9 (2009)
In our endless pursuit of technology, we brought about our own destruction. The giant robotic warriors that were intended to be peaceful had turned against mankind (sound familiar?). When the scientist who invented them learned what had been done, he created nine ragdolls and infused portions of his soul into each of them. These ragdolls live in a post-apocalyptic world and hide from the giant robots that still roam the ruins of civilization. When 9, who is voiced by Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings trilogy, Sin City) joins this group, he defies the leader 1, who is voiced by Christopher Plummer (12 Monkeys, Dragnet), and eventually ends up unwittingly waking a giant robot who can steal the souls of the ragdolls. 9 and 5, who is voiced by John C Reilly (Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Step Brothers) encounter 7, who is voiced by the beautiful Jennifer Connelly (Labyrinth, Requiem for a Dream) and discovers that she is the badass ragdoll who hunts and slaughters the giant robots. When 7 and 8 become captured by a one of the robots, the group head toward the factory where the robots reside. Here, the ragdolls show some ingenuity and use a barrel of oil to blow up the factory and destroy the robots. During their celebration, the reunited group of ragdolls learn that the soul-stealing robot had not been destroyed in the explosion and subsequent fire. The group uses an old Howitzer gun left over from man’s war against the machines to try and defeat the monster. This is when 9 tries to convince the group that they mustn’t destroy the machine because if they do, the souls of their fallen comrades will be lost. Eventually successful, 9 leads the group on a plan to free the harvested souls from the monster.
This was a great movie. Although the general premise was a little trite, the fact that the scientist decided to create 9 ragdolls to combat the giant monsters in the last great effort of humanity was rather original. I enjoy nearly all post-apocalyptic movies, except The Road which was quite depressing. As called for, the movie was rather dark and that is something I enjoy. It’s nice to see an animated movie that isn’t all bright and cheerful. The movie was really short and had I seen it in the theaters, I may have felt ripped off simply for that reason. Had I rented it, I think I would have enjoyed it a lot. Since I saw it early on a Sunday morning, it was great and was exactly what I was looking for. I think most people would enjoy this movie.
