The Animatrix

Technorati Tag(s): Movies, Opinion

Three things about The Animatrix, since you've heard the rest:

1. The animation--barring Final Flight of Osiris, which is in 3D--is top notch. You will be stunned the way you were the first time you saw Ghost in the Shell.

2. We finally get a decent enough--although hackneyed and predictable--answer about why the machines rebelled. It's something right out of Asimov. It fits. Stupid, but it fits.

3. But it still doesn't answer the question I consider the most important: what the hell do the machines want all that human energy for? Just to exist? What's the point in that? I mean, let's see: the reason the machines rebel is mostly to have equal rights; to co-exist. To be treated like human. But what are they doing with all the energy in a world where the prototype of humanity or society doesn't exist? They certainly aren't building playgrounds or schools. They certainly aren't playing cricket or football. So what are they doing? They don't look like they're doing any set job, either. I mean, they can't be producing stuff in a factory. Who'd use them? There are no consumers. T-1000 said in Terminator 3: Without a mission a robot's life would have no meaning. So what would the robot do? Shut itself off? On one level, it's all subtle: the robots are just an antfarm. They make energy and they spend it making more energy. But I don't think the Wachowski brothers work on subtle levels. Of course, the Matrix universe is pure pop-culture, and wasting time analyizing it is really not worth it, anyway. But still, even Stephen King's stories fit, don't they? The Matrix stories just don't.

I have a big complaint with The Matrix: Revolutions. Schultz from ruthlessreviews handles it better. Go check it out.