Review - 9 The Movie

I must admit, the primary reason I wanted to see 9 was to see how good a movie could be that used Coheed and Cambria's "Welcome Home" for their trailer music. The trailers for the movie gave me some chills, as the use of Coheed's amazing music was top notch.

So, what then, of the movie?

First and foremost, I was sitting near somebody who smelled obnoxiously bad... atrocious really. So, some of my enjoyment of the movie was leached as I tried to find something better-smelling to put in front of my nose... my ticket stub, the inside of my shirt, my finger....

Anyway, stinky people gripes aside, the movie was quite a treat. The standout feature of the film was easily its visual appeal. The animation is superb; the attention to detail borders on perfectionism. The characters, visually, are fully realized and smoothly animated. In fact, most of the care I felt for the characters was driven by their animations, their facial expressions (so poignant for creatures made of potato sacks), and their body language. There is so much to absorb on the screen, it is sometimes a challenge to take it all in.

Also of note, the voice acting is great. Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly, and company were spot on in almost every scene in the movie. Make no mistake, it's the animation that truly brings the characters to life, but the voice acting certainly doesn't hurt either.

The story, while a tad cliche, is interesting and exceptionally dark. I've heard many a tale of folks who saw that movie with their kids and ended up leaving because of how disturbing some of the scenes are. Yes, things die, yes there are some very dark visuals, but it is rated PG-13 after all.

The movie is certainly part cautionary tale - of the "artificial intelligence is bad" variety - and in that aspect, the story fails, as other movies (I, Robot; Eagle Eye) have done it previously and better. Yet, its achievement is its interesting little quirks and its entertainment value.

This is certainly not to say the movie is without fault, as it's got its fair share of them. First and foremost, the character development is utterly lacking in numerous areas. Take, for example, the character 2. Much of the story revolves around this character, indirectly, but we have so little chance to get to know him, it's hard to care how his large piece of the story ends up. Give me characters that are more fully realized, like 5, 7, 9, and 1, and I'm quite happy. The rest of the characters, no matter how central a role they play, never feel like anything more than husks, like potato sacks with eyes. The movie clocks in at a stumpy 79 minutes. I really would have enjoyed the movie more thoroughly had they added an extra 10 minutes even and devoted it to more fully fleshing out the characters.

Ordinarily, I'd come out of a movie like this a little upset that I'd wasted time and money watching it. There was something enchanting about 9, however, something that took what could have been a waste of time and turned it into a thoroughly enjoyable movie. By the end of the movie, even through the nauseating smell, I was thoroughly engrossed in the story and the characters, I cared about what happened and wanted the good guys to come out on top. For that alone it was well worth the time and money.

Score: 7.5/10.0