"9" - spoiler movie review

I'd mentioned back in March that I'd seen the trailer for "9" and was really excited about seeing the movie. Well, the release date for the film was 09-09-09, which happened to be right smack dab in the middle of a very busy week for us, so we figured it would be at least a few days after opening before we'd be able to see the film. The husband then suggested the crazy idea that we could see if there was a midnight screening we could go to. The midnight screening idea in and of itself wasn't crazy, since we've done that for numerous other films, but with the schedule we already had in place, adding one more thing to our schedule seemed insane. But we looked into it, and initially, it wasn't going to be playing anywhere that was convenient by home or Anaheim, which is where we were going to be the evening of the 8th. But, the weekend before the release, I saw that the AMC complex in Downtown Disney was in fact going to have a midnight screening, so we got tickets for that. That location ended up working out really well, because our plans got completely thrown off due to other factors. If we'd had to drive back near home to see the movie, we would have never made it. As it was, we were done around 11pm at the Grand Californian, were able to get something for dinner at their lounge, and made it to the AMC complex (with a friend who was joining us) just in time for the movie.

Overall, I did like the movie, though it wasn't quite what I expected based on the trailer. Some of the story was a bit complicated or convoluted - I'm not sure which - so I didn't entirely understand everything. I never got a really good handle on the character of each of the other numbers, so when they would just talk about them using their names, I wouldn't immediately get what they were talking about. I did like the twins, though - they were cool.

I flashed back to the last film I'd seen by Focus Features, "Coraline", since the beginning of this film also involves the sewing of a doll.

I liked that the numbers of the dolls showed a succession of progress in the development of the dolls.

I didn't really expect that the apocalyptic outcome was because of a fight between man and machines - it was like "Terminator" all over again.

The major plot problem I had with the film was that they didn't explain why 9 put the talisman in the socket. It was obviously what the baddie creature thing wanted, so why would he finish the job? Yeah, he'd already done something else before without knowing how dangerous it was (playing with the bullet), but you'd think that would mean he'd be more careful.

I was also disappointed that the music from the film wasn't anything like the music used in the trailer. I know, trailers usually use temp music or music from other films, but I was hoping in this case that it would be different. I really wish I knew what the great music was that was used in the trailer.

During the man/machine war, the dolls trying to escape under the hat made me think of "Toy Story 2".

When the spirit of the dolls was released at the end, it also reminded me of "Coraline", when the spirits of the kids who were kidnapped and trapped in the closet were freed.

I was amused and completely conscious of the fact that Elijah Wood voiced a character who had to travel to a giant tower in an effort to save his people. I thought he was fine.

Christopher Plummer was pretty awesome as 1, but then, you'd expect that from him.


While I wouldn't wholeheartedly recommend this film, I would say it was definitely worth watching.