Animatrix

RS: 3of 4 Stars

Sci-Fi

As if two full-length Matrix features this year weren't enough, the Wachowski brothers have commissioned nine gorgeous animated shorts. They're between nine and sixteen minutes long; the best, such as Shinichiro Watanabe's Detective Story, make only passing reference to the world of Matrix films. The two-part Second Renaissance, written by the Wachowskis, is for hard-core fans only -- it details how the machines took charge of Neo's world. For all the stylistic range, the shorts have a common weakness: The philosophizing on the nature of reality often sounds like your stoned freshman-year roommate.

GAVIN EDWARDS
(May 20, 2003)