I saw the movie 9 this week and the synergy with the date it was released (along with many new wondrous things from The Beatles) is, sadly, one of the best things to talk about with regard to the effort.
The most notable positive of the movie is its amazing look. It’s an absolutely fantastic movie to look at but in that regard it reminded me of the purely tepid Titan A.E. from a few years ago. All makeup and no substance.
The main problem with the movie is that you really have no idea what’s going on—and neither do the characters—until right before the end of the movie. The entire thing is one big reaction to on-screen stimuli. I poke you. You flinch. That pretty much is how this movie reacts.
The first 15 minutes of the show are quite entertaining as you’re caught up in the wonder of the whole concept. It’s fine that you have no idea what’s going on at this point. That’s rather typical. That it goes on for the next 90% of the movie is just sad. When it all does resolve the resolution falls entirely flat.
The film is also filled with lots of subtle (and some not-so-subtle) references to other films, stories and mythology. I got the feeling that the film was trying very hard to tell us all something but apparently the makers are all much smarter than I am—or are they?
