The Second Renaissance Part II

With the human economy almost in complete ruin the world fights back against the machine city, but underestimates their resilience. With no option left but to black-out the sky and eliminate the main source of machine power, the humans launch an attack on robot-kind and are quickly cut-down. Those who are captured are experimented on in the beginning of the Matrix concept.

It's pretty depressing stuff, and highlights the cheapness and futility of human life. As with the film series, it's very, very much like the Terminator mythology, but as long as humans are greedy, vain, and stupid it will always be relevant.

IE: It will ALWAYS be relevant.

There is no comparison to this short film. While it is the bloodiest and possibly has the least amount of plot, the idea and brutality of this story brings about a side of the Matrix that no one could ever have dreamed of. The eventual taking over of mankind was rather interesting, but the thing that was missing was the beginning of the human revolution and the first tests of the actual Matrix. But then again, this film did just fine without those two little plot points, considering the story moved along quite nicely. The only other question I have though is, why weren't the two stories combined for the sake of continuity?

In no way as strong as part one, but still has some breathtaking moments. The second renaissance part 2 has its moments and concludes what you need to know before the Matrix. It presents itself with great action, interesting lore and a clashing art style that doesn't always work here. While this is still a good short it doesn't hold a candle to part 1 in my opinion, nevertheless you are still having a fun time.

The second half of the second renaissance explained! After the machines take over huge parts of the world, the humans plan to fight back.

What I like about this short is its explanation, to most of, why the machines are doing what they are doing in the Matrix movies. We are told a lot of interesting lore and shown how mankind was more or less their own killers from the get go. The idea that humans come up with seem smart, but it is also to show the hubris of humans by us thinking well always get the upper hand.

Like the short before it, this short has a lot of real world parallels, this time with focus on the near religiousness of war. It is a sad statement that rings true even to this day.

The animation is pretty good here but uses a lot of different styles. The previous part did that too, but here it feels more noticeable and distracting. It doesn't change some of the iconic imagery spawned from this short, such as the machine riding on the machine horse or the closing frames. Very strong visuals there

The action is pretty good here but take up too much of the short. This makes part 2 seem less impactful than part 1, and it doesn't have as much to say, sadly.

While I still like this short, it seems a bit too numbing compared to the predecessor. While it has some really strong parts, it just left me a bit more emotionless.

Of the Animatrix shorts, this is the third, and, obviously, of The Second Renaissance, it is the second part. After the first one(which perhaps had more to say, but that is debatable) told us the events leading up to the war, this shows just that: The stand-off between the two forces. We already know the final result, so this is not about the destination, but the journey. The depiction is very dark, bleak and apocalyptic, and it achieves what was obviously one of the things they went for: It is not a pleasant sight. The irony is bitter and arguably cruel. The story-telling is similar. The animation is nice, with a well-integrated mix of 2D and 3D. Very effective direction and choice of color schemes. This has nudity or what comes very close to it, and definitely violent and disturbing images, and is not for the faint of heart. This is controversial, just as the one before it. On the DVD, there is a making of that goes over both, and is very informative and well-done, and a commentary track, not in English but with subtitles, and it is definitely worth taking in. I recommend this to any fan of the Matrix franchise, Part I of these(watching it is a must for the experience of this one) and/or science fiction in general. 8/10

With the robot city isolated and it's ambassadors ejected from the United Nations, a trade war begins to protect the human economy from superior products. When the trade war escalates into war the machines begin a seemingly unstoppable march across the globe. With solutions running out man darkens the sky to try and shut out the machine's main energy source, but the machines keep coming and the war for earth reaches it's horrifying conclusion.

The second part of the history of the Matrix leaves aside the civil unrest and political build up and launches straight into the war for earth. Where part 1 used fictional news footage to good effect, here the main use is cameras belonging to the human soldiers. The violence, terror and speed of the war is well brought out and I found myself unable to look away as it was really gripping. Some of it is very gory but the overall impression is that man was overcome by sheer weight of numbers.

As a sister to the films this works very well. You don't need to have seen this short to understand the film but it enriches your experience. Unlike some of the other shorts that you do need to see to understand the films (or bits of them anyway). The animation is very frantic and very slick and the thing is pure style with the strong substance.

Overall it is easy to dismiss this but it does have enough style of it's own to justify it's existence as a short in it's own right. It suggests that (unlike many blockbusters) this trilogy (for all it's flaws) was established in a world that was planned rather than one which was expanded when the box office suggested that it would be a good idea to try to do so.