9 is an eighty minutes long CGI film produced by Tim Burton, which presents the story of a group of tiny human-made rag dolls that fight for survival on a post apocalyptic world that was once much similar to our own. Reminiscences of the machines that brought the complete extinction of the human race still roam free in this world and pose a deadly threat to any living thing, including the nine little dolls which are brought to life by the voices of great actors such as Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, Jennifer Connelly and Elijah Wood.

The post apocalyptic setting is slowly but surely becoming one of the most boring and over used ones out there. 9 makes no exception from this, and quickly embraces stereotypical elements like the streets filled with wrecked cars, the empty grey buildings, the rust, the dust and the acid rain. To continue on the path of déjà-vu, the characters look like they have been literally abducted from Little Big Planet, the PS3 video game, and forced to “act” in the movie at gun point. And the collection of similarities between 9 and other movies and games does not stop here, but these two seem to be the most obvious. The others are just hinted, shadowy and only come to surface if one looks for them with great attention. Still, to my surprise, these similarities do not drag the movie down on the value scale at all, because once the plot is unraveled and the story unfolds you realize there would have been no better choices for those elements. And everything suddenly just fits together perfectly.

Too bad the movie feels a bit too short, like they rushed it out there and some of the scenes were simply left out. Once it’s over you can’t help wondering if that’s really it, if it’s really over or it’s just the first episode of some series. And this is not entirely connected to the actual length in minutes, but more to the fact that leaves you longing for more details, more substance, more explanations. Many people strongly suggest multiple viewings and I tend to agree that at least for the state of the art graphics the movie deserves a second tackle, but it does feel rather annoying the fact you have to give to the movie more than it gave you. Still, if you have the time and money, I think it’s worth it.

Although not coming even close to the top of it, the movie has crawled his way onto my list of all times must see / must have. If you decide to go see 9, don’t go expecting something breathtaking, spectacular, epic, because the movie is nothing like that. But you can expect a tiny pill of nice story telling wrapped up in an elegant coat of visual art that will leave you smiling even after the film has ended and you have left the theater.

Posters & Trailer

Trailer