Genres

Visitors Review

2013-05-20 01:27:54

Fun, but shallow

This movie is worth watching just for the great art and animation, but if you are looking for a captivating story, look elsewhere. As previously pointed out in other reviews, there are quite a few plot holes, not that big a deal to me, but the lack of a story for a movie that is less than 80 minutes long makes you glad it ends when it does. Elijah Wood, a fairly competent actor, does, I think, a mediocre job of voice acting here. Most other characters are portreyed well enough, but the utter lack of depth in story, character development and plot means that you really don't grow to care about any of it. In the end, it was little more than a bunch of pretty pictures.

Andy Serbe 2013-05-19 10:46:16

Interesting, thought not perfect

As someone who hasn't ever been too much of a faithful Tim Burtonfollower, I didn't know what to expect from "9". But the trailers madeit seem interesting and I heard good things about it, so I went to seeit. I was very pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed this film a lot, andwill definitely buy it on Blu-Ray(because the visuals are absolutelybreathtaking, and it deserves the best quality available).The ensemble cast does a great job, from Martin Landau as 1 to ElijahWood, as 9. They all do a great job putting forth a character that inevery way fits the their roles. The weakest point of this movie is theplot. Don't get me wrong, I liked it, but then again I've liked itevery other time I've seen it. The movie obviously borrows from iconicpost-apocalyptic films such as Terminator. It's not that the plot isbad so much as it's simply "been done". Finally, I found the oddspiritual twist near the end refreshing. It wasnot expected, and despite the polarizing effect it has on viewers, Ienjoyed the fact that the movie ends with a bit of hope, and a feelingof David and Goliath victory as the small "stitchpunks" succeeded inrestoring life to a dead planet.So, what I guess I'm saying is that by no means is this a flawlessmovie(but then again what movie is?) , but it is Definitely worth yourtime and money to see. It's a great movie.

Amy Nicholson 2013-05-15 14:40:38

The worst thing you can say about 9 is that it's the look, not the script, that keeps your interest.

Marshall Fine 2013-05-14 19:07:26

A computer-animated wonder, an apocalyptic action-thriller that's a little like The Terminator meets WALL-E.

2013-05-13 07:32:23

One of The Best Movies This Year

9 is a burlap man, he wakes to find himself in a laboratory, the humans around him dead and the world we know has suffered an apocalypse. 9 goes out into the world and soon finds friends like him numbered 1 through 8. Together they discover the secret of how the world was destroyed and the reason for their existence while battling "The Machine." As the numbers struggle for survival they come to realize that each of them has a piece of the answer to the riddle of their world and they need each other. The characters are computer generated, and they look like sock puppets but you find yourself very quickly forgetting that, and you start to care about the characters, their plight, their safety, their concerns. Each character is developed as fully as it can, even a couple characterizations that could have safely remained clichés like that of 8, who is a bully and enforcer of 1 is later shown to have some quite human attributes and when the machines attack it is 8 who leaves all differences behind and uses his brawn to save the others. The other characterization that could have remained a cliché is that of "The Machine" it could have been a static Darth Vader like symbol of all that is bad and evil, but even the "The Machine" is shown to have been at one point an innocent that has it's use and functions corrupted.9 is one of the most pure filmmaking experiences I've had in a long time. 9 started life as a 7-8 minute animated short by Shane Acker. The short didn't have speaking parts, characterization was delivered through expression and body language and 9 the feature film carries on that original intent, although not totally wordless a lot of subtle, nuanced points are shown subtly with expresssion, tone, body language, and doesn't overly rely on the human actors who voice the characters. And the actors who do voice the characters do an excellent job. Christopher Plummer, Crispin Glover, Martin Landau, Jennifer Connelly, Elijah Wood all seem to be the perfect casting for the roles.I read some of the other reviews that suggested 9 is a kids movie, but it doesn't seem to be. Yes, the characters are cute and would seem to have great merchandising potential, but the world revealed in the movie has some depth to it. If you want to let your kids see the movie, I wouldn't hesitate, the darker elements aren't that dark, probably less than the average Disney movie and aren't horrific or traumatizing for younger viewers.There are plenty of bonus features and they are all around excellent. There are a lot of behind the scenes looks at the creation of the movie talking with everyone from Shane Acker who created the original short and directed the feature. Production designers of every ilk talk about their participation in the movie but it's never boring or too technical. The bonus features include the original short the movie is based on.As a reviewer you find that good books or movies generate a lot of ideas, questions, and thought as you watch or read, 9 does that extraordinarily well. After watching 9 I think you'll find yourself satisfied with the experience. The only thing I regret is, I wish I had seen this movie before now.

