it might show off huge cracks in the Matrix mythology. As such, I have to say it's really more of a work for fans, although I think "Beyond" is solid enough in itself to watch on its own. It's okay.