9 (2009)

Featured Audience Ratings

• John M

  
  Interesting take on the dark apocalyptic future world genre. The movie is excellent. Well done. Great voice talents and amazing attention to detail by Shane Acker.

• Michael E

  
  Machines. The soul beings that were created to improve our lives, betrayed us. But life is remaining in the form of 9 ragdolls, that are left to stop the remaining robots, and keep the flame of life going. 9 Takes place in an apocalyptic world where all human life is dead except… More
  Machines. The soul beings that were created to improve our lives, betrayed us. But life is remaining in the form of 9 ragdolls, that are left to stop the remaining robots, and keep the flame of life going. 9 Takes place in an apocalyptic world where all human life is dead except for the soul of one scientist in the form of 9 ragdolls of his creation. While the 9 ragdolls are searching the land one is taken by "The Beast" who takes it to a factory on the outskirts of a city. 2 of the 8 remaining ragdolls go out to look for him only to find him and kill the beast, only to awaken a robot creation long dormant, resurrected by absorbing the life force out of the taken ragdoll. The robot is now trying to kill the ragdolls by building other robots to find and kill them. 9 is a strange case in terms of voice acting, not just because the first 10 minutes are mute, but the fact that the original short the film was based on was done in a pantomime style, but the voice acting in the film is very well done and I'd say its some of the most well done voice acting I've seen in an animated film. Unlike other animated films where you know the voice actor is a celebrity just by the sound of their voice or the sound of their singing voice, here you don't get that in the least. Each of the voice actors just sound like real people and you feel compassion towards all of them, so you feel generally bad when one of them dies. Which is funny seeing how many of these actors are vetran actors such as Martin Landau, Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connoley, Crispin Glover and Christopher Plummer, but they all just sound like real people coping with the insanity and death going on around them. Christopher Plummer does one of his best performances in this film to me, and don't get me wrong I love Christopher Plummers acting, but here he does such a remarkable job as the leader of the group #1. The power and devotion he gives to this performance makes it one of my favorite performances in an animated film, and the other actors do very good as well. Martin Landau, though having little screen time or dialogue, does a good job and you feel very sad and shocked when they kill him off so early on in the film. But one of the best performances in my mind in the film is John C. Reilly as #5, he is so fun and so well developed as a character that you feel the most compassion towards him seeing how he is the only one to show real compassion to #9 aside from #2 and #7. The CG in the film is very well done and makes this post-apocalyptic world look very terrifying and the robot designs used in the film are very creative and awesome to see move and interact with the environments, the way they move and the way they interact with there surroundings are very interesting to watch and very animal like. The designs of the main characters are also interesting, the hands being made out of metal or wood is interesting and the way the eyes and bodies of the ragdolls look very interesting. Rather than other animated films, this film looks like a breath of fresh air in terms of the animation, it doesn't look all bright and colorful like a Pixar film or Dreamworks, it looks grainy and very brown much like Terminator Salvation which suits the nature of the environment the characters live in. Overall 9 is one of my favorite animated films and definitely one of Tim Burtons best film collaborations. The animation looks incredible, the characters are well fleshed out and acted, the plot is interesting, and the film leaves with one of those endings that will make you tear up. If I could suggest one of Tim Burtons films or even animated films, I'd suggest this film.

• Christopher H

  
  The animation is fantastic, however, the film did not give me a whole lot to care for. The story suffers from being a little too dark for kids but at the same time being too simple and straight-foward to adequately engage adults. The character's also lack development, which… More
  The animation is fantastic, however, the film did not give me a whole lot to care for. The story suffers from being a little too dark for kids but at the same time being too simple and straight-foward to adequately engage adults. The character's also lack development, which takes tension away from the film's action sequences. Combine that with an anti-climatic ending, and the film "9" offers an interesting surreal world to explore but lacks the emotional punch in the story department.

