Matriculated (2003)

The ninth and final Animatrix short, as well as the longest, running at about 16 minutes. This is the most surreal of them all, with downright psychedelic images. The animation is amazing, well-done 2D Animé with well-integrated and utterly stunning 3D CGI elements. One can tell that this was done by Peter Chung(directed as well as written), the man who brought the world Aeon Flux(the television series, *not* the movie). With a brief philosophical debate making up nearly all of the dialog in this, this also has food for thought, including some in the basic idea of it, in which there is great irony. The sound and visuals are impeccably well-done. I could imagine many not enjoying this on account of how weird it is(not to say that anyone who doesn't care for this has that particular reason for it), it definitely is not for everyone. There is a making of on this, as with all the others(albeit in a couple of cases, two share one), on the DVD, and it is an interesting watch at almost seven minutes. There are various disturbing things here, and it will be up to the individual viewer to decide what is and what isn't, really. I recommend this to fans of the Matrix universe, trippy, off-beat and imaginative efforts and/or science fiction. 7/10

On the edge of a human colony, two `runners' surface from the sea and plan a homing device to call the sentinels to attack. As the sentinels approach, the runners are drawn into a trap by the human guards.Part of the series of animations making up the Matrix companion piece `The Animatrix', I saw this as a stand alone piece recently at a festival of shorts and animations and it displayed a problem that I noticed in some of the other shorts that I had seen on other days - that of fitting in with the matrix. In this short, the humans capture a robot as part of trying to convert them to join them and fight against the other machines. However in the Matrix itself we never see this side of the story. While I'm open to the idea that this was set many years before the films, in a more advanced time than the Zion we see, it still should have really done more to fit in.Given that it doesn't, it matters more whether the short works or not. The plot goes all a bit funny as they try and trick the robot and it clearly is going for style instead of substance. In terms of leaving out substance it does it very well - producing a film that doesn't do very well in regards logic and engaging plotting. In terms of style it only does so-so. It is good at the start and end but in the program it just seems to be as many colours as it can get rather than a style that is clever or stimulating.Overall this was the least of the shorts for my money. It has an interesting idea at the end that isn't delivered very well, thus fitting it in well with the rest of the short that never really interested me in the slightest. It doesn't fit with the incarnation of the matrix as we know it from the films and it didn't impress me with it's style or substance. The animation is good but that is not enough by itself - which it sadly was.

This is the seventh part of 'The Animatrix', a collection of animated short movies that tell us a little more about the world of 'The Matrix'. In this one a group of people catch a machine and want to let him fight on the side of men. They want the machine to do that out of free will with a specially designed program.The animation is colorful and very alive and that also makes it a little strange. Still very nice.

Spoilers Ahead.Peter Chung, creator of the cult anime 'Aeon Flux' came late to the Animatrix series and directed probably what is the most philosophical, demanding and difficult pieces of animation in the series.Chung takes the Matrix philosophy and turns it on it's head. Instead of humans being enveloped, without their knowledge, in an imagined world invented by the machines, this small band of humans have developed their own form of coersion.Inviting danger to them, they tempt machines to their barren hideaway in the middle of nowhere on the surface of the earth and then 'turn' the machines into human empathising beings through a complex and deliberate use of the Matrix itself.They 'teach' the machines what it is like to be human. They show compassion, love, fear and a host of other emotions until the machine 'gets it'. At the point which the machines begin to truly understand human feelings, they immediately switch their allegiance to the humans and fight tooth and nail to protect them, seeing them as one of their own. The humans have provided the machines with a spirit, if you like, and the machines grab this new experience, unwary of the real consequences of what they are feeling.This is an effective tool for the humans. as they have machine allegiances that can protect them. The machines, after having gone through the process, view themselves as human and it is now natural of them to have protective feelings towards the human group that 'turned' them.If this was the other way around, it may be called brainwashing, though in this scenario, brain-cleaning might be a better term. You can honestly empathise with the feelings of confusion and helplessness felt by the machine during the 'turning' process. You don't feel sorry for the machine as it is being 'educated' but you do wish for a happy outcome for it.The film is highly psychedelic and takes this course in order to confuse the machine, by placing it in a completely alien world where it has no control and where the laws of mathematics and physics (which all machines live by, obviously) do not apply.This is all part of the psychological brain ripping needed to transform the machine from an unfeeling intelligence into a being that understands what it is all about to be alive.Many questions are asked in this picture. Does this make the humans as bad as the machines, in their attempts to fool their enemies into compliance? Does this prove that the humans have actually learnt nothing from their horrifying experiences with the machines? It was after all, their responsibility that the machines overthrew them in the first place.Does this action by the machines and the same actions by man on machine have the same meaning? It takes the concept of Artificial Intelligence to it's conclusion by turning the whole thing full circle and looking at it from an entirely new perspective and asks if it is right to do it.An excellent story, combined with outstanding special effects, this film truly makes you stop and think about the actions of both human and machine in the Matrix universe and it's consequences on the real world.Highly recommended for the Matrix fan in mind.