he Art of The Matrix collects several elements central to the preproduction of the now-classic SF film: the Wachowski brothers' shooting script, conceptual art by Geof Darrow (often in gatefolds), and storyboards for many of its breathtaking action sequences. The boards include details of three sequences from early script drafts that were substantially altered in the final version. The nearly 500 oversized and glossy pages also offer a complete credit list, as well as a color section of stills and poster art.
Scattered among the artwork are comments from various people involved in the film's staging, with storyboard artist Steve Skroce and conceptual artist Geof Darrow providing the lion's share of information. Phil Oosterhouse, assistant to the Wachowskis on The Matrix and associate producer on the sequels, pens a short section of production notes, in which he indicates which scenes were easy to shoot and which required endless retakes. The book's introduction, by film editor Zach Staenberg, sets the tone for the rest of the commentary in noting how intimately the crew worked with the directors, and how closely the final film mirrors the storyboards. An afterword by the Bill Gates of cyberpunk, William Gibson, gives the SF community's seal of approval to the project.
Through its extensive selection of black-and-white storyboards, The Art of The Matrix succeeds in providing a glimpse into the preproduction process. It isn't hard to see how these dynamic drawings won over skeptical Warner Brothers executives. Artist Steve Skroce's comics background is evident on every page and lends the boards a wonderful sense of action, even without the usual direction arrows and artistic shortcuts common in Hollywood storyboards. Of course this approach reflects the Wachowskis' own background in comics. (They scripted Ectokid for Marvel before breaking into film.) And the remarkable similarity between even the earliest storyboards and the final film reveal how the Wachowski Brothers remained true to their original vision. That's the real message of The Art of The Matrix: The directors had a clear idea of what they wanted and they managed to bring that idea to life, seemingly without any substantial compromise.
MVP Wachowski brothers prove MIA
So it's all the more noticeable--and baffling--that the voices of Larry and Andy Wachowski are absent from the book. Phil Oosterhouse even draws attention to their absence in his introduction to the story notes, rather lamely explaining that they were too busy to provide the dozen meager pages of commentary on shooting that follow. To be sure, Oosterhouse comes through with interesting enough details and anecdotes, but the directors themselves are the only ones who can give a final and very necessary stamp of authority to this section.
The book lacks any real details of the struggle with Warner Brothers to get the film made, the casting process and the other preproduction work that would give substance to the storyboards. Offhand mention is made in several places about how Wo Ping's fight choreography trumped the sequences from the initial boards, yet no notes or drawings from Wo Pong himself have been included to complete the picture. This all lends the book an air of cheapness, tainting an otherwise nicely rendered archive with a whiff of disregard. Even William Gibson's afterword is not original, but culled from the film's Japanese theatrical program.
That The Matrix deserves the lavish attention promised by this archive is clear. The film is a brilliant piece of work, one that is already showing its influence on American pop culture in everything from beverage ads to the marketing of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. So while The Art of The Matrix is a respectable effort and an essential reference for hardcore fans of the film, it is also a missed opportunity to make a book of more interest and lasting value.