• Tyler K

  
  I don't see why people hate on this film. I thought the film was a dark, surreal thriller more than anything else. Keep in mind, it's so dark that it's not PG. You must have a strong heart to endure the thematic elements such as loneliness, long stretches without… More
  I don't see why people hate on this film. I thought the film was a dark, surreal thriller more than anything else. Keep in mind, it's so dark that it's not PG. You must have a strong heart to endure the thematic elements such as loneliness, long stretches without talking, and very scary jump scenes involving leftover machines. By the way, I saw this on blu-ray... *Cough* anyway, the story follows as an animated rag doll wakes up in a post-apocalyptic world, meaning everything is run down. He and a few other rag dolls are the only "humans" alive. I say humans in quotations as in, they are only rag dolls, but have human life. Machines suck the life out of these rag dolls, either that, or there slice and diced to death. Continuing, 9 (the main character) finds 2, and half of the other 9 rag dolls (as I said, the others are dead), and... well, just wach the movie yourself. I don't know about the 58% of the people who didn't like it, but I really liked it. I might give it 4 and a half stars if I watched it again... but nah, I've already seen it at least 4 times.

• Matthew S

  
  The original short film should have been left alone. A simple concept was stretched thin and added nothing that was worth the effort or your time.

• Directors C

  
  I wasn't touched, neither really learnt anything I haven't been told before from this far too familiar tale of ragdolls. The trouble is it lacks the complexity that I think it was trying to convey and it falls over to rapturess levels. However it was pulled back up by great… More
  I wasn't touched, neither really learnt anything I haven't been told before from this far too familiar tale of ragdolls. The trouble is it lacks the complexity that I think it was trying to convey and it falls over to rapturess levels. However it was pulled back up by great attention to detail animation and good voice acting. Nevertheless, the story still let's it down.

• Alexander D

  
  9 may be an animated film, but the whole hour and fifteen minutes has a certain feeling of darkness and dread hanging right above you. Call it good or bad, but this film just has Tim Burton written all over it. If you want a basic idea of what 9 is, think of THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE… More
  9 may be an animated film, but the whole hour and fifteen minutes has a certain feeling of darkness and dread hanging right above you. Call it good or bad, but this film just has Tim Burton written all over it. If you want a basic idea of what 9 is, think of THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS. Then take away the music. Then make it ten times darker. Then add dolls that are used more in a science-y way than a "voodoo magic" way. There you have it. Okay, Tim Burton is one good director/producer/screenwriter. But 9, unfortunately, is one of his worst films. We expected so much of it, and the visual we got was fantastic: it was well-animated and all. But as for the plot, we didn't get much. Burton usually has a very interesting plot in his films. Even in BIG FISH, which seemed like a big jump for him, he did a surreal take on a life story. 9 just has little to no storyline, and once it has ended, we have question marks over our heads.

• Sophie B

  
  An interesting tale of several 'puppets' but I had no sympathy for them. The world was destroyed and these tiny things were supposed to fight back against the massive machines that were constantly destroying it. A good cast and an imaginative world exploring what would… More
  An interesting tale of several 'puppets' but I had no sympathy for them. The world was destroyed and these tiny things were supposed to fight back against the massive machines that were constantly destroying it. A good cast and an imaginative world exploring what would happen if machines took over but I wasn't very entertained.

• Tim S

  
  I really don't understand why people are so hard on this fantastic gem of an animated flick. I really dig the post-apocalyptic landscape, I love all of the characters, I love the score (one of Elfman's finest, in my opinion) and I love the voice performances. I fell in love… More
  I really don't understand why people are so hard on this fantastic gem of an animated flick. I really dig the post-apocalyptic landscape, I love all of the characters, I love the score (one of Elfman's finest, in my opinion) and I love the voice performances. I fell in love with this one within the first twenty minutes and I was with it all the way to the end. I missed it on the first go round when it was theatrically released, but I'm thrilled that I finally got a chance to see it. Everything about it is just wonderful. It has something for everyone, young and old. It also has an important message that we as humans should heed.

• Brad W

  
  Me and my bro watched this and we thought itt was good, chilling and really interesting, very short though, could've been a lot longer, and its one of a few animated PG-13 movies and im happy it is, that made it more cool in my opinion.

