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Review

9 – Movie Review

9 is the story of nine (duh) little manmade people who live in a matrix-like world that has been destroyed by machines. The order in which they were made is their name. We come in when the last, 9, is woken up. Shortly after going out into the rubble that is all that is left, 9 meets 2. Unfortunately, he also meets the “beast”. 2 is taken and 9 is injured. He is found by 5 and taken the sanctuary where he meets 1, 8 and 6. 9 convinces 5 to go with him to rescue 2. This turns out to be a bad idea though. 9 wakes the machine that caused the destruction of mankind, and 2 gets killed. 9 must convince the others to stop hiding and help him undo the damage he has done by waking up the machine. Eventually he must find out the reason for his creation.

The film was directed by newcomer Shane Acker who made a short version to help raise the funds for this feature length (just, it’s still short) number. What’s extra good is that Tim Burton and Timur Berkmambetov (Wanted, Night Watch, Day Watch) have co-produced, and you can see their influences in many different ways.

The story is well-paced, exciting, creepy, and gorgeous. The “look” is… just awesome. It’s total steampunk, with gears, rust, and clockwork everywhere. The heroes (and 1 heroine) have a handmade feel to them. I like the twins. They remind me of me when I find something new.  Everything has that gritty Day/Night Watch meets Sweeney Todd look and the monsters are creepy as all hell. *shudder* There’s this snake thing that… well, you’ll see.

There are some moments in the film where it borders on being unsuitable for younger audiences. Even at the beginning there are glimpses of corpses and it’s later revealed that the machines poisoned all life (yeah, little harsh). Additionally the machines use some tactics that wouldn’t stand up to the Disney code of honour, so I guess it’s a good thing that Disney didn’t get hold of the script.

And the monsters are creepy! Really, really creepy! I can’t stress this enough! I’m not saying not to take kids at all, but if your child had nightmares after Monster House, take them to the other kids movie. Furthermore, there are scenes that are almost crushing, raising your spirits and making you smile, only to bring you crashing back to the ground. It’s an emotional rollercoaster, I tell you!

So having waffled on for probably more time than was necessary, let me finish by saying that I got a lot out of this movie. I found it wonderful just to look at, as well as experience. I even think I might have found some inspiration. If I were marketing it, I would aim it more young adults than children, which I think is what is happening. If you like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride or Wanted, give 9 a go. I’m certain you won’t regret it.

Trailer

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Have you seen 9?  Was it better than 8?  Or should they have stopped after 5?  Maybe we should wait til 10 to find out?  Or just feedback and welcome Rachel as one of our new reviewers!

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About The Author

Rach

Rach Fariss is an entertainment junkie ("Hi Rach"). This concerns her far less than it ought to, but she has "normal" friends to make up for the discrepancy. By day she slogs away at a computer creating web pages for "The Man". In her spare time (and occasionally not so spare) she watches films that most people won't and reviews them. You can read her other opinions and reviews at her blog, http://rachmediaopinions.blogspot.com (Rach's Media Opinions).

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Article Information

  • Posted: Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
  • Author: Rach
  • Filed Under: Film, Review
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Comments

One Response to “9 – Movie Review”
  1. Ivan/Grey Wolf Ivan/Grey Wolf says:

    Nice review, will be sure to hit it up when it comes out… Out of interest if yo've seen Where the Wild Things Are is it that kind of not really for kids or is it… well different? Im thinking it would be a touch different but will be interesting to compare the 'kids' movies that aren't really 'kids' movies.

    December 12, 2009 at 5:29 am

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