Opening on 9-9-09, this animated, post-apocalyptical tale of survival is so visually riveting and original that viewers will forgive its flawed and clichéd story. The dark master’s touch of producer Tim Burton is liberally felt, and while the intended audience may be murky, those who chose to see it are in for a dark treat.

Visions of WALL-E come to mind as the story unfolds. Both films begin with lone, mechanical survivors of an earthly devastation--the world is bleak and in ruins, and no human life can be found. A burlap rag doll type being (‘9’ voiced by Elijah Wood) comes to mechanical life, and begins exploring his shambles of a world, meeting up with other beings like himself, all named with numbers, and voiced by Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, John C. Reilly, Crispin Glover and Jennifer Connelly. Their numbers are few and their flaws are many, but they attempt to form a working society in a world where there are vicious machines hunting them down and attempting to destroy them. Of course they find they must work together or perish alone. How they got into this situation, what exactly they are, and where the world is going from here are completely vague, and it feels obvious that this is a feature version extended from a short by new writer/director Shane Acker.

Although this alternative world and the diabolical monster machines that roam it are interesting to watch, actual physical conflict scenes are hard to follow. We are expected to know the rules and motivations of this mystical time and place with very little explanation. A thinly veiled and time-worn commentary on human nature and the rise of the machines, with a big of Nazi-ism thrown in, the hows and whys are not nearly as interesting as the art of the animation. It feels a lot longer than its sparse 80-minutes, and the visual wonder starts to wear thin, but still, those curious enough to see 9 will feel rewarded.