The Animatrix
Nine anime visions illuminate the Matrix universe through machine history, human resistance, virtual rebellion, and radically contrasting cyberpunk styles.
Overview
Dive into a mesmerizing world where reality blurs with the virtual, revealing the hidden battles of humanity.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- kinetic
- philosophical
- bleak
- anime marathon
- science fiction double feature
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the anthology's visual inventiveness and ambitious expansion of Matrix mythology, while finding its stories uneven and frequently downbeat.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Nine separately directed shorts expand the Matrix mythology through machine history, resistance missions, simulations, and individual awakenings.
Several segments center on characters discovering glitches, escaping the Matrix, or transforming a machine through a human-designed virtual environment.
The shorts depict war between humanity and artificial intelligence, telepresence, machine domination, hackers, and post-apocalyptic resistance.
The production moves across multiple anime approaches, from sleek digital action to painterly, surreal, historical, and noir-inflected imagery.
Films like The Animatrix, and why
Love, Death & Robots
anthology science fiction animation exploring artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and dystopian futures through varied visual styles
Ghost in the Shell
cyberpunk anime with philosophical questions about humanity, technology, and constructed reality
Memories
ambitious animated science fiction anthology blending action, metaphysics, and radically different artistic approaches
Neo Tokyo
anime anthology of technologically driven dystopian stories with intense action and existential themes
Movie Details
- Directors
- Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Mahiro Maeda, Shinichiro Watanabe, Takeshi Koike, Peter Chung, Kōji Morimoto, Andrew R. Jones
- Release Date
- 2003-05-09
- Runtime
- 102 min
- Rating
- 7.2 / 10 (1856)
Cast
- Keanu Reeves
- Carrie-Anne Moss
- Clayton Watson
- Pamela Adlon
- Melinda Clarke
- John DiMaggio
- Kevin Michael Richardson
- Tom Kenny
- Rick Gomez
- Tara Strong
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Animatrix about?
- Nine anime visions illuminate the Matrix universe through machine history, human resistance, virtual rebellion, and radically contrasting cyberpunk styles.
- What is The Animatrix like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Animatrix as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Animatrix violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in The Animatrix as graphic.
- What did critics think of The Animatrix?
- Critics broadly praised the anthology's visual inventiveness and ambitious expansion of Matrix mythology, while finding its stories uneven and frequently downbeat.
- Which films are like The Animatrix?
- Films with a similar feel include Love, Death & Robots, Ghost in the Shell, Memories, and Neo Tokyo.
- How long is The Animatrix?
- The Animatrix runs 102 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Animatrix?
- In United States, The Animatrix is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
In Ember's collections
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- Memories1995
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- EVANGELION: DEATH (TRUE)²1998
- Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 Sustainable War2021
- Revival of Evangelion1998
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