Movie Review: 9 (2009) - CONTAINS SPOILERS
- Natacha Martins
- Apr 8, 2021
- 7 min read
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)
Thought I'd begin this nerdy blog adventure by reviewing one of my favourite movies, 9 (2009) directed by Shane Acker. This animation, action-adventure begins immediately within a beautifully designed dystopian world through the eyes of a small rucksack creature. So, right off the bat, the movie had already gripped me with its end of the world setting, and miniature being. Ever since I was a child I've been obsessed with little people. I used to watch movies such as The Borrowers, The Indian in the Cupboard, and Stuart Little on repeat. And to find, later on, that this being is only one part of a human being, made the concept far superior to any others I had ever seen, as it allowed you to see the many characteristics one person can hold, the varying emotions, skills, and desires of merely one person. This to me was rather eye-opening and made it more realistic for me despite the animation, and the setting, as humans beings are complicated.
The Characters
When it comes to the main character, 9, I found to be rather reckless and, at times stupid. I have decided that his main and only goal in the movie was to push the rest of group outside of their comfort zone, as they remained in a state of stagnation due to fear of the machine dogs. The only thing, I guess you could say, he brought physically to the table was the fact that he acted as a walking storage unit for an extremely valuable talisman which would later go on to save the human race. But, he was also the catalyst for awakening several other much larger, much more dangerous machine beasts that had lain dormant for several years. Saying that, he can be a little smart from time to time. But that doesn't really stop him from making stupid decisions (basically, every protagonist, ever).
One of my favourite characters was 6. Being one of the quirkiest, and most misunderstood one of the bunch, I felt connected to him in some ways. I found him extraordinarily intelligent despite people thinking he was a little insane, they thought this due to his OCD like behaviour. His desire to constantly want to draw the same diagram actually reminded me of my autism. I personally being consistently obsessed with several different hobbies, topics and activities, I didn't find his behaviour at all queer or unusual. It was interesting to have a character portray several similar behaviours and ticks that you yourself have without having a label put upon him. Apart, from that of crazy. Which the movie later established he wasn't.
The rest of the characters all had their own particular things about them that made them special. Number 2, for example, was the loveable father who cared about everyone, whereas number 1 was the annoying grandparent stuck in their ignorant ways. Number 7 was the badass who went around kicking butt and saving people from a violent doom, she also happens to be the only female character in the movie. So, that's one for feminism. Then there's 3 & 4 they are super smart and extremely adorable. They never speak and I can't decide if they're female or male, but that doesn't really matter, I love the twins. Then there's 5 & 8, but, there's nothing really special about either of those.
As mentioned earlier all these characters were created from one individual and I found it incredible that one person can hold such different characteristics that it can create several other beings that are entirely different from each other. Each character was completely believable, rather realistic, and very much their own individual. I guess one could say that this could be a depiction or illustration of the religious theory that we are all created in Gods image, and yet, we are all so different in many ways.
The Story
As mentioned previously each one of the characters derived from a particular part of one man's soul. This man was the scientist who created the machines that then turned against the entire human race. It becomes very obvious through the movie that the scientist had been manipulated and abused. He had built the machine with pure intentions, for progress. But, as always, the government got involved and took the contraptions to use as weaponry (surprise, surprise). The device then (somehow) became sentient and turned against humans.
The movie starts with the ragdoll waking up and finding the scientist fallen dead on the floor of the large room. Later we find out that he had died having transferred his last bit of soul into 9. He did this with the intention that the ragdolls would come together and use the talisman to finally destroy the giant spheric spider with one eye... let's just call him, machine boss.
I thought that the story was well thought up and that the plot flowed extremely well. Having watched it several times I am yet to find any plot holes, so, if you have watch 9 before then feel free to leave your comments below, and let me know if there is anything I should be looking out for, or that I should look into. The first time I watched it I found it to be a complete mystery, unknowing of what was going to happen next, unlike several other movies which are cliched and obvious to pick out the way in which the plot will go. However, This moving kept me guessing on a lot of different things. Firstly, (SPOILERS ALERT) I did not suspect a robot uprising, I initially considered a potential civil war of sorts. Second, I never imagined that the dolls were small parts of the narrator. And finally, I didn't expect that many of the characters to be killed off.
