9

Rating: 9.0/10

Genre: Animation Drama

Overall value for money and time: 9.4/10

Highly underrated, highly unappreciated. This movie deserves more than what the critics have called it. It packs a stronger theme than any other animations I have ever watched. I highly recommend catching it without reading the sypnosis. In a sentence: It's a film about a newborn creature, 9 who tries to find meaning in its existence.

For a fuller sypnosis, *warning spoilers ahead*:

A dark animation film which takes place in a hypothetical yet potentially possible era where machines have gradually reduced the human race to extinction. The creator of 9 puppet-like figures have finished his final work before dying and when 9 awakened, it was up to him to tie the loose ends of this new world in which he was "born" into.

It started off with great suspense, and from the synopsis I have provided above, you'll have no problem trying to follow the movie with much ease. However, the ending packs an intelligent twist which will surely sweep you off your feet, like it did mine, and it further linked and reinforced the storyline. I'm not too sure if the director did really have the upcoming "ideas" in mind but I am convinced that it's not your average animation - the director did put much thought into it.

There might be some references to the creator of the 9 beings trying to be "God himself", and how he created new life into the world, the beginning of a new civilisation (portayed at the end). While most of the movie is almost perfect, there isn't a movie without its flaws. A couple of them include the ambiguity of the ending scene and the questionable "artifact" which was missing link in the activation of the "brain".

*Major spoilers ahead* 9 of the beings made up parts of the creator's soul. When 9 was completed, it was the creator's last ounce of soul left in him, leaving him dead on the floor. The creator was an ingenious scientist who created the "brain", which was the very first machine which had the ability to manufacture more machines without human intervention. When the military intended to abuse the "brain" and cast the scientist out, it caused the "brain" to revolt. It caused an uprising and a war between humans and machine, and humans were all wiped out. The scientist realised that the "brain" lacked "humanity", which was the missing link in making it "good", so he used an artifact to drain out pieces of his soul in hope that they will bring peace to the world.

9 woke up with the scientist dead on the floor, found the artifact and carried it around with him, until it fell into the hands of the machines. One of the underlings brought it back to the "brain", inserted it into the deactivated "brain" and caused it to come to life again. The artifact acted as a portal to transfer soul into an inanimate object - in this case the machines and puppet-like beings.

What I didn't understand was when the ending disclosed the 9 beings being part of the scientist's soul, and the machine had already by then absorbed 5 of them, it felt like all the other 4 had to do was to sacrifice themselves to the machine which would make it human. But that was not how it ended, strangely. I could have been misled by the explanation or the explanation wasn't clear enough in the movie itself. Also, if "brain" was inactivated all along, then where did all those machines come from? One possibility is that the underlings were all made before the uprising and when humans finally managed to detach the "brain" from the artifact, it somehow found its way into the hands of the scientist and he started creating the 9 beings.

Moving away from the ambiguities of the movie, now's here the best parts of it. When 9 found the rest of the beings, 8, 6, 5, 2 and 1, they were separated, or more accurately seggregated from 7, 3 and 4. 1 was portrayed as the leader who in the guise of protecting the rest sacrificed those who threatened his own existence. 6 was the crazy one who scribbled werid symbols on his drawing blocks; 5 was the cowardly one, 2 was the old man who asked lots of questions, and 8 was the big macho brainless one. 7 was the only female, with great dexterity and agility; 3 and 4 were twins that were the brainy ones. Analyzing the characteristics of each one of them, it came to my realisation that it was all well planned on the director's part.

1 - ego

2 - inquisitive

3,4 - brainy scientists

5 - fearful

6 - creative

7 - feminine

8 - masculine

9 - humanity

It all made sense to have them in this order, where the scientist had to lose his ego first to save mankind. When he created the "brain", it was the most significant creation in human history but after realising that it was a mistake, he started to find a way to save civilisation. All 9 were charactistic of a typical male persona, and since he was a scientist, he had 2 numbers to dominate that trait of being brainy and intelligent. There's a feminine side to every guy and 7 denotes it. 8 was the masculine figure which was impulsive and didn't think much, and there was this scene where he put a magnet over his head several times. It didn't quite occur to me the reason until further analysis, that that was a subliminal way of illustrating "pleasure or desire".

Last but not least, 9 was the last of the scientist's soul, which was the last piece of humanity left in him, to save his own kind and was fueled by emotions and altruism. That's not all, the seggregation also made sense. 3,4 and 7 were the parts which didn't belong to the pact most, and how 1 was able to manipulate and be in control of the other numbers which had no desire to be independent.

