Comparing 9, the short, and 9, the full-length movie



Short film:  


My first impression is that this short is very ominous, frightening, and a bit sad as well. Lots of dark colors, no dialogue. The plot involves sentient rag dolls labeled by number, the protagonist being 9.

What seemed to be his last remaining friend was killed saving him from the antagonist, a robotic cat like beast. None of the characters develop, the plot revolves around 9 defeating the monster and avenging his fallen companions. It was animated relatively well, with the only sound being the characters interacting with their environments. If there was music it was brief and simplistic enough to go unnoticed. It follows the conventions of thriller, with feelings of suspense and a dark background, as well as that of thriller, with a post-apocalyptic setting and non-humans taking center stage.

 Full-length film:

My first impression of the full length film was that it was not silent. There are more characters, and also that there was a more complex plot, would even call parts of it subplots. The plot involves not just 9 escaping the robot, but several robots, as well as a group of other rag-dolls, some of them perishing throughout. There is also context for the apocalypse and the rag-dolls themselves, as well as a sort of love-interest. It is a lot for one film, but even then, 9 himself does not develop as a character, he feels a bit like a Mary-Sue, or a Gary-Stu if you will. All the characters are pretty one-note. Special effects are better and the movie has a complete score, unlike the short, which left some parts feeling awkward. This was perhaps the influence of the producers, notably Tim Burton, who works on projects with similar tones. The tone itself is dark, gritty, and serious, despite its PG-13 rating, following the same conventions of the genres from the short, just expanded into a longer film. The most notable changes were the score, or lack of one in the original, and a larger cast. The score serves to the films benefit, while the bigger cast I feel was perhaps too big.



Overall I would say I enjoyed the movie more. I like the silent aspect of the original, as well as the cast being less crowded, so I do wish those elements stuck around, but in terms of music and visuals, the movie was better, so I tend to prefer it.







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