9

9

Me: I had originally wanted to see 9 in the theatres because of its stylistic animation style and its connection to Nightmare Before Christmas. However, I didn't have the chance. I thought Molly would have liked it, but I never got the chance to take her to see it. So we rented it the other day and got to sit down and watch it.

And, yes, it is a very pretty, stylistic movie. Parts of it are almost steampunk in appearance, but a little different. It was based off of a computer animated short film called "9" that the filmmaker premiered at Sundance. Tim Burton really liked it and got behind it to produce a full length feature film. I didn't see the short, but I imagine that it was much better than the feature length film, simply because the movie was very stylized, but failed to produce a good story in the full form.

Anyhow, the stitch-punk homunculi are each very interesting and visually appealing and blend in beautifully with the post-Apocalyptic war torn world that they live in. The world that they live in is the ruins of a sort of Art Deco Nazi-era world. They are the only "living" things left after the war, in which machines turned against men. It could have sort of been an interesting enough movie, but it ultimately made no sense. The Scientist created a device to kill the machine, but it was the same thing that reactivated it to begin with. There sort of triumph at the end was really just cleaning up the mess that 9 started in the opening of the film. Considering the cost of the victory, I'm not sure if it was a good thing or not.

But basically, the movie moves out of science and delves into soul, but in a completely odd and unfitting way. It just didn't make sense at all. Visually, the movie was brilliant, but it was really lacking as far as story is concerned.


Molly: (As usual, I will be transcribing as much as I can from what she says. Her review will be given in Q&A form, primarily due to her age. And this is a real transcript of our conversation. She's sitting next to me at my pooter right now. I'll format it afterward.)

Chuckie: What did you think of 9?
Molly: Um. Let me look at the box. Takes the DVD box and studies the cover for a few moments. Um. Nice.

Chuckie: You thought the movie was nice?
Molly: Yeah.

Chuckie: When we were watching the movie, you said that some parts were scary. What was scary about it?
Molly: There were some monsters in it. Scary monsters. They were fighting and trying to eat them. Where's my glitter glob? Starts looking for a glitter paint project she was working on earlier.
Chuckie: It's drying, Sweetie. So, what was the movie about?
Molly: Um, they fight. And, Daddy, we need to say how many stars and suns and moons, right Daddy?
Chuckie: We'll get to that, Pixie. What was your favorite part?
Molly: Um, the bad eye one.
Chuckie: What bad eye one?
Molly: The little guy with one eye. The people. Not the monster with one eye. He was bad.

Chuckie: Do you think that it is too scary for some people?
Molly: No.

Chuckie: Was it a good movie?
Molly: Yes. Everything was good about it.

Chuckie: How would you rate the movie?
Molly: Huh? How things are? Um. One.
Chuckie: One what?
Molly: One star.
Chuckie: Out of how many?
Molly: Out of Arctica.
Chuckie: Arctica?
Molly: Matter-of-factly. Yeah. Arctica.
Chuckie: What's Arctica?
Molly: It's a place, Daddy. Where my friends are. It's a house.
Chuckie: So, it gets one star out of a possible Arctica?
Molly: Correcting me, as apparently the star itself is out of Arctica, not out of a possible Arctica. No, Daddy! The star is out of Arctica. My friends live there.

Chuckie: Uh, okay. Do you think people should go and see this movie?
Molly: Everybody. But not little babies because they would cry about it.

Chuckie: Why would they cry?
Molly: Because it's too scary for little babies.
Chuckie: Was it too scary for you?
Molly: No, I'm just big enough. You need to be three to watch it.

Chuckie: Is there anything else you want to say about the movie?
Molly: Um, yes. Um, people play choo-choo-chugga-chugga-choo-choo-wee-wee.

Chuckie: What does that have to do with the movie?
Molly: 'Cause they threw rocks at the monster and had skeleton heads. That was so funny, Daddy. I want a skeleton head too, Daddy.


So there you go. I thought it was a very stylistic movie that was visually very pretty, but ultimately didn't have a real sense of story to pull it together to make it anything more than pretty pictures. The message of spirituality seemed a little odd and didn't really fit as it just didn't make much sense. Molly didn't seem to care too much for it and wandered away for a couple of minutes to entertain herself elsewhere during the movie. But then again, there are more distractions here at home than at a theatre.

I give it two out of five stars.
Molly gives it one star out of Arctica.

I think if you are looking for a good story, pass on it. But if you just want to see some pretty stitch-punk and Art Deco ruins, take a look. And Molly does not recommend that babies should see this movie.