Skunkyrate Gripping story with well-crafted characters

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Kinley This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Shawn Watson In this rather depressing Animatrix short, from Aeon Flux director Peter Chung, a group of humans living on the Earth's ravaged surface experiment with robots. The capture a 'living' sentinel and plug into the Matrix where they proceed to trick it into believing that it is human through a series of bizarre scenes and imagery.The look of the animation is very much in the style of Aeon Flux, so fans of that show will get a kick out of it. The humans don't have much character though, which helps focus on the 'de-robotizing' theme on the captured sentinel. It's an interesting concept that I wish could have been explored a bit more with a follow-up. I guess it will have to live in ambiguity.

teleomorph I'm stunned by the previous review. I thought the CG animations at the end were exquisite. My favorite of the 9 by far (well, 'Beyond' was also beautiful). Sophisticated, breathtaking and very trippy. And all on top really deep concepts:Scientist: "How do they know that the real world isn't just another simulation? How do you?"Alexa: "I know I'm not dreaming now because I know what it's like being in a dream."Scientist: "So dreaming lets you know that reality exists."Alexa: "No - only that my mind exists. I'm not sure about anything else."

TheOtherFool Somehow the Animatrix shorts with the most interesting premises have the worst outcome. Matriculated is the worst of the bunch (although it's a close call with Program), as it takes a great idea (showing the machines the beauty of mankind by plugging them in) and turns it into the worst experience of the 9.As I said, the story begins promising and interesting, but ends with a long, long, long sequence of 'weird' images, a cross between the famous scenes from 2001 and VGA-rain (who can remember it), but not as interesting as neither of them.Too bad as the Animatrix wasn't great to begin with. Add the fact that Revolutions as well as Reloaded were a huge disappointment... who knew it would end this way 5 years ago when we were all in awe of The Matrix... don't you hate sad endings? 3/10.

stevenleadbetter 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.