Cricket Movie Review: 9 (Also Up and District 9)

So, 9 came out a couple days ago. It's a movie I've been fairly excited about, for a few reasons--

1) I like sci-fi.
2) In addition liking sci-fi, I like the specific niches of dystopian and post-apocalypse sci-fi.
3) I'm a fan of (good) animation, and this certainly didn't look disappointing in that regard.
4) The character designs seemed interesting.
5) A really, really well-put-together trailer is usually a good sign.

So, I wasn't expecting anything earth-shaking--just a good, quality, for-a-slightly-older-audience piece of post-apocalyptic animation.

I'm going to be pretty frank and brief, because I haven't been keeping up on my movie reviews.


9 is a movie with a lot of potential, but it fails to act on a lot of that potential. Firstly, it's actually very short (just a few minutes over an hour), and I think a little extra time to tell its story would have benefited it greatly. As a result, it feels sort of..rushed. We're introduced to the characters, given the bare basics of what we need to know plotwise, then there's a string of fights with monsters and an ending.

The story itself is really nothing new--scientist creates AI capable of designing and building complex battle machines, AI goes rogue, AI attacks humanity, humans vs. robots scenario. It's very much like The Matrix in this regard, except its one twist--that instead of the machines having mercy on their former human masters and plugging them into a false reality, they just go ahead and wipe the human beings out, and then shut down themselves, leaving a crumbly and lifeless void of a world. As the world was ending, the scientist responsible for originally creating the rouge AI transfers his own life into a series of nine rag doll/robot hybrids, tasking them with "protecting the future," an odd wish since there is exactly zero organic life left on the planet by the time the machines are satisfied. This is also nearly all the plot given (I've left out a few minor details to avoid spoilage, but seriously, that's 95% of the plot right there). There are glimpses of a promise of more elaboration on the scenario, which would have even itself been great to have, but it was apparently not to be.

The characters are interesting from a design standpoint, but many of them fall flat when it comes to character development--most are essentially just archetypes, and ones we've seen plenty of times. 1 is the classic grumpy old man, 2 a timid inventor, 6 the misunderstood, tormented visionary everyone thinks is crazy until the appropriate moment, 7 a generic tough-gal figure, and 8 a lumbering brute. This creates the problem of there being nothing more to learn--archetypes are predictable, and once you've met them, you know all about them. The ones I've left out (3, 4, 5, and 9 himself) are a touch more interesting. 9 & 5 especially are the only ones that see much development, unsurprising for 9 given that he's the protagonist, with 5 being the secondary (the other seven puppets are relegated to more tertiary roles). But even then, I feel like there's precious little time spent actually getting to know the other characters. More depth would have provided more interesting team chemistry (though there is plenty of tension and arguing between them to be had). And given the already thin plot, more character development could have saved that lack of plot by making it entirely character-driven.

I'd also like to dedicate some special venom for the ending. While the movie as a whole certainly wasn't bad, the ending was nothing short of terrible. It smacks of deus ex machina, it doesn't feel like a true conclusion, and worst of all, it doesn't entirely make sense. It's even perhaps a bit silly. And when I say it "doesn't feel like a true conclusion," I don't mean it leaves the ending open to set up for a sequel like Hollywood loves to do. I mean it literally doesn't feel like a conclusion. It's weak. It's dissatisfying, especially for a movie with so much action, and again, so much unused potential. It feels like the writer wrote themselves into a tight spot and decided to wrap up right there in the space of a few sentences.

However. It does have one merit-- it's total eye candy. Shane Acker and Tim Burton have created a very pretty world (in a dark and burnt-out way), and the atmosphere does suck you in. The animation is silky-smooth, the textures are well-realized--from a visual standpoint this is something that could easily stand up to Pixar in terms of quality.

If only the writing had been better.

9 gets a 2.5 out of four possible crickets. The visuals go a long way, and though the plot is a patchwork of post-apocalypse cliches, it still works as a backdrop...it's just not enough to make this movie what it could have been. See it once for the experience, then forget about it.
I should also note, even though its ad campaign and PG-13 rating has tried to make this clear, that this is not a kid's movie. If I saw this as a kid I would have been terrified. There are many moments here that would definitely frighten those in the single-digit range, and the world overall is very much not a friendly one. Without wishing to spoil, it also has a high body count--over half the protagonists die, and it's not an "oh, they might be sleeping--" these are distinct, definitive deaths. I saw a lot of kids at the theater, and more than a couple were clinging to their parents through a good chunk of it.

A pair of other, brief reviews, since it's been so long since I've done a movie review:

Up: Pixar delivers the goods again. Would you expect anything else from them? I liked especially how even given the fantastical, even ridiculous situation, the characters are very believable. Nice to see them starting to push the feature exaggeration on their human characters too. Though it didn't make me cry (as many have claimed it will) it is distinctly more emotional than usual Disney fare. My eyes did well up a couple times. Up gets a 3.8 out of 4 crickets. It stops just shy of a perfect 4, due to lacking just a pinch of some sort of je ne se quois, but it's definitely worth your money.

District 9: Words are superfluous. See this one. This was my favourite movie of the summer, hands down. I want to go see it again. After one viewing, I've already decided to buy it when it comes out on video. It's by no means perfect--I've got a few nitpicks about it--but they're mainly that, just nitpicks. The large whole is great. It's a few different styles of film mishmashed into one, but it's made to work, mostly. It starts off as a mockumentary and then in its second act becomes a hybrid of science fiction war movie and buddy cop flick. Either way, it's a refreshingly original work of science fiction. Do be warned though if you're squeamish that it is very, very violent. District 9 gets a 4. A 4 doesn't mean perfection, but it does mean "exceptional."

Ta for now, readers.

Holden Out.