Director Shane Acker's 2005 Academy Award-nominated, 11-minute short 9 was lengthened 70 or so minutes and hits the big screen today. Here's a sampling of some early critic reviews:
"It's a perfectly functional, fairly scary kids' film, with plenty of craft and creativity to keep adults occupied. But with a story as sophisticated as its visuals, it could have been much more."
— Tasha Robinson, Onion AV Club
"9 (which is a tad intense for very young kids) may not be an instant classic like Wall-E, but it signals the arrival of Shane Acker as an audacious new talent to watch."
— Lou Lumenick, New York Post
"This is a flawed gem. The script is bland with an amateur political message tacked onto it, but 9 is still something to marvel at."
— Natasha Vargas-Cooper, E! Online
"In its first half, 9 pulls you in with the promise of discovery and the thrill of action but its endgame becomes muddier as it trudges along. Projected by the data-collecting 3 and 4, we find out that the machines were once good but corrupted by man's fear of the unknown. 9's crafty concept feels similarly warped by a need for catharsis, worn structure, and mindless intimations towards the beyond."
— Chris Cabin, filmcritic.com