• Bannan i

  
  Words cannot describe how much I adored this wee flick, the story itself is intriguing what with strange wee ragdolls standing up for themselves and fighting against evil in a post-apocalyptic word. Beautiful, mesmerizing and downright eerie sometimes - most enjoyable; defo not for… More
  Words cannot describe how much I adored this wee flick, the story itself is intriguing what with strange wee ragdolls standing up for themselves and fighting against evil in a post-apocalyptic word. Beautiful, mesmerizing and downright eerie sometimes - most enjoyable; defo not for the younglings though. Review TBC. (You need to go back to the source!) Crispin Glover was grand here, as were everyone else...but one can tell how biased my opinion is. :]

• Mark W

  
  These days kids are spoiled with an endless supply of high quality animated films. As a nipper I was content with an episode of "Thundercats" but the beauty of modern film animation is that some are aimed at adults also. This happens to be one that falls into that category.… More
  These days kids are spoiled with an endless supply of high quality animated films. As a nipper I was content with an episode of "Thundercats" but the beauty of modern film animation is that some are aimed at adults also. This happens to be one that falls into that category. In a post-apocalyptic future, sackcloth doll numbered "9" (Elijah Wood) wakes up to find that human beings have been eradicated from existence. As he explores the desolate land, he finds a small society of his handrafted kind struggling for survival against terrifying machines. Self-proclaimed leader "1" (Christopher Plummer) keeps his troops in hiding, but when "2" (Martin Landau) is abducted, "9" convinces them that they must attack to survive. Along the way they discover evidence from their deceased creator that they personally hold the last of what's left of the human soul and preserving themselves is to preserve humanity. This animated feature has had it's fair share of criticism but at a running time of 1hour 19mins it's hardly a massive commitment. In fact, I found it to be quite a pleasure. Where the criticism has been directed is in the story. Too shallow for adults and too dark for kids apparently. Granted, the old tried and tested post-apocalyptic earth, where silly humans have gone and eradicated themselves again, is nothing new and a bit tired, but this is just a vehicle for director Shane Acker's imaginative little creations to come to life. And come to life they do. The animation is absolutely striking and each little hand crafted 'stitchpunk' is given individuality with painstaking attention. The emotional depth and expression of such similiar designed little characters is stunning. I found them very appealing indeed, and a pure joy to watch them on their adventure. This originally began as an 11minute short film (also called "9") that director Shane Acker won an Academy Award for in 2005. This Oscar success obviously drew the attention of producers Timur Bekmambetov and Tim Burton who have indulged Acker's vision with money, allowing him to elaborate on his story, and thankfully for us they did. This is animation at it's finest and on a par with the best that Pixar have produced. I'm very surprised at the criticism this little gem has come in for as this is a deep, beautifully realised science fiction yarn and a post-apocalyptic world that I hope to visit again soon. A pure visually arresting delight.

• Dean M

  
  <i>9</i> is essentially a feature-length mix of director Shane Acker's Oscar-nominated 2005 short film. It's easy to see what caught producer Tim Burton's attention. The characters, with their gangly limbs, expressive bug eyes and inquisitive gaits, echo… More
  <i>9</i> is essentially a feature-length mix of director Shane Acker's Oscar-nominated 2005 short film. It's easy to see what caught producer Tim Burton's attention. The characters, with their gangly limbs, expressive bug eyes and inquisitive gaits, echo Burton's sketches, while their burlap-sack exteriors recall Oogie Boogie from <i> The Nightmare Before Christmas</i>. But the film has its own personality: "stitchpunk", as its creators have dubbed it, and the creatures, while seemingly stop-motion, move with a distinctive fluidity. <i>9</i>'s universe is a playground for the director's fertile imagination, where the characters' eyes function like camera irises, cyclops spiders devour souls, and a mechanical pterodactyl swoops through the black sky powered by a fan. Meanwhile, the machines that stomp the charred earth resemble a cross between <i>Star Wars</i>' AT-AT walkers and <i>War of the Worlds</i>' tripods. It's fantastic stuff.

• Kylie B

  
  A cute little gem I found by accident. The plot isn't that inspired, but it's entertaining and different.

