To a film critic, the idea of a perfect movie is an alien concept. There is and always will be a naysayer or an audience to whom a film does not appeal. A hiccup in action, plot or some inscrutable detail always leaves even the best films with a 99 percent rating. Although they are rare enough to be placed on the endangered species list, there is such a thing as a perfectly done film, for what it is. Everything, from the action to visuals to the special effects, is done just right; even those who did not like the film cannot deny it is as close to perfect as they come. "9" is such a film.
Director Shane Acker has accomplished something not easily done: he has made a world of six-inch tall puppets engaging and terrifying, turning furniture into mountains and rooms into chasms. Visually and audibly, "9" is nothing short of magnificent. Television advertisements cannot grasp the level of detail and surprising realism that the spot-on computer animation manifests throughout the entire film.
Even without 3-D technology, the characters and their environment appear as if one could simply reach out and touch them. One feels shrunk down to their size as they navigate a world where anything above 12 inches is a monstrous beast. It becomes easy to feel legitimately threatened in a world far smaller but seemingly no less real than our own. Completing the effect are incredible sound effects that fully immerse our senses in every sprint, dive and gasp for breath in this desperate fight for survival.
An incredible cast brings a soul to all nine of the already visually real puppets, led by Elijah Wood as the titular character 9. The film also includes the likes of Christopher Plummer, Jennifer Connelly and Martin Landau. Awaking to a decimated world that towers above him, 9 quickly discovers eight others just like him, struggling to survive in a world where they are hunted by mysterious and malevolent robots. Their journey across a devastated cityscape takes on a feeling of epic scale as audiences are entranced by what are certainly the most resourceful puppets in existence.
At face value, a film about puppets may seem childish, but there is nothing juvenile or immature about "9." One explores the nature of technology -- of what it means to be alive and what constitutes the soul in an adventure that never gets bogged down. The film always manages to excite and root our attention firmly on the towering and viscerally real world that becomes our reality for 79 minutes.
You can reach this writer at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
