After four long years of labor, the film “Nine” was released in 2005.  The original, eleven minutes long,  starred two young anthropomorphic puppets, depicting their epic battle for survival against futuristic robots.  Thoroughly inspired, animators resumed work, and after four more years of hard work (give or take a few months while waiting for the date 09.09.09 to release the movie, which may or may not have helped sales), here we are with not another eleven minute film, but a seventy-nine minute  version, yet again titled “9.”
    

     “9” takes place in the dystopian future, and follows the adventures of the puppet named  “9;” possibly  a result of him being the 9th of his kind or maybe just because of the huge number scrawled on his back.  As the movie progresses, a beautifully intricate story slowly reveals itself: In a future totalitarian state, while the economy is in decline (surprise surprise), science is on the rise!  A scientist manages to create artificial intelligence, immediately wrestled from him in the name of war.  Eventually the machine (having no soul) turns against humanity with their own war machines and poison gas.  The scientist puts his entire soul into his work, finding a way to preserve life on the planet, and eventually succeeds through the creation of the animated puppet creatures which the movie stars.
    

     If you enjoy visual effects and respect the seemingly insurmountable amount of labor involved in creating an animated film, you will love this movie.  Plain and simple, the visual effects are amazing, the animation; smooth, anthe whole thing is just damn pretty.  The CGI atmosphere draws viewers into a dark mechanical world filled with terrifying monsters made of spindly metal rods and glowing red lights. Go see the flick and drool for 79 minutes, I haven’t seen a dystopian future I would rather live in.
    

     Unfortunately, Shane Acker’s beautiful world suffers from a singular and most potent malady: Shane Acker.  He wrote the short flick, and he directed it so he should get to write it if he wants to, right?  NO!  SOMEBODY STEAL THAT MAN’S PEN AND NEVER GIVE IT BACK.  Before taking on the writing duties for “9,” Mr. Acker had written three short films; one starring an anthropomorphic hand grenade that worked for the circus, another involving a dog biting a man, and then the short flick, 9.  While it is unclear  if any of these wild creations even had any scripting, if it wasn’t made clear by his resume, 9 makes it clear: Sean Acker is unfit to write a feature-length film alone!  

     Throughout the story, many cliché’s arose and I began to suspect the whole thing was secretly a cinematic critique.  But the main problem is plain and simple, the character development just doesn’t.  “He would do the same for you!” Nine tells his compatriot, “Five” while completely ignoring the fact that he had only known “Two,” the subject of the conversation for a little over three minutes and in fact, had absolutely no idea what “Two” would have done.  The entire movie continues in a similar vein; the characters act and react as if they have known Nine for centuries, even though the reality is closer to, about… three hours.  Many of the actions of various characters are left unexplained and seemingly irrational in light of what the characters stood for.  More time dedicated to character development and dialogue could have kept this from happening.

     Overall, despite its obvious failings, I liked 9.  I was interested by the story, captured by the dystopian environment, and enthralled by the animation.  But then again, I’m so easygoing, I liked “Ghost Rider” starring Nicholas Cage, and if that movie wasn’t a joke, then I don’t know what’s funny anymore.  If you like animation, if you’re okay with the fact that the story isn’t exactly worth 10 dollars while the animation is easy worth 20, give 9 a shot.  But don’t get mad at me if it sucks.
 
 3/5 Wooves