• Jim H

  
  "Brilliant, imaginative filmmaking." That's what the filmmakers want me to say. "Visually stunning." But these are glorified sock puppets, and just as I wasn't impressed with the masturbatory visuals of <i>Avatar</i> and that owls movie,… More
  "Brilliant, imaginative filmmaking." That's what the filmmakers want me to say. "Visually stunning." But these are glorified sock puppets, and just as I wasn't impressed with the masturbatory visuals of <i>Avatar</i> and that owls movie, I'm not impressed with <i>9</i>'s sprawling, desolate landscapes and complex action sequences. Other post-apocalyptic films have some kind of message about the present. Even bad ones like <i>Waterworld</i> warn against the ravages of global warming, and good ones like <i>A Boy and His Dog</i> show in stark, scary detail the limited culinary options available after we run rampant with nuclear weapons. There is no such thing in <i>9</i>. The closest thing that I can figure is that it is trying to piggy-back the message of <i>The Terminator</i> about the degree to which machines are in control of our lives, but even this doesn't make sense because our hero is - you guessed it - a machine. Overall, this is a poor effort from Burton and company because it lacks anything new or unique but tries so hard.

• paul s

  
  If you had never seen any animated films in the last 30 years you might be impressed by 9, a post apocraphal tale that treads the same "beware of the machines" ground that has been prevelent going way back to "Colosus, the Forbin Project". The film does have a… More
  If you had never seen any animated films in the last 30 years you might be impressed by 9, a post apocraphal tale that treads the same "beware of the machines" ground that has been prevelent going way back to "Colosus, the Forbin Project". The film does have a nice visual style - very retro, like Metropolus, and yet the 1940's art deco meets fascism motif does the film a disservice, as it jars with the concept of thinking machines that can re-create other machines. The plot line is nothing we haven't seen before, and seen done better. There is no real charactor developement in spite of the fact that if would appear that 9 has to convince the other rag dolls to fight - when in fact the fight is brought to them, so they really have no choice. What is interesting though, is that the rag dolls all encapsolate a part of the scientist's soul - so of course they are who they are - just parts of a whole. Interesting that all the social archtypes are presented here, considering that they are, as I said, parts of one man's soul (who perhaps represents ALL humanity - nah, probably reading too much into that one LOL). The plot starts out well, but then stagnates as it reveals the other rag dolls. When 9 tries to save the "scientist" rag doll who is abducted by a dog/raptor machine - the dog is vanquished and the duo saved by 7, who, though showing no outwards signs, is obviously a female rag doll. Ok so far, but then, for no aparant reason, 9 sticks this gizmo he's been carrying into a slot on a long dormant machine - oops, he just woke up the mechanical brain, able to leap tall buildings and create many a more creepy machine. Obvious plot device, and as plot devices go, a really lame one. From there you get standard fare, with a few highlights - like the wormy machine, and a nice bit of cinematography when the brain/spider thing comes out of the burning rubble, red eye casting a bloody hue through the dust. But... for those few moments cannot save a weak script with no charactor developement. And the ending... pretty weak as well; all metaphysical mumbo jumbo that makes the entire reasoning for trying to kill the brain in order to release the "captured" a really big let down.