I have a few favourite scenes which I would quickly like to run through. Firstly, the scene where we meet 7 and she shows off her insane skills defeating "the beast" (machine dog). I just loved how the protagonist was so awestruck and slightly shocked to find out that the ragdoll he just witnessed defeat a giant mechanical beast was in fact a woman, yay feminism. Next, I loved the scene in the library where the protagonist meets the twins. The way that they both, literally, scan him to see if he's one of the good guys, was both creepy, but adorable. I have no other way to describe it. But, I also loved how as soon as the team had asked them for information they immediately knew where to look and what they were looking for. As though they lived in the library. I would love to live in a library. And finally, the most favourite and wholesomest scene to be the once with the vinyl record player, where they all naively believed they had defeated the "machine boss" and were now dancing around listening to the record player, play Somewhere Over the Rainbow, just as the creature begins to rise up. I'll like clips of these scenes below for you to see for yourselves, the awesomeness that these scenes are.
I recall shedding a few tears as the deceased held hands and were plunged into the sky. And how just before this scene number 1 had finally grown a pair and did an amazing deed to help save the others. Nothing tends to make me cry at a movie more than when I see someone sacrifice themselves for the sake of another person, or for the greater good, or trying to save or protect an animal. That to me is so pure and so raw that it leaves me shooketh. And thus, that scene also made me tear up. I find that whenever I watch any shows or movies where death is involved, I can't help but feel a certain sadness, because death is sad, death is scary, death is inevitable but so very much unwanted.
Theories
So, here are a few theories that I have about the movie. Firstly, I kept thinking as to why the scientist never explained in his message "how" the ragdolls were intended to use the talisman? If he had given them further explanations as to what to do, then 9 probably wouldn't have slotted the talisman back into machine boss returning it to life. But, then again, 9 had done this way before he ever saw the message. All he really said, was something along the lines of "don't forget what you see" and then he shows 9 which buttons to press and in what order on the talisman. And, instead of following on and explaining what to do after the buttons are pressed, he just turns around and transfers his soul. I guess this adds more intrigue to the movie, or maybe within the message he did go on to show and explain what he did and it was cut out of the movie to leave the viewer in suspenseful intrigue, however, from the subsequent clip that came after it seemed as though no further explanation was given. Therefore, did 9 just intuitively understand what it was that he had to do?
The scientist must have thought that he too would end up dying anyway but that if he transferred his soul, his consciousness into these ragdolls he could preserve himself and his knowledge of how to destroy the creature, in order to fix his mistake. I think that the reason why he decided to use ragdolls as the objects in which to transfer his soul was for the reason that ragdolls aren't affected by gas bombs or tear gas (as seen in the flashback where 1 explains what had happened so far) making them less susceptible to dying it being wiped out. If the scientist had transferred his soul over to another object it may have been immobile, or if he'd transferred it to an animal they too would have been susceptible to man-made weapons and devices. He could have made the transfer into a child's doll, but then, how realistic is it for a scientist to have a child's doll at hand? Especially in the era that the movie was set. Therefore, the only realistic and practical way would have been for the scientist to create his one dolls out of rags. And, therefore, as stated in the scientist's message to 9, they truly were the only hope for mankind.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this is an amazing movie, with a diverse and impressive plot. The animation is spectacularly beautiful and the characters are all loveable in their own way. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who loves dystopian settings, beautiful imagery, a great story, and anyone who imagines the rise of robots against mankind. I also would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys movies about tiny people like The Borrowers or Stuart Little. And finally, there is only one thing left that I wish to say about 9, I wish this movie would get turned into a video game.
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