Certificate: 12
Info: For a film not actually directed by Tim Burton, this film still manages to actually ooze the fact that Burton was involved. It's incredible that this story didn't even come out of Burton's mind, because it has the look and feel of many of Burton's fantasy-based films and book (anyone who has had the pleasure of reading Burton's "The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories" will know exactly what I'm talking about!)
Plot: Inspired by a short film that Director Shane Acker developed six years ago, "9" is the alternative interpretation of what would happen if man-made machines took over the world! As the film's tagline goes "when our world ended their mission began", because although the machines have wiped out the human race, the future of the world is in the hands of nine little creatures. But who are they? Where did they come from? And, how come they have been able to survive?
Thoughts: "9" is a beautifully crafted and very quirky film, that you can just tell has been passed over by those of us who are more familiar with what Pixar and DreamWorks have to offer us. Some could say that making the film was quite daring, but it's also likely that most people who have seen this film, have only really watched it because of the Tim Burton tag attached to it. Which is fair enough, because as I just pointed out, it's one of those darker animated films that most people aren't interested in, until a big name is tagged on.To be fair, I only picked up this film because it was being sold for £5 in Tesco, but other than a few random bus posters, I don't remember seeing that much publicity for this film, which I have to say, is a big shame!
Visuals: Visually, "9" is very stunning to watch. As a big video game geek, I have to admit that I have been very spoilt when it comes to graphics, which is predominantly down to the fact that I am a Final Fantasy geek. Final Fantasy, as any fan will know has probably the best graphics in all RPG games. So, it's fair to say that I have very high expectations when it comes to graphics.
I was also incredibly impressed with how realistic the movements of the characters were.
Casting: I have to admit that I'm not really a fan of Elijah Wood, which is why I was relieved that most of the actors (including Wood) didn't really sound like themselves. In fact, we spent half the film trying to guess which actor was playing which role.
Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly were both easy, and we'd guessed before the film had even started.
Crispin Glover was an easy guess, but luckily we pinned that one, despite the fact that we realised that we didn't know what Glover's voice actually sounds like (and the fact that I spent the first 20 minutes getting Glover mixed up with Sam Rockwell, in my head!!)
John C Reilly was a guess, but again a good one.
Christopher Plummer and Martin Landau were the real challenge, and we kept changing our minds over who was "1" and which one was "2". We eventually got so confused, that I can't even remember if we got it right or not!
Overall: The plot was interesting, albeit a little confusing at times, but definitely worth a look by anyone who loves a dark, fantasy-based film!
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