Une Histoire de Détective

I've seen three of the Animatrix episodes, and this is my favorite of all of them. The Second Renaissance provided a flimsy back story to the already flimsy universe. Program was a stylistically impressive number, it just felt kind of silly. I guess what gives this one it's special touch is the direction from Shinichiro Watanabe, director of the incredibly popular (and for good reason) series Cowboy Bebop. It has some of the best elements of Bebop: slick, sci-fi adventure, a no-nonsense, slightly apathetic hero working for hire, a bounty-head (more or less), and a chase scene, all wrapped up in an excellent film-noir packaging. Watanabe's Tarantino-style slickness comes through here full throttle.

The eighth, and thus second-to-last short of the Animatrix ones, this is the only one quite like this. This takes two of the main types of filmed entertainment inspirations of The Matrix, and combines them unbelievably well. This is immensely faithful to the trilogy in that aspect, the tone. The animation is a gorgeous, breathtaking Animé. The style, which is omnipresent in this, is Noir. The plot is fitting, and the story-telling, as well, as the music, is spot-on. The sound in general is fantastic, and really helps solidify the mood and atmosphere, along with the drawings and designs. The voice acting is impeccable. This is one of only two where people also in the movies reprise their roles, and both have Anne-Moss, who is the only of them appearing in this. This is one of the best of the nine, and also one of my personal favorites. This is about ten minutes long. The pacing is perfect. It never slows down terribly much, but it's not overwhelming, either. The ending could not have been more appropriate for this. This shares a nine and a half-minutes long making of with Kid's Story, and it's well-done and informative. I recommend this warmly to any fan of the universe and the two genres that this is made up of. 8/10

A noir style matrix story?

I'm in.

I like this volume. It was also nice that the old fashion detective story and the black and white part of the episode were.

They did a good job, it was different.

Wow, its been quite a while since I've watched anything so mysterious in the way it is portrayed.

A Detective Story uses old fashioned black and white images to portray a private investigator who dresses in an old fashioned trench coat and hat. The theme of this animation is reminiscent of that of Sam Spayed which was briefly mentioned by Ash.

Sick of spying on cheating house wives because of his clients, Ash was offered a chance to track down a "computer hacker" which he thought was a worthwhile chance for a four figure sum he could not turn down and the rest is history.

The ending was a little bit bland but still okay. For those out there who like old fashion stories this is the one for you.

The detective story is not typical for the Matrix Universe. It is a film-noir-esque private eye story, with a strong narrator and a very rich feel. Rich, in terms of its visual appeal. The snowing scenes, the grainyiness, it all stuns the eye.

But what about the story? It is interesting, even if it feels a little out of place. The agents hire a privat detective to track down Trinity. He finds out that they tried the approach before, but with hazardous consequences for the hired detectives. Still, he tries to locate her and eventually succeeds, through Alice in Wonderland references and hackers and chat rooms. Then things begin to get interesting...

All in all, this is a perfectly satisfying short animated movie.

8/10