  
9a.k.a. “Nine,” “Número 9,” “Numéro 9”MPAA Rating:
 for violence and scary images.Reviewed by: Ethan Samuel Rodgers Average
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience:
Teens, Adults
Genre:
Action, Sci-Fi, Animation, War, Adventure
Length:
1 hr. 19 min.
Year of Release:
2009
USA Release:
9/9/9
September 9, 2009 (wide—1,638 theaters)   
Relevant Issues
“When our world ended their mission began.” Visually stunning, ingeniously crafted, poorly laid out and sporadic at best, “9” is the cinema’s greatest example this year of how an intriguing premise can be squandered through the lack of ability to construct a sound storyline and is, furthermore, living proof that not everything Tim Burton touches turns to gold. In the wasteland of what used to be Earth, a small puppet comes to life. The year and location are unknown, like many other things, but the puppet, 9 (Elijah Wood), quickly finds he is in a hostile world, filled with mechanical beasts and robots, machines and danger, where life seems to no longer exist. Eight other puppets brave this world, led by 1 (Christopher Plummer). They huddle together for safety in a large abandoned cathedral, waiting for the danger, like the war that ended humanity, to sleep. After a string of unfortunate events, 9 and the others find themselves up against a great machine responsible for the death of the human race. Faced with insurmountable odds, they must destroy it to ensure peace befalls what’s left of the world. So I’m sure you’re wondering what will happen next, right? Unfortunately, that’s really all the information you’re given, save two conventional plot twists and the ending, which is none-to-satisfying, as well. Director and Writer Shane Acker simply ran out of story ideas, it seems. The hour and a half run time is far too long for such a story, and the way it’s told is sophomoric, at best. Thrust almost immediately into the action, one is pelted with four various climaxes throughout the ordeal, being spoon-fed crumbs of story in boring fashions to keep the charade alive while simultaneously having action scene after chase scene shoved down one’s throat. Granted, the animation is beautiful, every detail carefully examined, while the fight scenes are certainly not disinteresting. They do, however, simply grow boring after the first half hour or so, and without a single subplot to intrigue or enhance the overall plot, the one view storyline sputters quickly. The story itself couldn’t really seem to decide what its endgame truly was. It was difficult to figure out or predict when the film was going to be over and what the point of the film actually was, until suddenly it was over, and tied neatly with a “feel good” bow of vague symbolism and hope, followed by the credits. Truly, the creators of “9” devoted themselves wholly to the creation of the beings and the world they lived in, instead of the plot or story surrounding it, or convincing us why we should really care about the tiny puppets anyway. From a moral standpoint, the film is certainly acceptable. No language or sex, though the violence is incredibly realistic. Some of the monsters that chase after the puppets look like child’s nightmares come to life, and the overall tone and setting is dark, ominous, and downright creepy. Characters have their souls sucked out, and are hunted by Terminator-esque robots created to destroy them. This is one reason I see the film missing it’s target audience: the lack of interesting story and subplots that will not keep adults interested is coupled with the violent action that will scare younger children, which leaves “9” with a small demographic to entertain. The symbolism is an unfortunate deterrent, as well. Not so subtly, 1 (Plummer) is dressed in a cape and hat, almost as a pope or bishop, ruling over the others who are afraid of he and his lackey, 8, in a large “sanctuary” which is indeed a cathedral. 1 is afraid of the outside, of knowledge and science, and of facing his fears for the good of the world, simply out of principal and rules. The constant reference to “the source,” coupled with the fascination over souls and resurrections also played a confusing part in the symbolism of the story, although their true purpose to the story, other than the cut and dry ending, which didn’t really make any sense, eluded me. These instances further cemented my view that not only was this premise that Shane Acker came up with poorly told and carried out, but mildly stereotypical and overdone. The voice acting is surprisingly poor, as well. Unconvincing dialogue from the entire cast is sprinkled throughout to inspire emotion and care, fright and apprehension, but ends up following suit with the story and simply lulling along. Uninspired lines are delivered casually and nonchalantly from start to finish with very few, if any, exceptions. Were it not for the fantasy world and characters depicted with such creativity, along with their respective antagonists, “9” would be nothing more than a waste of 90 minutes. The animation itself truly saves the film from total demise, but can not redeem the pointlessness of the story Acker so clumsily weaves. While “9” is beautiful in many senses of the word, the development of what began as a short film concept into this major motion picture simply found itself without enough story or journey to support such grand aspirations. Concluded with too many questions and loose ends, and sticking to bland predictable story structure resembling an apocalyptic mix of “Happy Feet” and “The Terminator,” “9” is a film that certainly could have been great, but unfortunately capitulated to be nothing more than an extended piece of eye candy. Violence: Heavy / Profanity: None / Sex/Nudity: None See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers. Apocalypse…  Positive
