I went to see 9 feeling a bit uneasy about it. I knew it would be good, but how good was the question. I guess as the theater drew closer, I just felt less and less easy about it. In all honesty though, it was a nice experience. The first thing that I noticed was how beautiful the movie was. I mean, this movie was GORGEOUS. It felt sort of like a dark Pixar movie, with the grey, Fallout 3 visuals and the attention to detail in the environment. There’s little things hidden around every corner in the background. It really is a great looking movie. But how about I give you my analysis of the real deal, the guts of the film. The stuff that really matters.
The story of 9 is definitely a nice story. It’s very easy to understand, and could be explained to a 7 year old. However, there’s a reason they say in the TV spots that 9, “isn’t your little brother’s animated film.” 9 is a dark story, and goes somewhere most post-apocolyptic films never dare to go: the actual death of humanity. Many post-apoc’ films have destroyed the planet, or a large portion of it, but never its inhabitants. There was always at least some sign of human life in existence. Even if it’s only one human, or all the humans are somewhere off-planet, there is humans. The first thing you might notice about 9 is that it has guts though and decides, “Hey, you like humanity? Haha! Well, sucks for you then, ’cause it’s gone.”
The story is this: The U.S. used a scientist to build them a special machine that could build other machines in its own image, quickly at that. It was meant to be used as a peacekeeper, but the government decided to change that by using the machines to conquer other countries. When the scientist disagreed and tried to stop the machine from building more of these robotic soldiers, the government captured him, and the creator machine became angry, turning it’s robots against the humans. The entire human race was wiped out, but just before the end, the scientist managed to make a machine with a power unlike any other, and gave nine ragdolls the spark of life. They were created to somehow, someway, protect the future of Earth.
I won’t say too much else (and if I was wrong about the U.S. being the ones, my bad, I kind of forgot that part), but I will say that the end was pretty anti-climactic. It really felt like the build-up toward the real good part movie, but because it was so short it just messed that part up. However, I think 9 was more about the journey than reaching the X that marked the spot.
The characters of 9 (named after the numbers 1 through 9) are kind of dull in all honesty. Well, it’s not that I didn’t like them, it’s just they had little to no time to develope. A few felt fake and bland, like 8. I never felt him as a character, just as a bully who had no buisness being in the film. However, I will see that what 9 lacked in characters (for me anyway) they made up for in action and even suspense. I was scared for the characters because in all honesty, I didn’t think anyone was safe. It felt like at any moment someone would be killed. I don’t want to spoil anything, but there were quite a few twists and turns in this movie.
The action in 9 was great. Although I think the theater I was in was playing the sound a bit low in volume. I think I’ve watched my TV at louder volumes than that movie. Ah well, the scenes themselves were great. 7, the female badass character in the film, did quite a few great tricks with her weapons, and fought some pretty nasty creatures and the devices the heroes used to fight the machines were very creative and cool. I also enjoyed the creatures themselves. The monsters the nine heroes fought were some pretty nasty creatures.
Overall, 9 was an enjoyable experience. Whether you enjoy it for its stunning visuals, its awesome action, or its simplistic story, it doesn’t matter. You will most likely enjoy it. And if you don’t, well that’s fine too. We’re all entitled to our own opinion, aren’t we?
Dylan Alexander 