9

There was an episode of a television show from my youth where they said that in the future people would tell jokes using numbers. Like 14, 23, 4, 76, 3, 17, ha ha ha. This is not what 9 is about although this is also a good time to remind that 9 should not be confused with another film coming out later this year called Nine. In all fairness the year 2009 is more of a marketing tool than a reason for the films since Nine was based on a musical from the 80s and the animated feature 9 was based on Shane Acker's computer animated short from 2005.
9 follows the adventures of a bunch of stuffed sock dolls and the visual splendor that overrides the characters would be the best reason to take in the film. We're not in Coraline territory, a film that grows with repeat viewings, still 9 has plenty of verve. Much of that has to belong to Acker's vision but it doesn't hurt that the film is produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov.
The rag dolls are sentient for a reason that ties into the narrative. The world they traverse contains post apocalypse imagery at every turn. There are nine of the dolls all of whom become readily identifiable not only because of the number on their back but because of their voice, mannerisms and personality. Perhaps the best scene, while evoking Wall-E, has one doll listening to an archaic recording of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" while the big mechanical spider monster comes creeping through a fog of destruction.