9

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Sep 102009
 

9

I’m going to try and not make a big deal of this.  My name is Dustin.  You may know me as Voltaic.  Let’s move on to the real reason you are reading this review.

Ok, so here’s my review of 9.  And yes, I saw it on 9/9/09.  Dum, Dum, DUMMMMM!!!!!  At any rate, if you’ve read any review for this flick, you’ll likely notice that they mention to temper your expectations.  You’re not going to get anything different from me here.  While I couldn’t help but enjoy this movie, I still came away disappointed and feeling that a potentially great premise was squandered on a mediocre plot.

Let’s get the positives out of the way up front.  The animation is simply gorgeous.  It’s so good in fact that there were times I forgot that I was not watching it in 3D.  Seriously, the depth of field looks incredibly real.  Add to that, the sound is well put together and there’s some really great action.  And it’s not just a kiddie animated flick.  There’s some pretty scary stuff and even a “shit your pants because you jumped” moment.  For all these reasons alone, the film is worth seeing.

As I mentioned, the premise is rather inventive.¬† Although there‚Äôs been a lot of alternative history stuff released in the last few years (Inglorious Basterds, Resistance: Fall of Man for the PS3), there was something pretty inventive going on in 9.¬† Basically it takes place somewhere between what looks like the 40s and the 60s.¬† The world has been decimated by the machines a scientist created after they were exploited by the military only to turn on the humans.¬† The same scientist apparently created some tiny puppets that can talk, too.¬† Why?¬† Read on…

Then there’s that damn storyline getting in the way of that great set up.  It’s not that the storyline is bad, it just can’t compete with the layers of awesome the setting evokes.  And not to mention, Spoiler, the main catalyst for the plot hinges on the main character, 9 (voiced by Elijah Wood) making just a bone-headed decision and forcing the story forward to search for 2.  I mean, I understand that they really have no story unless he plugs that fucking thing in to wake up the gigantic monster.  But what the deuce would possess someone who’s been “alive” for less than an hour to do that?  They could have just easily had the monster do that.  It probably would have been better.  But I guess if you want the audience to think your protagonist is an idiot, this is the route to go.

Another big issue this film has is the relationships between the characters.  I guess they’re all supposed to be tied together through some form of wizardry, but I just can’t believe that 9 would be able to trust and/or like all of them so quickly.  Some movies have issues giving too much exposition.  This one could use a healthy does of it.  Not only that, why would they trust 1 and 8 after they prove on at least two occasions that they are complete assholes?  With only 78 minutes to tell they’re story, everything moves at a brisk pace and unfortunately this really causes the cohesion of the story and characters to suffer

So there’s the meat of it.  Nice to look at, but dismissed for a few flaws.  I still recommend checking it out in the theater if for nothing else to marvel at the animation.  Try and catch it in a digital presentation if you can.  Just go in with the right frame of mind and you should enjoy it.

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