2013-05-12 20:46:53

It's OK

This review is from: 9 [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) It leaves you feeling ling you missed something since it lacks story. The first Shreck was better. Santa Sangre 2-DVD Special EditionThe movie was not as good as I thought.

Simon Weaving 2013-05-11 19:33:27

Grown from a superb 10-minute animation, this feature length version runs out of steam despite its stunning visual design.

2013-05-11 14:36:13

Strange, yet good in it's own way

The animation is stunning, the plot is more than a little lacking.'9' is a very short film running about 75 minutes, and it's CGI world is a thing to behold, unlike anything I've seen since the Final Fantasy movies. Rich in detail, crisp in execution, its appearance is really the main draw of the entire movie, and I think that unfortunately, the directors decided to focus a little too much on what they could do with the graphics and animation, and not enough on telling a cohesive story.Basically the story is about some little burlap-sack people who are trying to survive in a desolate wasteland. Trying is the key word, since they are under CONSTANT attack from the various smaller machines that are built by the primary antagonist, a machine that caused the destruction of all of mankind. It's a good premise, and full of good ideas, but it's not told in a good way. First, we see 9 waking up, then 9 meets 2, then 9 and 2 get attacked by a robot cat. 9 then meets more sack people, who are then attacked again. They go on a little adventure, meet another sack person, and are attacked. They then meet everyone else, and are then attacked again. We learn a little about the world, and then there's another battle. A little more backstory, a lot more battle. Story, battle, story, battle. The unfortunate thing is that the little plot we get is actually pretty engaging for most of the film, and could have carried the movie if developed a little further, but because of the constant stream of CGI awesomeness (and it is indeed a feast for the eyes), the story is left on the backburner...and then the plot holes start to emerge.You'll end the movie with a lot more questions than answers, particularly about the future of earth, the motivation of the characters, and so forth. A lot of questions with so few answers make the ending scene, and the fact that the film is so short, might leave many viewers lacking. Watching it a second time will show that there were a few glaring plot holes that are easy to overlook the first time, and nearly story-killing the second time. That said, if you take it as it is, you'll be entertained and astonished by how good computer animation movies have become when time and effort is put into them. With solid action sequences (even if there are far too many), plus a good adventure story, I'd say '9' gets my vote as recommended, but you probably want to rent it. I can't imagine too many people needing to see it twice. NOTE: You, as a parent, know your kids best, but this movie is a lot like Coraline, which I think was a fantastic movie that shouldn't really be shown to just any child without previewing it first. '9' is far less frightening, but there are some death scenes which I think might be a little intense for those under the age of 8 or 9.

qfanatiq 2013-05-02 22:18:37

Too Well Done

The sheer detail of the animation on this was superb. I watched in oreof everything unfolding in front of me. At times, strangely due to thehigh detail, it did feel too polished and plastic. But this was rareand did not detract from the film.I can see this becoming a regular on Christmas TV play lists. It workswell at being a film you can dip in and out of, have on in thebackground when doing things, or sitting down and taking it all in.It is both light and in depth, giving it appeal to all ages.We see all the usual emotions crammed into this film.Overall, very exciting easy going film offering many levels ofenjoyment. I hope to see more from this set of creative minds

nhicolaee 2013-05-02 12:53:58

Other point of view !!!

O.K. Maybe we saw too many movies about this - end of the world, managainst machine, relentless A.I., ... O.K. Maybe the movie is a sort of "cliche". O.K. Maybe the characters are a little dull . But with all these let's watch the movie from an other point of view :as a passage to so called " grown-ups action movies " for the "small"teenagers. I have two kids who really enjoyed the movie. Actually... me to. For that I think it's brilliant !

Christy Lemire 2013-04-27 22:05:11

Acker isn't taking us over the rainbow, but he has brought us someplace daring and new, and he makes you anxious to see what other destinations he has in mind.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU 2013-04-27 10:41:17

