Well, the thing about the movie is that it has great animation, stories, representation, suspense, concept and thrill…. But well, all though it will make you think, rethink, contemplate and stick to till the end enjoying the film to the last bit….. But the thing is you won't make anything out of it. Cause the doesn't show a story but a couple of them. It's basically a side addition to the Matrix series and if you wanna understand this anime…. You gotta watch the Matrix series first….So don't watch this before you watch that….But don't dare to miss this after watching the Matrix series.... It goes everywhere the film didn't.... It's totally worth the time....

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)

With the exception of the third film, I love the MATRIX trilogy so when this anthology was released I was excited at being able to delve deeper into the MATRIX universe. The collection contains nine shorts from acclaimed anime directors and animators. Some stories expand on existing plot points from the movie while others are merely a chance for a director to give us their own glimpse into the world of the MATRIX. Some of the shorts are downright amazing, both in content and visual quality, while others fail to really hold my attention. Still, there are no truly weak stories in this collection and each addition has something to admire about it.Some of the highlights of this anthology are "The Second Renaissance, Parts I and II", "Beyond", and "The Final Flight of the Osiris". Director Mahiro Maeda has created the best installments of the series with "The Second Renaissance", a glimpse into the Zion historical archives to view how the machines became sentient and their war with the humans. It fills in all the information gaps from before the first MATRIX film and the animation's realism gives the brutal violence an extra kick when you watch it. "Beyond", from director Koji Morimoto, was one of the more fun stories, with a young girl in search of her cat being led to a building where the Matrix has glitched and reality is warping. "The Final Flight of the Osiris" from Andy Jones is another bridging story, with the crew of the hovercraft Osiris discovering the sentinels in the process of digging to Zion and setting off the events of the MATRIX sequels. Jones, who was the animation director on FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN (2001) brings the same lifelike CG animation to the ANIMATRIX and I admit it looked amazing.I suppose I should also give an honorable mention to Peter Chung's "Matriculated", in which a group of humans have devised a process to give the machines a choice in joining their resistance, because of it's trippy, surely LSD-inspired animation style. For the majority of the piece, I had no clue what was transpiring but I just loved the tripped out visuals. The remaining films, while I was not as impressed, were still beautiful pieces. The collection gives you a wide variety of animation styles, ranging from the beautifully contrasted ("Program") to the bizarrely fluid ("World Record"), from multiple directors. If you've got the DVD, I also recommend the special features. Almost as entertaining as the films were the chance to listen to each director and learn what inspired their contributions and how their style is influenced in life.

I don't remember what happened, but The Animatrix basically got lost in the shuffle for me back in 2003 when it came out. I'm a fan of the Matrix series and have definitely had to defend it from time to time against people who've decided that they don't like so many people agreeing that a movie is smart, so therefore argue that it's not, and after all, the sequels don't really help much on that regard. But all that aside, it's taken me a long time to actually get around to view the stuff that's supposed to branch out the world created by the Wachowskis.I'd say it's something to be proud of. It's really nice when creators who homage something get the honor of being homaged back, and the range and versatility of these animations certainly do them honor--none moreso than the quality. The variety of styles and approaches in the animation make this collection consistently interesting, and in some cases are so good its easy to forget one is watching an animation (and not just for "The Final Flight of the Osiris", either...).The stories range from histories to sub-narratives in the regular Matrix storyline to surrealistic explorations of the world created by The Matrix. They are not necessarily tied to the same worldview and theme, and "The Second Renaissance" definitely gives some empathy to the machines, who have largely been faceless enslavers and murderers in the main storyline. For some reason, there's quite a lot of women walking around in their underwear, which is probably to keep the male non-fanboys interested, and quite a lot of animations feature a moment of epiphany with blood, which gives a sort of abject theme to the mix (I am reminded that one of Neo's first actions upon waking up in the first "Matrix" was to vomit, which ties into that old quote "You need to throw up to realize you're alive").I think The Animatrix is, as a collection, better than both Reloaded and Revolutions. Individually, they range in quality, but most of them are really good. The best thing about all of them are the ways in which the styles of animation play with the surreality inherent in the world that the Wachowskis created.--PolarisDiB