There were shocking moments, funny moments and awesome state of the art CG. It's almost as perfect an animation can get for the matured audience and for those who loves thought provoking movies. Truly one of the best movies of the year! I could easily watch this 9 times!!!

Gamer

Rating: 6.4/10
Genre: Action
Overall value for money and time: 6.5/10

A futuristic movie where convicts on death row get an opportunity for freedom once they survive 20 gruelling rounds of violence. However, they are not in control of themselves, instead, their movements, weapons and equipments are all determined and controlled by other humans. It's pretty much a virtual reality game, where you control real humans and determine if they live or die.

The action scenes did not live up to expectations, and the camera shots were downright nauseating and irritating. Though it was intended to make it feel as if they were really in a video game, the static screen and the messy camera angles put me off a little. Most of the action scenes were presented in the trailer, and though there was effort put into developing a storyline to this seemingly brainless action packed movie, it didn't quite work for me. Movies of similar plots have been made such as Condemned and Death Race, but the novelty of this movie (whereby humans are controlled by humans) wasn't enough to blow me off my seat.

The concept of the technology was brilliant, but the execution was doomed for failure. It kinda reminded me of another movie, Push - good concept, but movie didn't bring out the full essence of it. Though I rated it low, I didn't regret watching it because my curiosity will never be satisfied until I've experienced the disappointment firsthand.

District 9

Rating: 9.2/10

Genre: Sci Fi Action Drama

Overall value for money and time: 9.4/10

With this season seeing some of the greatest movies of all times, such as The Cove, Moon, and Up, it's difficult to say for sure which is the best. One thing for sure is that District 9 is my favourite.

There is no movie quite like District 9, it's reminiscence of the current trend in cinematographic techniques - mainly a documentary, hand-held like style. However, it's not entirely consistent throughout the movie, more so for the opening, and the ending. The plot is well developed and the appropriate use of the cinematography style and unknown casts added more credibility and realism to this movie.

20 years after a group of aliens named the "prawns" landed on earth and sought refuge in District 9, Johannesburg, they are forcibly evicted by a munition organisation called MNU (multi-national united). Wikus van der Merwe, the leader of the team and son-in-law of MNU's CEO, exposes himself to a strange alien liquid which gradually transforms him into a "prawn". Now, being hunted down by the very organisation he served for and the human African syndicate which operates inside District 9, he must find a way to save himself before he fully transforms into a "prawn".

Unlike most highly CGed movies, this movie is shot almost entirely in broad daylight, making the "prawns" look life-like, down to its very details. There is a considerable amount of gore in it, but not enough to put you off, and the acting of the casts were highly convincing. The only drawback about this movie is probably a handful of cheesy lines along the way, but apart from that, it's almost as flawless as it can get.

*Warning: Spoilers Ahead* Everything about the movie was well thought of, well planned, and well structured. While the movie might not have an unpredictable storyline, it sure doesnt have a cliffhanger ending. It is a rounded standalone movie even though it promises a sequel, without a doubt "District 10". The rationale of filming the movie on location at Johannesburg, South Africa was puzzling to me at first. But upon discussions with my friend, I realised that the reason for District 9 being in South Africa was to make it more believable for the cannibalism of the human African syndicate.

Basically, there was a 3 sided "warfare" between the "prawns", MNU and the African syndicate. Both human parties have one common goal, to capture Wikus so that they can make use of him to operate the alien ammunitions, which require alien DNA. With MNU wanting to cut him up, and the leader of the African syndicate wanting to consume him, Wikus has only 1 option to keep himself alive, seek refuge and help from the "prawn" leader, Christopher. It's not quite the "warfare" for the "prawns" as Christopher tries to make peace with both sides.

We are finally exposed to the "softer" side of aliens; whereby aliens have always been depicted as the villians and having all the state-of-the-art weaponry, this movie depicts the truth behind the egoistic reality of humanity. The "prawns" are equally as vulnerable as us humans and they are the victims in this movie. One of the puzzling parts of the movie is where I didn't understand why the "prawns" didn't just use all their powerful weapons to kill the humans that were hunting them down.

Then the sad hypothesis came to light: Christopher understands that they are the "intruders" of our planet and does not want bloodshed. All he wants is to peacefully bring his "people" back to the mothership and leave Earth. Despite being tortured and misunderstood, he holds true to his honor in silence. It just shows the magnamity of a true leader, and how the greed of humans is the actual cause of all the problems. One would not stand on the side of humans for long, as the movie gradually progresses, we are slowly exposed to the true villainy of human greed.

