Story
The animated movie 9 begins with the lifeless form of a ragdoll hanging by one arm in a ransacked room. Meanwhile a long-dead corpse lies on the floor. The doll, which has the number 9 printed on its back, falls to the ground. A few seconds later, it begins to move and become conscious. It gets up, goes over to a window, and opens it to reveal a lifeless post-apocalyptic landscape below.
While investigating the outside world, 9 (voice of Elijah Wood) encounters 2 (Martin Landau), a ragdoll being like himself. Before the encounter can progress too far, the pair are attacked by a giant cat-like creature called the Beast. 9 is left unconscious while 2 is carried off in the jaws of the Beast.
When 9 wakes up, he finds himself in a room with several similar ragdoll beings including 1 (voice of Christopher Plummer), the group’s domineering leader and veteran from the machine wars. There is also 1’s giant dim-witted henchman 8 (Fred Tatasciore), mechanic and ragdoll repairer 5 (John C. Reilly), and zany obsessive sketch artist 6 (Crispin Glover). While in their company, 1 tells 9 how the humans created technology that got out of control. As a result, machines rose up and destroyed humanity. 1 tells 9 that the Beast will kill 2 and that there is nothing any of them can do about it. But 9 refuses to abandon 2 to the Beast. He and 5 set off to battle menacing machines, destroy the Beast and rescue 2.
Themes
Apocalypse; humans against machines; death of friends; self-sacrifice
Violence
9 contains scenes showing intense action violence and peril, war scenes, and apocalyptic cityscapes. For example:
Sexual references
None of concern
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
None of concern
Nudity and sexual activity
None of concern
Product placement
None of concern
Coarse language
None of concern
Ideas to discuss with your children
9 is an animated science fiction adventure with stunning and entertaining visual effects. The movie contains images and themes too scary for younger children, however, while the story line and character development are a little too thin for grown-ups to enjoy.
The main messages from this movie are:
- If you cause a problem, you should be the one to fix it.
- If technology is not controlled by people with morals and ethics, it will destroy us.
Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include self-sacrifice, a strong sense of right and wrong, and the courage to stand up for your beliefs.