This is invariably one of those things in which the concept somewhat failed to carry the weightless characterizations that were supposed to capture our attention, and who are ironically and dryly labeled, one through nine. Based off of an original 10-minute short by Shane Acker, it’s clear upon viewing what decisions were made and what they wanted to achieve. The short isn’t exactly too revolutionary in and of itself, due to some rather confusing and vague referential elements (which only get explained in the larger extrapolation), but then again, neither is the larger whole.
There is plenty of attention to detail and the impeccable sound design is impressive for something that’s been completely constructed from scratch by veteran foley artist Sean England. There’s a lovely creak and groan to everything that makes the atmosphere come to a glowing life in spite of the morbid centrality of the movie. That said, this is another one of those “it-looks-like-a-kid’s-movie-but-it’s-not” deals. Gauge the kick-ass teaser set to Coheed as you will but the movie is far more thematic than you might expect. In either sense a person could guess pretty quickly that this is not your average Disney fanfare.
I’m sure the pall was intended to raise the level of peril but in the end, while I was won over to some degree by the ingenuity of its artistic design and the simplicity of its survival narrative, I felt unmoved by the dolls’ troubles to an unsettling degree. The lights have gone much dimmer than this and scenarios much more ghastly have awaited similar heroes in the past. I felt myself wondering, “What exactly is at stake here? The humans are all dead. What are they fighting for?” A strange green-light emitting amulet? I won’t be quick to condemn, because there are redeeming factors that shall not be mentioned here, but for the most part, as a human watching a story in where no glimpse of hope for humanity is ever really offered, one can’t help but ask “So what’s the point?”
Best taken when: A.) You enjoy clever post-apocalyptic combat. B.) Dig the gruff tones of Christopher Plummer. C.) You support a more macabre school of animation.
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