The ending packed a bang as well, showing our protagonist finally being more "prawn" than human. This movie is a true gem shadowed by its lack of media publicity. Therefore, I couldn't recommend it more to anyone and everyone out there to catch this movie at a cinema near you, before District 9 turns 10.

The Time Traveler's Wife

Rating: 7.9/10
Genre: Romance
Overall value for money and time: 7.9/10

Knowing how this movie is a remake of a novel and how remakes usually disappoint, I wasn't expecting much out of it. But this movie sure brought justice to all the anticipation; it's 2nd to The Lake House in its genre as The Proposal is to Definitely, Maybe (Romantic Comedy).

The only complain I have about his movie is the ending, it's anti-climaxal, but everything else was good. It's what you would expect from a romantic movie and the plot was engaging enough to keep your attention hooked till the very end. With a movie made about time travel, it's always a challenge to make it as "full-proof" as possible, and this movie had little problems with that. Still, the most impending question will always surface - which came first? The chicken or the egg?

Henry has a gene which causes him to time travel involuntarily, where it would normally take him to the past or to the future where "big" events would happen in his life. We go on a journey with him through his life (the older days), his marriage, the death of his mother, and his perspective future. We see the hardships not only he, but his wife has to endure to keep their marriage alive.

It's quite a "quote: magical" kind of movie which will open your heart to what it really feels like to be in love. It is not just the presence, but the absence as well which makes love whole.

Moon

Rating: 8.3/10

Genre: Sci-Fi Thriller

Overall value for money and time: 8.4/10

The first of its kind. Nothing like what I've seen over the past few years, a true classic in the making! It's the movie that's going to pave the way for Sam Rockwell's career, a stunningly convincing and impressive performance, and like most sci-fi movies which have been used for classroom lessons, this movie is no exception. A gem in the sci-fi genre of movies!!

Astronaut Sam Bell signed on a 3 year contract to live on the moon, helping Earth retrieve Helium-3, a resource which can help regenerate Earth's depleting power. Alone and nearing the end of his contract, he pushes himself on in the hope of finally meeting his wife and daughter after all these years. However, when he started hallucinating and eventually met with an accident, things went into a whirlpool of confusion, mystery and deception.

It was awkward at first, the way the story unfolded left many questions in my mind, and predicting where the plot would take me seemed almost disappointing... Sam Bell was rescued by himself in that accident, and just thinking back, there's only 3 ways to see it, either time travel, ghostly encounters or conspiracies. But I was in for a pleasant surprise. An intelligent, novel and refreshing use of an old idea which finally made justice to its endless possibilities.

Just for kicks, I've thought of another tagline for this movie:

The only person you can really trust in the world, or on the moon, is yourself.

The Cove

Rating: 8.2/10
Genre: Documentary

Overall value for money and time: 8.5/10

The movie poster is highly deceiving. From experience, whenever you know a movie is going to be of conspiracies, its best to leave the sypnosis unread. Which was what I did before entering the cinema. However, I was under the impression that The Cove was referring to an underwater cave where dolphins were mistreated or something of that sort, where there will be beautiful underwater landscapes, with dolphins streaming along divers side by side.

Well, this movie was everything NOT what I had in mind, only the dolphins. This documentary is a wakeup call to all oceanic wildlife abusers and a bold call for support to stop senseless slaughtering of one of man's best friends. A group of oceanic protection society (OPS) members lead by Ric O'Barry (the original trainer of "Flipper" - a hit TV series which popularised human-dolphin relationships) go "undercover" in Taiji, Japan to uncover one of the most shocking coverups of dolphin abuse.

Despite being a documentary, there were some elements which made it more like an espionage movie when the story was told. The organisation of the film was typical of a movie - with a mocking opening, the unfolding of a conspiracy, the "night vision" scenes and how the ending rounded everything up. We all know that when documentaries are showed, there's never a convenient definite, rounded, "happy" ending.

But this movie truly did serve its purpose. It created not only the awareness, but also the hatred towards the fishermen, the mayor of Taiji and those involved in the conspiracy - what I felt was the subliminal underlying message of the film. What I liked about the film is the irony, that the very man who started it all, is the very man who's trying so hard to end it all... An eye-opening, disturbing yet provocative film about the "rights" and "wrongs" of this world.