Complete A-Z list


9

8/10

Stars: Voices; Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly, John C Reilly, Martin Landau, Christopher Plummer, Alan Oppenheimer, Crispin Glover, Fred Tatasciore

Director: Shane Acker

A fiercely imaginative science-fiction cartoon in which man and machines between them have destroyed the planet. But the scientist who started it all has created tiny cloth-clad robots who, unknown to them, have the power to make a fresh start.

First, though, they must tackle The Beast, a fearsome skull-headed contraption, The Flier, a pterodactyl-like monster, and The Machine, the progenitor of the mayhem that has destroyed the earth.

New arrival 9 (Wood), a sort of Wall-E with attitude, will have none of the stuffy pacifism of elderly 1 (Plummer). And, despite the loss of scientific-minded 2 (Landau), he instils courage into one-eyed 5 (Reilly) and teams up with warrior 7 (Connelly) to take on the titans of terror who still roam the earth.

The film successfully tugs at our emotions as well as exciting us and stimulating our senses with its stunning set design. A little thin in plot, perhaps, as the running time would suggest, but a notable achievement all the same.

David Quinlan

Canada/Luxembourg 2009. UK Distributor: Universal. Colour by deluxe.
79 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: 12A.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 1, Drugs 0, Swearing 0.

Review date: 25 Oct 2009