Visually, 9 is one of the most amazing films that I have seen in some years, but probably the most amazing thing about it is that it is writer/director/creator Shane Acker’s first feature film. Acker is a recent film school graduate, and before this film the only things he had written or directed were two short films, both under two minutes in length, and the 2005, 11-minute version of ‘9’, which you may remember was nominated for an Oscar in 2006. It is one of the rarest things in cinema for a young director to come galloping out of the gates with something as powerful as his new film, which is already good enough to earn him a lot of well-deserved recognition, even before the Best Animated Feature nomination which will be bestowed upon him in a few months.

If you’ve read anything about the film, you’ve probably heard the film criticized for having an undeveloped or incomplete story, despite the stunning visual achievements. True, there is a lingering sense of incompleteness in regards to the full story arc of the characters’ lives, but on the other hand, the movie also feels like a brilliant short film that has been fleshed out into a feature length film without losing its heart. When short films are made into feature films, there are usually two things that happen – an imaginative and impressive short film can be overshot in the feature film department with too much budget and too many big-name actors (Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow), or a bland short film can be fleshed out into a feature film without the addition of a single new idea, resulting in a half-witted idea spread much too thin over a full-length running time (A Day Without A Mexican).

I somewhat agree with the thought that adding voices to the characters was a bit of a creative misstep (it definitely brings a major atmospheric change to the proceedings), although I would also argue that he did it while still maintaining his original artistic vision. Voices were one of many necessary additions to justify a feature running time, and the voice performances are impressive as well . It is true, however, that the dialogue and action take a distant back seat to the incredible visuals, although as a debut film, 9 remains a towering achievement.

The plot – Nine little ragdolls have been created and left in a world in which all humans have vanished, leaving only themselves and a population of machines bent on their destruction. They have to save themselves, destroy the machines, and figure out what their problem was in the first place. They exist in a bombed-out wasteland of an Earth, which they refer to as “The Emptiness,” and from which they stay in hiding pretty much all the time. Almost immediately, an enormous mechanical beast comes after 9 but he’s rescued by 2, who the beast takes away. He is presumed lost by the rest of the numbers, but 9 insists upon a rescue mission.While attempting to convince the rest of the curious cast of characters of the importance of the mission, our heroes have numerous run-ins with the monsters and also learn of their own origins and the cause of the destruction of the Earth, and of mankind.

As you can clearly see from this plot description, this is hardly a Pixar film with the family in mind. The movie starts off right at the beginning with deeply affecting images of destruction and death, and maintains its post-apocalyptic mood throughout the entire running time with little if any pause for comic relief. It’s well-known that Tim Burton has taken a Producer’s role with the film, and it is up for debate whether the permeating darkness in the movie is a result or a cause of his involvement, but either way, Burton and Acker seem to have similar visions and tastes for tone and mood.

The atmosphere created by Acker is so imaginative and such a brilliant and vividly realized darkness that it is understandable that the lesser things about the movie, such as the dialogue and the relatively unimaginative action sequences, have come under attack. It is pretty clear that Acker has a better talent in the visual department than the storytelling department, but he is certainly one of our most formidable young talents, and we should keep an eye on the development of his career.

The Bean Meter

4 Beans out of 5.

So by now I’ve seen Monsters vs. Aliens and Up, as well as the preview for the much-anticipated 9, and I’m pretty sure that this means I’ve seen most of the roster for what will be the 2009 nominees for Best Animated Feature. I just saw the preview for 9 this afternoon and it looks pretty freaking awesome, and I loved Monsters vs. Aliens to death, but Up is gonna win the Oscar. The nominees won’t even be announced for about another six months, but this is Michael DeZubiria for Hollywire predicting here and now that Up is gonna bring the statue home. And if a better animated movie comes out this year, I can’t wait to see it.

In a time when animated movies are populated with cutesy little kids and talking animals, it’s an amazing and uplifting change to see one come along that stars not one but two grumpy old men in the twilight years of their lives, one of whom is desperately trying to fulfill the dreams of his boyhood that went unrealized and instead turned into the regrets of his adulthood.

The movie starts out with the story of a little kid named Carl who meets a little girl named Ellie and both are surprised to discover a mutual fascination with exploring and with the adventures of a famous adventurer named Charles Muntz, who makes fantastic journeys in his gigantic zepellin, and who makes a public promise to bring back a live specimen of a mythical creature on his next trip through the skies of Venezuela, a trip from which he never returns.

Adults in the audience will get the joke that the distant, magical land of Venezuela isn’t really that far away at all, but the kids will be indifferent, having already been swept away by the prospect of these two kids planning to set off on spectacular adventures of their own.

A sampling of the phenomenal scenery to be found in Up.

But almost immediately the movie takes a completely different tact. We get a musical montage that probably reaches an emotional depth the effectiveness of which I don’t think I’ve ever seen equalled in an animated film. We see these two people grow up, date, get married, build an unspectacular but charming home together, and save their pennies at the conspicuous cost of never having children, until Ellie’s health declines and they both begin to accept the reality that they will probably never be able to have a cute house together at the top of the cliff next to the waterfall.

Very soon after the opening credits, the movie cuts to the present day, with Carl living alone in his and Ellie’s home, now a lone reminder of a simpler past, surrounded on all sides by the constant construction of towering skyscrapers. By this point, the movie is just beginning, yet it’s already told more story than most other movies do in their entire running time these days.

I have noticed that few amazing advances have been made that were as breathtaking as Toy Story almost 15 years ago, but Up has reached a level of animated perfection that is so engrossing that it gives the feeling that anything more realistic would destroy the charming atmosphere and break into the realm of creepy weirdness, like that atrocious dancing baby.

But the real success of the movie is the way it captures our habit of forming elaborate dreams and placing them on the pedestals of our own futures, only to slowly watch them become less and less likely and then, ultimately, watch ourselves settle slowly but rather comfortably into the quiet, everyday lives that we saw our parents living as kids and never thought we could handle being stuck in ourselves. It’s an unsettling but surprisingly comfortable transition from the dreams of our childhood into the realities of adult life, but Up reminds us of how important it is to hold on to our dreams, even if they remain forever only in the hoping and planning stage, because the adventures of childhood are sometimes realized in ways that we could never have imagined, and we discover how successful we’ve been at the strangest times and in the strangest ways.

The Bean Meter

5 Beans out of 5!