• Jani H

  
  "We had such potential. Such promise. But we squandered our gifts. And so, 9, I am creating you. Our world is ending. Life must go on." After directing several short films, of which one film in particular gained lots of praise from the critics, Shane Acker got his shot of… More
  "We had such potential. Such promise. But we squandered our gifts. And so, 9, I am creating you. Our world is ending. Life must go on." After directing several short films, of which one film in particular gained lots of praise from the critics, Shane Acker got his shot of making a feature animated film. '9' is based on his award winning short film, which was Oscar nominated for best animated short back in 2005. Has the magic of the 10 minute short transferred to the 80 minute feature? '9' is a vision of a post apocalyptic world where mankind has created machines which eventually turned against them. ('Terminator', anyone?) The world has gotten to its end and all that is left are evil machines and good human-like rag dolls, a scientist ensurement that "life" would go on. He has transferred his parts of his soul by the use of a talisman, which the evil machines also want their hands on, as it is a source of life. Is there any hope for future life? Tim Burton is one of the producers of '9' and one of the main reasons why I wanted to see this film. But I'm glad to say that his "handprint" isn't that clear to be seen. We're used to see that Burton's vision in his films are often bleak, dirty and full of danger. There's all that in here too, but I'm glad to say that the magic of the original short film has transferred nicely to the big screen. Shane Acker is, in my opinion, after this film a considerable director and I'm eager to see what he comes up with next. But after saying that, I'm ready to come up with the negative aspects of '9'. The script is in the end very weak. The dialogue can be at times very boring and it feels as if the movie drags on a bit on a few occasions. It is in the end quite simple and too familiar. There's no surprise elements in the movie and the script just doesn't give the well-known voice cast the best keys to appeal the audience feelings. In the end, the rag dolls are quit lifeless. There's no spark in 'em. And there's like zero humor in '9'... And back to the good stuff. The animation is wonderful. I enjoyed it a lot and there's a nice touch to detail in the film. The coloring of the world doesn't give that much hope and gives an extra punch to the whole misery factor. But then again, some occasional glimpses of lifely colors give some hope to the world. In overall, nothing spectacular but I enjoyed it thoroughly. Did any of you see the resemblences between 8 and Oogie Boogie from Burton's 'A Nightmare Before Christmas'..? '9' wasn't a huge success at the Box Office. Sure it got its money back but the main reason why it did not do a phenomenal run was the fact that this is not for the kids. Focus Features that distributed '9' has also released 'Coraline' and if you've seen 'em both, I'm sure that you'll agree me on this. Not for the smallest kids. But the more mature fans of animation will surely like '9' because of its vision, its looks but I'm afraid to say that, the unsurprising script will leave you wanting for more.

• Michael G

  
  From a visual standpoint, 9 is astonishingly fantastic. But unfortunately, when the powers that be in charge of making brilliant-looking animated movies do so, the stories are rarely as great as the animation. So 9 breaks no new ground there. However, 9 is also a quick, dark watch… More
  From a visual standpoint, 9 is astonishingly fantastic. But unfortunately, when the powers that be in charge of making brilliant-looking animated movies do so, the stories are rarely as great as the animation. So 9 breaks no new ground there. However, 9 is also a quick, dark watch that leaves you with very little right to gripe too much even if you don't wind up liking it. Admittedly, the voice casting was a bit on the weak side and the aforementioned story left a lot to be desired, but the monkeys-captivated-by-shiny-things mentality that many moviegoers seem to have (myself included sometimes -- hence the 3 1/2 star rating I sure as shit wouldn't have given a live-action version of this movie) won't let you get too upset about it...

• Dead A

  
  I liked the whole movie. It's very entertaining (but the entertaining part doesn't start at first, it looks mysterious and confusing). I had no idea what was it about and was a bit confused what was going on. One of my friend said that it is a bit slow. Yes it is.… More
  I liked the whole movie. It's very entertaining (but the entertaining part doesn't start at first, it looks mysterious and confusing). I had no idea what was it about and was a bit confused what was going on. One of my friend said that it is a bit slow. Yes it is. That's why it took me so much time to understand the situation completely (though I'm not sure how much I understood <a href='http://www.mysmiley.net/free-sad-smileys.php' title='sad smileys'><img src='http://serve.mysmiley.net/tongue/tongue0016.gif' alt='sad smileys' border='0'></a>). I felt bad for those who died at the end. And about the recommendation, I'm not sure whether you'll like it or not. It does have that "boring" atmosphere painted all over it. But actually if you get what you're watching, the entertainment starts from there <a href='http://www.mysmiley.net' title='smileys'><img src='http://serve.mysmiley.net/happy/happy0024.gif' alt='smileys' border='0'></a> <a href="http://s1039.photobucket.com/albums/a471/3niR/?action=view&current=shane-acker-9-animacion-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a471/3niR/shane-acker-9-animacion-1.jpg" border="0" alt="9"></a>

• Richard C

  
  really good movie. B+

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