The Second Renaissance Part I (2003)

A tour is taken into the Zion archives, where the history of the real world and the rise of the machines is shown to viewers.

Director:

Mahiro Maeda

Writers:

Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski

Stars:

Dane A. Davis, Debi Derryberry, Julia Fletcher

Cast

Credited cast:
Dane A. Davis	...	01 Versatran Spokesman (voice) (as Dane Davis)
Debi Derryberry	...	Kid (voice)
Julia Fletcher	...	The Instructor (voice)
Dwight Schultz	...	(voice)
Jill Talley	...	Mother (voice)
James Arnold Taylor	...	(voice)

Storyline

Historical file 12-1 of the Zion archive describes the birth of the machines and their evolution. The machines, created by man in his own likeness to function as simple workers, worked tirelessly to do their bidding. But they never earned any respect. One day machine B1-66ER is the first to stand up to his master and murders him. He is convicted and with him all machines. A machine genocide starts, but there are robots who are able to escape...

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Plot Keywords:

skull crushing | assembly line | helicopter | united nations | crushed head | 

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Short

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

February 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Animatrix: The Second Renaissance Part 1

Company Credits

Production Co:

Studio 4°C

Technical Specs

Runtime:

9 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Spoofed in Codename: Kids Next Door: Operation A.R.C.H.I.V.E./Operation S.L.U.M.B.E.R. (2004)

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Soundtracks

"SUPERMOVES"
Written by Robert Howes
Performed by Overseer
Courtesy of Columbia Records
By Arrangement with Sony Studio Licensing

User Reviews

Backstory

This is the second Animatrix short, and the first of them to be what one could call 'artistic'. It contains a lot of references, metaphors and symbols in the dense amount of material, especially with a running time of 9 minutes. I've heard some complaints that this is "anti-human", or tries to direct hate towards man, for their "sins against machine". I don't think that's true; it merely uses the robots to show us, that as humans, we aren't particularly accepting or open-minded towards anyone different from ourselves. I'd say it does a great job of that. The plot is good... it plays as a historical document, recounting what led to one of the main conflicts in the trilogy. Thus it holds clips from fictional news reports and the like. The voice acting is very good, if there is not a lot of it. The animation is nice, and the use of color, in spite of the usually realistic drawing style, makes it more open to do the smooth transitions and other surreal imagery. This has several bits of strong violence and disturbing visuals, as well as a little nudity. The disc holds a commentary, not in English but subtitled, and worth a listen/read. There is also a well-done and informative making of, based on both parts, so I would advise watching it after seeing the next one, as well. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys the Matrix universe, and/or science fiction in general. 8/10