9 (2009)

Jack & I were excited to see this. We thought it was going to be another wonderful Tim Burton (Beetle Juice (1988), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Batman Returns (1992), Sleepy Hollow (1999), etc.) movie, with music by Danny Elfman (all of the above and much, much more). But nooo! Writer/director Shane Acker fleshed out his 2005 Oscar-nominated short (it also won a Student Academy Award for animation) into this feature about some rag dolls (nine of them, each with a number instead of a name) who have survived an apocalyptic war between humankind and machines. Burton produced it, and Elfman composed "music themes?" Hmph. Lots of peril for the little creatures, led by the titular 9 (voice of Elijah Wood (profiled in Filth & Wisdom)), as they are chased by the big bad machines (too scary for kids, I think). Other voices: Martin Landau, John C. Reilly, Christopher Plummer, Crispin Glover, and Jennifer Connelly. The animation kept me alert for the first 50 minutes or so, and then I started sighing and checking my watch (it's very short, so that was only another half hour). We saw it opening day, 9/9/09. I will give it a 9, for symmetry, but that would be on a scale of 18.