It is amazing just how high the bar is being raised in the realm of animation films. Storyline aside, this offering from Shane Acker (Director) and Starz Animation is incredible to look at. There were moments in this movie I actually forgot I was looking at an animated scene. If you find nothing else to enjoy in the movie, simply looking at all of the quality renderings is reason enough to be awed by this film.

‘9' is definitely an adult themed offering; the film carries a PG-13 rating. Placed in a post-apocalyptic country where all forms of life have appeared to have been eliminated by machines run amok; the film centers on these nine so called ‘stitchpunks'. These animated rag-doll-like creations are the handiwork of the same scientist responsible for building the very machine that lead to the current devastation. Each stitchpunk was given a number upon creation and every one of them was imbued with a fragment of the scientist's soul. As the film begins, we follow the ‘birth' of the last stitchpunk, ‘9', and his exploits with his other stitchpunk bretheren in this now decimated environment.

While the rag-doll characters might lead one to believe that ‘9' may follow path similar to that of ‘Wall-E', it decidedly does not. There are few if any ‘cute' moments, and these characters are in nearly continuous peril. There are some interesting philosophical points raised by film and it forgoes the typical humans triumphing over evil machines story line. In fact, the demise of humans is a foregone conclusion and it is the essence of the human soul (from the aforementioned scientist) that remains standing against the deadly mechanical foe.

While studios like Pixar (‘Finding Nemo', ‘Toy Story'); Dream Works (‘Over The Hedge'); and Blue Sky Studios (‘Ice Age') have all been putting out quality products; it's great to see newer studios like Starz come out with a film that not only equals that level of quality, but also surpasses it in some areas. Overall, I enjoyed this very much as the film keeps the viewer engaged every step of the way. The Rube Goldberg-like contraptions and devices are a bit reminiscent of the animated feature, ‘Robots', but are also rendered in incredible detail. I did find myself puzzled by a few plot elements, but taken as a whole, ‘9' delivers as promised.

Official Movie Site: '9 - The Movie' 

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