“9″ (Movie Review)
I'm just glad they didn't design the doll/toy with manjunk...that would be awkward...
Quick question. Have you ever heard of “9”? Tim Burton helped produce it, and it’s an animated sci-fi styled movie about toys/dolls coming to life in a post-apocalyptic world where it seems like every human is dead. No?
Don’t feel bad. I had no idea the movie existed until 30 minutes before I saw it, and the conversation went like this:
Me: “I need to review a movie.”
Friend: “We could go see 9.”
Me: “Nine what?”
Friend: “9. That’s the name of the movie dude. “
Me: “Oh! Oh. What’s it about?”
Friend: “I don’t know. Look it up on IMDB.com. I’m driving.”
Me: “Rude.”
Needless to say…I hadn’t seen a movie preview for it, so I knew nothing about the movie until I walked into the theater and sat down. So since it’s under-promoted and completely different than any other movie you’ll probably see this year, I’m hoping this helps you to make a decision on the movie.
The Good: The animation in this movie takes on the Tim Burton-esque fluidity, which makes you almost forget how small the characters are in real life due to the human perspective that the puppet/toy/things possess.
The action scenes in this movie has a type of building, escalating tension that can easily immerse you to the point that if it went on for any longer, it would become stressful (lol). The action scenes are so well-done and articulate that if you call yourself trying to text during the movie, and you look back at the screen 10 seconds later, it’s highly possible you’ll be wondering how exactly the action transferred to where it is now.
This movie also does a good job with making ordinary items we (humans) take for granted epic obstacles for the puppet/toy/things. The creativity in this movie is extremely high, almost to a rare form. From the cleverness of 9 (making a light out of a spear, extremely resourceful), to the intricately weaved details of the characters interaction with their world (the way the twins interacted with their “catalog site” was cool as well), if you’ve ever played with Legos or if you have some type of resourceful bone in your body, it’s something in here that a character will do that will make you smile. If you couldn’t tell, this movie is extremely detailed in some areas.
Remember that show Junkyard Wars? Yeah...they'd lose to that thing on top. Trust me.
The Bad: Keywords of the last statement: “in some areas.” If you do not like fragmented endings (meaning endings that finish the movie, but don’t finish the story), then maybe you should pass on this movie in theaters. The story seems as if it’s setting itself up for a second part, which is fine. The problem with that is that there’s no sequel planned…
Also, this is a jigsaw plot, meaning that you learn what’s going on as the character does. If you do not like being in the dark for 85 percent of the movie, you will not enjoy this movie. The plot takes a long time to develop, even though the movie is short and sweet. It seems contradictory, but the way this movie is designed, it’s definitely possible to have interesting movie progress WITHOUT making plot progress. This happens for a majority of the movie, so be warned.
Plus, although this wasn’t a problem for me, I can imagine that some people might not know how to handle watching an animated movie that’s not funny. “9” isn’t a comedy, not even by a stretch of my imagination. I counted two lines that just came off as funny to me, but the rest of the movie is about survival, not laughing.
The Public Disclaimer: This is one of those movies that you will either like or dislike because of its nature and the way it was made. As stated earlier, most animated movies are funny, and this one ISN’T. The last movie I can think of that did this right was Titan A.E., and I thoroughly enjoyed that movie (although I think there was some sexual tension in that movie, but whatever).
Bottom Line: Although I imagine this movie as the beginning of a trilogy as opposed to a stand-alone movie, it was still interesting enough for you to see. I enjoyed it, and even though it was short, and I was confused throughout the movie thanks to the slow developing twist in the movie…
…yep, there’s a nice twist that hits you towards the end…
…But even with that, it was a creatively-fueled movie that was way more innovative than some people can see. And I also can’t state enough how EPIC the action scenes are. It was good to me, but I can completely understand if you skip this in theaters and wait until DVD to see it.
—–> Final Rating 3.5 / 5 <—–
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Random Notes… “Dragon scene” = best scene in the movie… the ending ticked me off a little bit…the text message part earlier in the review is based on a true story on my part… “9” is actually a character in the movie…so are the characters 1 – 8…. “7” is a monster… not literally, but in spirit, seriously… she channels her inner-Shinobi for the whole movie…I walked out the movie a little confused on a rating…first time ever… I liked it, but there were things I just was confused about, like how a movie can be so detailed and not completely explain everything in a story…there should be a sequel…how awkward would it have been if they tried to include a romance between 7 and 9…especially when you consider the twist at the end… ewwww…..
