freemantle_uk The Second Renaissance was the best short on the Animatrix DVD. The first half was the stronger, showing the show and political world before the machines took over the Earth. But The Second Reaissiance is still pretty good.Part II tells the story of the war between humanity and the machines. The human nations attempt to nuke 01 but nuclear weapons have little affect to machines who are not living creatures. The machine quickly conquer the Middle East and Europe, and winning the war. The humans take the drastic action and block out the sun, believing they would take out the machines' energy supply. But humanity is still loosing the war, and soldiers even take solace in religion. There are many brutal battles and the machines force humanity to sign a humiliating peace treaty in the UN in New York before blowing up the city. However, victory seems hollow. The machines in the end have to enslave humanity by making them their power source; thereby forming the Matrix as a system of control.The plot and narrative is weaker in this short. This short is more about the action, with gory violence, and shows how bleak the world becomes. The style of the animation is beautiful and the action well down. There are also some interesting themes, like humans in their darkest hour look to religion, that victory can be hollow, the link between machines and humans and desperate actions humans may take. The signing of the peace treaty also reminded me of the Armistice between France and Germany during World War 2 where Hitler found the same train carriage where the Germans were forced to sign the armistice in World War 1. Cruel irony. It's only 9 minutes, it's worth watching.

Polaris_DiB Again, I'm not exactly sure why this one had to be divided from the first part, which was a lot better and more effective in creating a sense of doom. This one also felt a little incomplete because it ended before explaining how the resistance featured in the Matrix trilogy main plot arch even managed to form. If there were two parts, was there supposed to be a third? The animation in both parts one and two is decent, though the second one stands out more for its expressive use of dissolves and that uncanny image of the (robotic?) horseman falling into flames. I really wish the two parts were one, as I think they'd both be more effective that way.--PolarisDiB

Mortus In part 2 of The Second Renaissance the trade war between the humans and the machines which began in part 1 now escalates into a shooting war. The war scenes are excellent and shown in a frantic pace with a heavy techno beat, not unlike the one we hear during the lobby-scene in "The Matrix", along side. The movie (part 1+2) answers many of the questions you are left with after seeing "The Matrix" regarding the development from our time to the time when "The Matrix" takes place, such as who started the war, how man scorched the sky, and how the surface war between man and machine went. For anyone who wants to learn more about the whole Matrix-universe The Second Renaissance is highly recommendable and for others I can only say that the movie is highly entertaining. 9/10 May there be mercy on man and machine for their sins

bob the moo 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.