The Second Renaissance Part II

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?

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

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.

Wow, this was dark and depressing. If you thought the first part was violent, get ready for the next level! Here everything escalates and ramps up the intensity. We see the resolution of the war and the beginning of the human-machine symbiosis that we glimpsed in The Matrix (1999). Very effective in showing the brutality of the war.

I love history in all its forms, even made up movie history. And this movie was one hell of a history lesson. It displayed suffering like I've never seen before. It gave more meaning to the other movies. And it also made think. Is the human rebellion against the machine slavery just? (Don't want to express further thoughts about that in this comment because it would spoil the movie). And the animations were fantastic. In short: one hell of a movie.