Death is life and madness is sanity

The world has been destroyed by a war between men and machines, becausea totalitarian regime imposed to a mad scientist to build the ultimatemachine that could build more machines. The machines won of course. Buton that last machine the mad scientist who was not completely mad builta plug-in that had to be brought and that plug-in is working two ways.It activates the machine if it is plugged into the machine or it is thedestroying element if it is activated when off the machine. Then hecreates some nice little mechanical humanoids whose mission it is todestroy the mechanical folly that destroyed the world. The last ofthese little technical androids is number Nine and he will succeed inhis mission. The details are in the film itself. It is naïve, slightlyfrightening, definitely sickening about the silliness and gullibilityof human beings. It is also full of hope that these little nicemechanical androids who are given the planet after this catastrophewill be better than human beings. Human beings had been created by Godand these by a not so mad after all scientist. You can imagine themadness of God who created such an unmanageable species. Maybe not thebest of Tim Burton's films but quite a good one, though obsessed asusual with death, which means with life.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, UniversityParis 8 Saint Denis, University Paris 12 Créteil, CEGID

2013-04-21 14:06:42

"9" is visually stunning but story-wise feels really stretched thin

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2013-04-20 21:41:55

Love

This review is from: 9 (Amazon Instant Video) I just love Tim Burton and this one is great - wonderful story, beautiful and haunting animation - Tim please keep making this kind of stuff

Matt Brunson 2013-04-15 23:30:59

Undermined by a pedestrian end-of-the-world storyline and by characters with zero personality.

JimD73 2013-04-15 19:06:06

Nightmare fuel unleaded

Animation does not mean a kids movie. I'm not referring to movies likeWall-E where they can enjoyed by all ages in this group. I'm notreferring to South Park where its crude and done for laughs. I'mreferring to stuff like Secret of Nimh, where it looks like it might befor kids but in reality will only succeed in giving them horriblenightmares for years to come (those damn rats). 9 can be said to be theNimh for this generation, giving nightmares of machines and monstersfor years to come. And, like Nimh, its a damn good movie, althoughperhaps not in the right media.9 opens in some kind of laboratory, where a scientist creates his ninthsack-man robot...thing. It cuts forward, and the scientist is dead onthe floor and 9 awakens. As 9 explores the deserts apocalypse thatEarth now is, he encounters the other 8 creations as well as therobotic beasts that hunt them.9 has its greatest strength in its visual style. As 9 wanders aroundthe new world, dead bodies scattered here and there, the sombre visualsrecall the wastelands of Wall-E. The machines are scary as all hell attimes, and always creative. Some visuals, such as the, erm,"soul-sucking" become repetitive and lose their effect, but regardless,the visuals of the film will stick with you.The characters are also quite well portrayed. Sure, they can fit intosome stereotypes and none are terribly depthy, but a revalationtwo-thirds of the way through explains this perfectly well. There's 1,the fearful leader, 2, the engineer, 3 & 4, twin cataloguers, 5, 2'sloyal apprentice, 6, the artist, 7, the brave heroine, 8, the brawler,and 9, the hero. Some don't get quite the attention they maybedeserved, notably 6, but they each get their moments to shine.More time to invest in these characters might have been preferably,leading me to my main complaint. 9 is by all means a good movie, but itfeels like it would have been better as a comic book series or a videogame. As a series, the characters would be more fleshed out in printthan on film, and maybe would have made it a better ensemble ratherthan 9's story.As for the video game argument, the story structure of 9 feels all toomuch like a game. The progression is episodic, with "quests" forsomething usually ending in the theatrical equivalent of a boss fight.If it is adapted to a game, it has a lot of potential, but as a movie,it has an odd feel in that sense.Despite the problems with the narrative, 9 is a visual wonder, and bythat alone is recommended. Maybe its destined to become a cult classic,with fanfics and spinoffs galore to fully flesh out the universe. Justdon't scare the kids with it.

beingobtuse 2013-04-08 17:31:05

Good, but not great

I enjoyed this movie, although the story was lacking at times andcharacter development was minimal - although this movie didn't seem tointend on doing these things.The visuals kept my interest and I think it progressed very well fromstart to finish.It's not a brilliant film, but it was enjoyable to me.The visuals of this movie were stunning at times, but sub-par at othertimes (if you consider any of Pixar's movies to be the standard).Let's remember though that the budget for "9" was $40m, whereas thebudget for "The Incredibles" and "Up" was $92m and $175m respectively.

