AMB Reviews

9: 7.5/10 Stars

Release Date: 9/9/09

Content Advisory: Rated PG-13 for violence and scary images. Near constant, bloodless violence includes explosions and fighting with weapons. Rag dolls have their souls sucked out of them, and scary images include a skeleton-like snake monster that slithers around and wraps people up like a spider. Large machines have red eyes and kill whatever's in their way.

Review:

Let me just give you a heads-up: despite the animation, this is NOT a kid's movie...

In Short:

As much as I wanted to give this 9 stars, unfortunately, it was stuck with 7.5. This dark film takes place after the world has ended and been wiped clean of humans. Beforehand, a scientist created little rag doll type creatures that are given life and made to start anew after the world's end. But evil machines still lurk in the distance. They wiped out mankind, and they can wipe out the rag dolls. Now, it's a battle of life or death to save the future of the only survivors. It's not an entirely original plot, but it didn't really need one with all of the constant action going on. From start to finish, there really is no break, making this film seem frenetic and claustrophobic. The voicing was great, and the visuals were absolutely spectacular.

In Full:

"9," unlike many movies that revolve around the end of the world, takes place after the end of the world. After humans have been wiped out by large, havoc-inducing machines, the only survivors left are small ragdoll creatures, called stitchpunks. They are the creation of a scientist, left to inherit the Earth. They are numbered 1-9, 9 being the main character of the film. But the machines are still out there. And it'll take all 9 of the stitchpunks to band together and make one last stand. The plot itself needs work. It had a very nice flow and everything seemed to work together, but the storyline itself was pretty weak and unoriginal.

The voicing was filled with some big stars. Elijah Wood, for example, voices the character of 9, while Jennifer Connelly voices the warrior stitchpunk, 7. Other noticeable voices include Christopher Plummer, John C. Reilly, and Martin Landau. That's pretty much about it. In a film where the only (and I mean only) characters left on Earth are 9 rag dolls, there's no need for a huge cast. Everyone did a fine job voicing their character, and to me, they all put life into them. The stitchpunks came alive, partly because of the solid voice-overs.

Of course, the other larger reason they came alive, was the fantastic animation. This is where "9" absolutely explodes. From the opening scene, to the bittersweet ending, "9's" visuals are shockingly original, stunning, and very life-like. It's not like anything you've ever seen before. It's not Pixar, Dreamworks, or Disney. I believe that one day, people will look back on "9" as the start of a new dawn of animation. It had to be some of the most jaw-dropping 3-D animation I've seen in a long time. Now, am I saying that "9" levels out with Pixar's "Wall-E" or "Finding Nemo?" Good heavens no. But the animation just might.

As noted previously, the storyline in this film could've been stronger. For such original animation, I was hoping they would make something more out of it than just your typical plot for this kind of movie. There were certainly original elements to it, and the whole "ragdoll" characters were certainly new, but no element to the story really struck me as new or original. The film was also extremely short. Clocking in at about 75 minutes, I felt like I was probably sitting in the theater for 10 minutes. Is this is a good thing? I personally felt that it gave it a more claustrophobic feel... but I still felt like something was missing as I walked out of the theater.

"9" is a movie that I love mainly because of the animation. The plot was mediocre, and though the voicing was great, my eyes remained fixed on the screen because of how magical the animation was. Every ragdoll, every large, killing machine that popped up on screen, I dearly wanted to reach out and touch. The vast, dark, bleak atmosphere that "9" is set in, seemed so life-like. That's the reason I gave this film 7.5 stars. If a 2-D animated film would've come along with the same voicing and script, I doubt I would be giving this more than 6 stars. So, for those teens and adults (any parent taking a little child to this film is insane) in the mood for a dark, short, and truly beautiful film... "9" may just be your ticket.