9 take 2
URGA MOTW
9
Tonight was our second attempt to see 9, as last week despite it being listed at yourmovies.com.au, the film didn't actually open at Palace until Wednesday...
Despite the small cinema, and the somewhat grainy projection, I quite enjoyed the film.
9 is a CG animated fairytale - but it's not for kids. In a world where man has gone to war with machine and lost, a small burlap doll, with 9 painted on his back, awakes and goes exploring.
He encounters a robot-cat-skeleton thingy, and other dolls 5, 2, 1, 8, 6 and eventually also 7, 3 and 4. Hardly surprising :) The machine cats and other creatures seem to be out to get these little dolls, but the reasons are not explained ahead of time.
It may sound like a confusing plot - but that's only because exposition is given quickly and piecemeal, and usually after you would expect to see it. So this makes it a little non-linear, which I'm sure will confuse sheeple who go to the cinema, but it should be no problem to you if you have a modicum of intelligence.
First the not-so-good parts. The pacing of this film seems off - everything happens so quickly and the action jumps from scene to scene without any pausing for breath. The progressions are logical, but it gives absolutely no time for us to sympathise or empathise with any of the characters, so we aren't really scared for them when they are in peril. Considering how short the film is, a few extra minutes of some character depth, or perhaps a passage-of-time scene wipe may have given the story a little more depth. However, I guess part of the fact of these characters is that they don't really have much history or backstory to explain, hence they don't really have character depth either. Why is 9 heroic and curious and brave, and 1 is pushy, arrogant and a coward? No explanation, they just are. Accept it and move on.
However, the visuals are a treat - the opening scenes as we see the scientist's hands sewing 9 look almost REAL, they are that good. The film is very atmospheric and the textures on everything are wonderful, so they have done amazing things to make the world look gritty, dirty and dark, rather than cartoonish and bright like most CG movies. These are worth the $10 Tuesday admission alone, even with the somewhat mediocre plot and execution.
Definitely worth watching.
8/10
yunyu - is that a good enough recommendation? :)
9
Tonight was our second attempt to see 9, as last week despite it being listed at yourmovies.com.au, the film didn't actually open at Palace until Wednesday...
Despite the small cinema, and the somewhat grainy projection, I quite enjoyed the film.
9 is a CG animated fairytale - but it's not for kids. In a world where man has gone to war with machine and lost, a small burlap doll, with 9 painted on his back, awakes and goes exploring.
He encounters a robot-cat-skeleton thingy, and other dolls 5, 2, 1, 8, 6 and eventually also 7, 3 and 4. Hardly surprising :) The machine cats and other creatures seem to be out to get these little dolls, but the reasons are not explained ahead of time.
It may sound like a confusing plot - but that's only because exposition is given quickly and piecemeal, and usually after you would expect to see it. So this makes it a little non-linear, which I'm sure will confuse sheeple who go to the cinema, but it should be no problem to you if you have a modicum of intelligence.
First the not-so-good parts. The pacing of this film seems off - everything happens so quickly and the action jumps from scene to scene without any pausing for breath. The progressions are logical, but it gives absolutely no time for us to sympathise or empathise with any of the characters, so we aren't really scared for them when they are in peril. Considering how short the film is, a few extra minutes of some character depth, or perhaps a passage-of-time scene wipe may have given the story a little more depth. However, I guess part of the fact of these characters is that they don't really have much history or backstory to explain, hence they don't really have character depth either. Why is 9 heroic and curious and brave, and 1 is pushy, arrogant and a coward? No explanation, they just are. Accept it and move on.
However, the visuals are a treat - the opening scenes as we see the scientist's hands sewing 9 look almost REAL, they are that good. The film is very atmospheric and the textures on everything are wonderful, so they have done amazing things to make the world look gritty, dirty and dark, rather than cartoonish and bright like most CG movies. These are worth the $10 Tuesday admission alone, even with the somewhat mediocre plot and execution.
Definitely worth watching.
8/10
yunyu - is that a good enough recommendation? :)