Shane Acker, who in 2005 received critical acclaim for his 11 minute short of the same name succeeds in bringing 9 to the big screen, however, it was unfortunately lacking on both narration and emotional levels. 9 is a visually stunning, post apocalyptic tale of a group of rag doll type robotic humanoids that are the sole survivors of a great war that has ravaged the landscape. Throughout the course of the film the vocal talents, the amazing animation and the visually stunning set pieces are what shines through for the film but it's let down by the characters and the plot being a little too under developed.

The cast are brilliant, most notably Elijah Wood as the newly activated '9', who persuades the rag dolls to fight for survival, rather than hide in the shadows. Jennifer Connelly as the heroic '7' who on more than one occasion comes to the others rescue with her amazing fighting. Christopher Plummer also shines as the dastardly elder '1', who would rather hide than fight.

At the same time it isn't aimed directly at adults, with a 12A rating. I can imagine, or at least hope that a child watching this and being bewildered and confused and mortified and entranced, just as I was watching The Secret of NIMH or The Dark Crystal, and that's good. PIXAR has its wonders, but to see this is to see the A-game upped another notch in the medium and its potential. There are times I didn't even feel like I was watching just animation. Other times, I was taken away like any good fantasy or fable: in the one little moment of respite, 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' plays on a record and there's peace... until it's broken. It's rare a filmmaker can conjure something like that, but 9 has that in spades.