9 (Theatrical Release USA 2009)

Ben Meyers’ rating: 3.1|5.0 Starsììì

9—fabulous camera work and great cinematography—becomes complicated with a difficult to follow storyline and poorly developed characters. The animation has terrific originality and with proper character development, this movie could have been in an A+ category. An audience may find itself asking, why is this film important throughout the film. On the upside, the voice casting includes some of our best—Christopher Plummer, the late Martin Landau, John C. Reilly, Crispin Glover, Jennifer Connelly, and Elijah Woods.

Film Poster Courtesy of Wikipedia

Storyline

Scientist (voice of Alan Oppenheimer) creates a robot that destroys all living things on earth. The scientist creates nine rag dolls and splits his life force into nine pieces that enliven the rag dolls. The rag dolls become involved in a plan to destroy the robot and re-establish life on planet earth.

Additional Thanks

Thank You to Director Shane Acker for directing efforts. Thank you to Executive Producers Timur Bekmambetov, Tim Burton, Dana Ginsburg, and Jim Lemley for making the film possible. Additional characters/cast include: #1 (voice of Christopher Plummer), #2 (voice of Martin Landau), #5 (voice of John C. Reilly), #6 (voice of Crispin Glover), #7 (voice of Jennifer Connelly), #8/Announcer (voice of Fred Tatsciore), #9 (voice of Elijah Woods), Dictator (voice of Tom Kane), and News Caster (voice of Helen Wilson).

Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?

Maybe. The film fails to catch interest in its opening scenes. Despite its great camerawork, the lack of character expansion kills the film’s possibilities from the get-go.

Video Critique Available Here:

Ben Meyers