9 (2009)

Top marks for the animation. Average marks for the entertainment. Poor marks for the screenplay. Whenever a trailer comes out which says "from the makers of Nightmare Before Christmas" everybody thinks the movie is directed by Tim Burton. Actually, I am glad to be one of the few people on this earth that knows that Tim Burton did not direct “Nightmare Before Christmas”. He wrote the story, produced, but did not direct. In "9" he didn't even do that, he just co-produced. "9" is actually the child of Shane Acker, who back in 2005 had made a 10 min short film also called "9", who was nominated for a short-film Oscar, but did not win. After the success of that he was invited to expand it to a full length movie. I actually don't think that was a good move. The story is exactly the same, the 10 minutes converted into 75. But 1h15min becomes too long for a story which basically becomes a repetition of itself. After a while it becomes boring. Basically this can be called Terminator 5 for children. The story is nothing new and is disclosed bit by bit during the film. Man created machines, the machines turned on man, there was a war, mankind was wiped out, the world destroyed and machines rule. Before a scientist died, he created 9 little rag dolls and gave them a spirit or a soul to make the essence of mankind survive. The movie opens with the awakening of 9 (voiced by Elijah Wood) in this post-apocalyptic future. He fumbles (like wall-e) in the debris trying to find out where he is and then he comes across the other 8. When one of them is kidnapped by the machine, he inspires the others to go after him. He uses such lame lines as "c'mon, we must go, he would do the same for us", although he actually just met him for 5 minutes. As they do they unravel little by little what has happened. They make a mistake and unleashed a deadly machine who his after their souls and the rest of the movie is just they running away from the machine and putting the small pieces of the story together. I will not disclose the ending, but let me just say, it is awful and makes no sense. No sense whatever. If that is the good up-lifting ending, then, in my point of view, mankind is doomed. Really! The movie is saved by two things. First, the animation is fantastic, with great attention to detail. And second, the voice talents are also very good, with the likes of Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, Jennifer Connelly or John C. Reilly. It may be a good moral lesson for children, and an entertaining flick, but for thinking adults it would be better if it was just 40 minutes long, and with a way different ending.