Negative - Though this was the best option (for morals) compared to everything else in the pg 13 range at the theater, this movie is so boring. I saw it with my friend who liked a couple of the surrounding environments that served as foreshadowing but still agreed that the ultimate point of the puppets was pretty stupid. I almost fell asleep after the first 30 minutes. Positive - I was very impressed with this film. Hundreds of man vs. machine movies have been made, but this one takes that concept to a different level. I never would have thought that I would find a little burlap puppet cute, but in this movie I certainly did. I was impressed with the themes in the movie, aside from bravery, they show the willingness to stand up and fight for what is right instead of just hiding in the corner and waiting for it to go away, and the characters show amazing kindness towards each other. There is also a great amount of forgiveness exhibited. I was very impressed by the content of the movie. Movies that Tim Burton is involved in very often contain sensuality, bad language, or bloody violence so I was surprised that there was absolutely no bad language, blood, or sensuality of any kind. This fact in itself is impressive considering the other movies out nowadays, and even the fact that you can rarely see a movie where someone does not take the Lord's name in vain. Positive - I don't feel like giving a lengthy review; I'll just do the short version. 9 is a good movie, but it's occasionally a wasted opportunity for greatness. The animation is absolutely fantastic, with impeccable attention to detail- it's amazing to me what can be done with a movie that uses such a non-varied color scheme. Visually, it's downright entrancing. Unfortunately, the plot is kind of weak. It starts out well, but then it becomes a generic fight-and-rescue sort of movie. The characters are decent- some are very good, some are just boring and generic. 9's a great protagonist, 5 comes into his own as the movie progresses, 3 and 4 are charming characters, and 1 starts out as a bland stereotype, but grows into his own by the end. Unfortunately, characters like 2, 6, 8, and especially 7 just weren't doing it for me. They were, for the most part, boring stereotypes. Don't think I'm sexist or anything, but I'm getting sick of every movie needing to have the token tough female who's a better fighter than all the guys put together. Not because it's bad to have characters like that, but because it's becoming SO overdone. I want to see something fresh. Neutral
Neutral - Not bad, not great. Just a modest medium of mediocrity. It's clean and honestly overrated in the literal sense of the word. I think kids 8 and older or thereabout would be just fine watching this movie. Heck, back in the day, there were and likely still are cartoons rated TV-Y7 FV that are more violent than “9.” Negative
Negative - To focus on the film in strictly moral terms, it is very offensive. The most obvious thing about it is the amount of occult. Souls are sucked out of the puppets, a shell of a puppet (after its soul has been taken) is used as a decoy but looks and acts very much like a ghost, along with some other instances. But the most offensive thing is at the end of the movie, when a seance-style ritual is held to resurrect the puppets that have their souls taken during the movie. The cloth they're made of is arranged in a circle with fires beneath them, and one large fire in the middle. It looks almost exactly like a pentagram. Comments from young people
Positive - This movie was amazing! The animation was brethtaking and the action was just plain cool. I didn't find it boring at all, and the art-style was very original. While the story wasnt incredible, the action and animation made up for it. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone under 11 or 12. It was creepy and the robots were very nightmarish. Overall, I loved this movie, and I recommend to anyone not scared easily and like action/robots. Neutral - 9 is a movie filled with action that goes on forever in some scenes and in some it's just boring. The backrounds though was very amazing in some scenes but it failed in a plot all in all it was a good movie with a bit too much violence and not much of a plot. |
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