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A scene from "The Second Renaissance Part 2", one
of nine animated shorts from The Animatrix DVD.
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This summer's blockbuster season is full of comic book (X2: X-Men United, The Hulk) and graphic novel (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) adaptations, video game translations (Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life) and animated features ranging from the more traditional (Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Rugrats Go Wild!) to the latest in computer animation (Finding Nemo). In almost every multiplex cinema you peek into, live-action filmmakers are acknowledging a debt to the animated frames that thrilled them as children.
With the DVD release of The Animatrix, writers/directors/brothers Larry and Andy Wachowski, creators of The Matrix Trilogy, have literally taken a step backward in order to leap several steps forward in terms of storytelling and epic mythmaking. The Animatrix is a series of nine animated shorts based in the world of The Matrix that feature collaborations with a host of leading Japanese anime talents. The Wachowskis wrote four of the nine episodes, but actively sought out directors with the vision to explore their Matrix universe.
Most of the discussions of The Matrix focused on its Hip-Hop styled sampling of religion, existential philosophy, and Hong Kong action sequences in a post-apocalyptic world rife with fears of technology run amok and multi-cultural resistance. The narrative of The Matrix had the thematic density of a Bomb Squad-produced Public Enemy track.
But the Wachowskis' loudest shout-outs could be heard in those frozen frames where the agents swiveled like action figures while dodging bullets. The stunning opening sequence of The Matrix, when Trinity seemingly defies time and space in her battle against the police and the agents intent on killing her, continues to dazzle. In those moments, the camera rushed past and around bodies and objects in stop motion and animated the performers and the action in ways that today's music video directors fail to approximate with all the disjointed quick cuts they throw at viewers. A more apt musical comparison might be the slow beats of Trip-Hop artists like Massive Attack who were actually featured on the film's soundtrack. With its focus on building atmospheric tension through menacingly creeping rhythms, trip-hop's cinematic approach makes a perfect soul mate for The Matrix's anime-inspired frames.
So, to paraphrase the initial question that led audiences to the edge of the CG rabbit hole: What is The Animatrix? Is it prequel or sequel, game-advancing product or simply an alternative (and in this case, a throwback) means of storytelling?
The four Animatrix episodes written by the brothers Wachowski have direct impact on the larger Matrix trilogy. "The Second Renaissance, Parts I & II" feel like historical programs used to educate young children or the newly unplugged members of Zion. The colors are soft, muted tones, and there is less hard definition around objects much like picture books. As writers, the brothers mimic biblical sources and television news styles to document events and breathe life into their version of the rise of the machines. Director Mahiro Maeda (creator of the sci-fi anime series Blue Submarine No. 6) makes use of both iconic and more common visual images to humanize the pre-Matrix machines. Machine workers in this post-post-post-Industrial Age navigate the overcrowded streets, steal a few quiet moments during busy work days to download the latest news, and fight for their existence against the decadent bourgeois-like revolutionary proletariats.
For "Final Flight of the Osiris" the look shifts to the CG photo-realism of director Andy Jones' recent digital animation feature, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. The opening training session between the black captain and his female Asian partner becomes an erotic, seductive sequence. Whirling blades flicker and flash as the two throw themselves at one another in a game of strip combat. When the warning alarms interrupt the sexy interlude, grim reality sets in. The Osiris crew spots the sentinels burrowing towards Zion and must get a warning through to the council. This episode incites the primary plot of The Matrix Reloaded and, of the nine shorts, is the closest to the world of the films.
"Kid's Story" is the last of the Wachowski scripted pieces, and its story offers a parallel to the heroic journey Neo undergoes in The Matrix. The Kid is a skateboarding high schooler who intuits that the world around him is not quite what it seems and begins to ask questions. Neo (featuring the voice of star Keanu Reeves) responds to him, much like Morpheus in the first film, and soon the Kid is careening down the hallways of his school ducking and dodging administrators, teachers and agents in hot pursuit. His belief in a world beyond the Matrix leads him to make a leap of faith that surprises even Neo and leads to a cameo in The Matrix Reloaded and perhaps an even more fully realized role in The Matrix Revolutions. The animation in this segment is sketchy and surprisingly fluid, especially during the chase, producing the sense of being right in the action in ways that live action stunt work tries, but largely fails to achieve.
Of the five remaining episodes, "World Record" and "Detective Story" make the strongest impressions. "A World Record" features a brilliant collaboration between writer Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D) and director Takeshi Koike (lead animator on Kawajiri's Wicked City) as they recount the story of a cocky world-class sprinter who achieves a special moment of victory as he breaks free of the Matrix, but not without paying dearly for his efforts.
In "Detective Story" a hard-boiled gumshoe accepts an assignment to track down the elusive Trinity (voiced by Carrie-Anne Moss) in a setting that is equal parts Blade Runner and The Maltese Falcon. Here, writer-director Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop) effectively appropriates the rain-soaked darkness and shadows of noir, while Koike's exaggerated musculature and loosely defined images complement the idea of the explosive power needed to shatter records and the fabric of the Matrix.
While each story takes place in the same world, the use of different animation styles signifies the mutability of the environment. Plus, the willingness of the Wachowskis to seek the unique talents of these filmmakers should shed light on this format for animated storytelling. As "Matriculated" writer-director Peter Chung (Aeon Flux) points out during the Bonus Feature documentary "Scrolls to Screen: The History and Culture of Anime" Japanese anime should be seen as "filmmaking first and animation second." ©
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