Movie Review – 9

The movie 9 is an animated post-apocalyptic story about some reanimated dolls and their struggle to survive.

This moderately interesting movie garners a 6. Put the rating and the title together, and it might rate a higher level of entertainment.

The animation was very nice but not dramatically impressive. Don’t get me wrong; it was visually enjoyable on the big screen, just not groundbreaking.

The plot is the typical post-apocalyptic story – a good survivor finds others and struggles against the evil survivors. 9 is the protagonist – a burlap bag-skinned doll with a zipper to access his electric innards. He is pretty clueless as to what he is or what is going on and proceeds on a journey of discovery in the desolated remains of a nameless city. Various snippets of the past show us that a semi-fascist (very Germanic looking – is it intentional or coincidence?) society hijacks a scientist’s discovery of how to give robots artificial intelligence, creating military robots that eventually turn against mankind. Not at all like Terminator…

The story is a bit disjointed and quite improbable in places. The ending seems pointless and illogical but doesn’t make it impossible to enjoy. I have read that it becomes more clear and enjoyable after a second or third viewing. No thank you. I suppose a little bit of mind-altering chemicals would make this a lot more believable and fun. Try that and let me know what you think…

The voices are supplied by a notable group of actors: Elijah Wood as 9, Christopher Plummer as 1, Martin Landau as 2, John C. Reilly as 5, Jennifer Connelly as 7 and Crispin Glover as 6. The voices fit the characters very well. No complaints on this aspect.

 

~Elric the Damned

Movie Review – Zombieland

Zombieland is comedy/drama (dramady?) about survivors of the zombie apocalypse.

This hilarious romp gets an 8 with half a nod toward 9.

Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) is a hard-edged survivor. He believes that by avoiding real names (use your hometown), one can protect themselves from becoming to emotionally involved with their fellow travelers. The main character, Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), is clearly modeled after Bleeker from Juno. He is delightful, vulnerable and witty. His list of survival tips for Zombieland are priceless. Rule #2 – Tap them twice. You’ll see… The acting was quite charming and fit the story well. The other actors performed their characters well, too. I will not go into any further detail so as not to give away the story development.

There is a huge cameo later in the movie. It was hilarious and well done. You’ll see!

As you have seen from the trailers, Zombieland is the name given to the US by Columbus after a virus turns everyone into flesh-eating zombies. He meets up with Tallahassee and have zombie-filled adventures as they cross the country. As shown in the commercials, they do end up at an amusement park and have a good ol’ time…

This was a hilarious, moderately gory romp through Zombieland. Two thumbs up!

Brains…