9

Critics Consensus

Although its story is perhaps too familiar and less complex than some might wish, 9 is visually spectacular, and director Shane Acker's attention to detail succeeds in drawing viewers into the film's universe.

57%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 183

56%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 282,065

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Movie Info

The time is the too-near future. Powered and enabled by the invention known as the Great Machine, the world's machines have turned on mankind and sparked social unrest, decimating the human population before being largely shut down. But, as our world fell to pieces, a mission began to salvage the legacy of civilization; a group of small creations was given the spark of life by a scientist in the final days of humanity, and they continue to exist post-apocalypse. One of these creations, 9, emerges to display leadership qualities that may help them survive and possibly even thrive. It is only by chance that he discovers a small community of others like himself taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the earth intent on their extinction. Despite being the neophyte of the group, 9 convinces the others that hiding will do them no good. They must take the offensive if they are to survive, and they must discover why the machines want to destroy them in the first place. As they'll soon come to learn, the very future of civilization may depend on them.

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Cast

Elijah Wood
as #9
Christopher Plummer
as #1
Martin Landau
as #2
John C. Reilly
as #5
Crispin Glover
as #6
Jennifer Connelly
as #7
Fred Tatasciore
as #8/Radio Announcer
Alan Oppenheimer
as Scientist
Tom Kane
as Dictator
Helen Wilson
as Newscaster
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News & Interviews for 9

Parental Guidance: Halloween Edition
Win Tickets To The Tim Burton-produced 9
Critics Consensus: 9 Looks Great, But The Plot’s Weak
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Critic Reviews for 9

All Critics (183) | Top Critics (41)

  • Looking like a rag-doll version of Terminator Salvation, the film boasts an arresting visual style.

    Dec 9, 2009 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

    Jim Schembri

    The Age (Australia)
    Top Critic

  • This film will surely be remembered as an intriguing failure: a triumph of ambition over ability, of ideas over emotional resonance - just another grim fairy tale for these troubled times.

    Oct 30, 2009 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

    Tom Huddlestone

    Time Out
    Top Critic

  • It looks great, but sadly the screenplay - in particular the stultifying dialogue - simply can't match the visual inventiveness.

    Oct 30, 2009 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

    Wendy Ide

    Times (UK)
    Top Critic

  • It allegedly lasts 79 minutes. I think it lasted 79 hours, or 79 years, or perhaps 79 times the space of time between the extinction of allosaurus and the rise of Cro-Magnon.

    Oct 30, 2009 | Rating: 1/5 | Full Review…

    Peter Bradshaw

    Guardian
    Top Critic

  • The story drifts towards the mawkish without answering any of the big questions it tentatively raises.

    Oct 30, 2009

    Matt Bochenski

    Little White Lies
    Top Critic

  • There's no denying that Acker has a knack for bleak landscapes and an inventive salvage-yard approach to character design, but his narrative skills are less developed.

    Sep 11, 2009

    Scott Von Doviak

    Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com
    Top Critic
View All Critic Reviews (183)

Audience Reviews for 9

  • Apr 10, 2015
    I quite enjoyed it. I'm a bit surprised at the 56/55% ratings from Critics and Flixster users. The ending was a bit odd, but I still liked it.
    Morris N Super Reviewer
  • Nov 10, 2014
    Incoherent but incredibly imaginative, 9 is a visionary post-apocalyptic film produced by Tim Burton. Set in a post-war holocaust, nine robotic creatures that have been imbued with pieces of a scientist's soul must come together and stop the machine that destroyed humanity, and is now intent on destroying them. Starring Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly, and Christopher Plummer, the voice cast is quite impressive. And the animation is extraordinary, featuring remarkable detail and creative character designs. Also, composer Danny Elfman delivers some emotionally evocative and mood inducing musical themes for the score. Yet while it's a beautiful looking film, 9 is just too bizarre and doesn't really come together in the end.
    Dann M Super Reviewer
  • Jan 07, 2014
    Okay...this movie has some really good, emotional high points, but that's about it. Everything else in between them can get kind of boring, while is unfortunately most of the movie. The story could've used more work, and not much really happens, aside from fighting this one robot villain thing the whole time. And ironically, for a movie called 9, the main character 9 doesn't actually do anything good until the end of the movie. In fact, he almost gets everybody killed (and a bunch of his friends do in fact die as a result of his actions). So how can the audience gets behind somebody like this as a protagonist? True, at the end, I guess there's some form of closure, but it's so amazingly vague, the viewer has no idea what actually happened. Is the earth safe? Will things grow back? Are the machines really gone? Are all the humans dead or are some still alive? None of these questions are answered in this 70 minute film (which obviously could've been longer and answered more questions), which left me pretty annoyed at the film's end.
    Stephen S Super Reviewer
  • Nov 25, 2013
    I'm a sucker for the post-apocalyptic. If you could call it a genre, it would be my second favourite. So an animated one starring Elijah Wood seemed worth looking into. 9 sees the eponymous ragdoll-come-hero set against a world bereft of all humanity, hunted by mechanical terrors. In a not entirely un-Tim Burton way, 9 straddles the line between children's movie and horror. Though not a humorous film, the dolls are cute, the premise is kindhearted and the adventure is youthful. 9 is Director Shane Acker's first and only feature, and to some extent this inexperience does show. The film is adorable and even intermittently enthralling, but plot holes abound and the whole thing feels overly, unnecessarily convoluted for a movie that could be pulled of short and simply. The end result is a sweet little film with a broad and genuine appeal but little substance or rewatch value. 58% -Gimly
    Gimly M Super Reviewer
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