DICK STEEL 2013-04-08 06:12:27

A Nutshell Review: 9

Just like how Peter Jackson had produced Neil Blomkamp's first featurefilm District 9 and I loved that to bits, 9 has visionaries in TimBurton and Timur Bekmambetov lend their producing creds in ShaneAcker's animated science fiction film, and the result is nothing lessthan stunning, telling a crisp narrative with plenty of scrumptiousapocalyptic styled visuals.In yet another post-apocalyptic world brought about by humans versusmachines which had turned against their creators, the land is nowbarren and the skies completely dark, still smoking from an all out warthat left little survivors, save for some curiously designed, hand-madedolls brought to life. Ackers had created nine of such dolls each ofdistinct design that you can't help but to stare in awe at howintricately they have been brought out. 9 has a huge zipper in front ofhim, while others have buttons, buckles and the likes to secure theirbodies together. In fact, I smell an opportunity here for somemerchandising where the dolls could be sold as a boxset.I digress, but these are but some of the most uniquely looking animatedcharacters I've seen in a long while, each epitomizing certainqualities of the human spirit, good or bad. And having these charactersare more than half the battle won actually, with even the machineslooking terribly menacing despite their rather make-shift appearance,gifted with powers that range from being Medusa-like, to the bigDeux-Ex Machina, accidentally brought to life by a curious 9, leavingmuch of the plot to survival from annihilation.The story jumped straight into the action, leaving you with manyquestions that will only be addressed as it went on. Which of course isOK to me as it kept things under wraps so as not to bore you with themany who, what, why, how, when, where questions, nor alienate youespecially when the animation is eye-popping, and full of kineticenergy that will leave you breathless immediately after each sequence,as if you're participating directly with the characters in their thrillride and fight for survival.It calls for patience, and only those willing to wait will be rewarded.The back story is something quite interesting, involving a fascistgovernment and a scientist who had sown the first seeds of destruction,which while nothing new since it's been done by other films before(think Terminator and The Rockeeteer even), it did provide sufficientlevels of detail to move the narrative forward, leaving room for open,imaginative interpretation. But as I already mentioned, the story justdid enough and smartly took a backseat for its visuals to lead the way,which is after all what we're here to gawk at.One of the plus points here belong to the voice casting. With the likesof Elijah Wood as the titular character, and supported by ChristopherPlummer, Martin Landau, John C. Reilly, Crispin Glover, JenniferConnelly and Fred Tatasciore (yes, 7 because 2 of the characters aremute), at times I can't help but to chuckle that it looked very muchlike Lord of the Rings all over again, with Wood reprising his role asthe chosen one, and their mission which brings them to the heart ofevil, having to do battles with whatever contraptions that got designedby the evil chief architect. Heck, his 9 even has a preferred sidekick,and two elders who can't be any more different on polar opposites, anda female warrior companion who chews up every fight sequence she getsfeatured in.What I also found curiously addictive in the story was how it told ofnatural selection, where the weak tend to get looked over ordisadvantaged, and the strong favoured not only just because theypossess what it takes to ensure propagation of the species. I felt itwas something quite unavoidable, even for inanimate objects brought tolife which are subjected to the same rules and unfair playing field.Beautiful visuals, wonderful voice casting and a layered, engaging plotall make 9 one interesting ride that kept its loops and turns verytight. What more can one ask for in an animated science fiction film,and I like it enough to shortlist it as one of my favourites for theyear too. Highly recommended!

2013-04-06 01:11:41

Another Burton near-miss

This review is from: 9 (Amazon Instant Video) Like a typical Burton movie, 9 seemed full of promise but ultimately failed to deliver. As usual, the premise, setting, and atmosphere were all deliciously innovative and off-kilter, but the traditional and necessary elements of a good story were either missing or simplistic, leaving me unsatisfied. For instance, one necessary story element is motivation, and it is more than 2/3 of the way through the movie before you start to understand why the various good and bad guys do what they do. Until then, the movie is basically an endless string of mechanical monster attacks with no apparent purpose. I suppose survival is a motivation, but hardly enough to sustain this viewer's interest for an hour.I also find the mix of technology and magic to be problematic. Magic is always a difficult element in any story. To develop dramatic tension, it is necessary for the audience to have some sense of logical cause and effect. If plot elements are simply resolved with a little whiz-bang presto-changeo, then why even bother with the rest of the story where the characters have to contend with physics and reality? The end of this particular movie is so totally reliant on a magical resolution it felt like a cheap out.In short, like every other movie associated with Burton, his visual imagination alone is sufficient to earn a few stars, but 9 falls far short of its potential.

2013-04-05 15:04:43

Mature animation

This review is from: 9 (DVD) This is not for kids. Americans usually assume that an animated feature is for little kids. This movie clearly is not for little children. But I think that from 5th grade up ought to be ok with 9.for the rest of us "9" is a good tight to the point piece of story telling with great scoring and it is visually a knock-out. Buy it and put it on your "art house" shelf.Read the critic's reviews to see what it is about. But don't let anything deter you from enjoying a great piece of film animation.