There are so few times in life when a piece of entertainment can literally enrapture you that when one does come around, you wonder how you lived so long without seeing something like it. And this was my experience with 9, a single digit movie based on a single digit 11 minute short film of the same name, both directed by young genius Shane Acker.

The 11 minute film 9 was nominated for an Oscar in 2006 for Best Short, but didn't win. But it did get the notice of Tim Burton, who had fallen in love with Acker's idea and world. He wanted to see more of 9's bizarre existence and so, in true entrepreneurial fashion, they went out and did just that.

I have to admit here that I'd never heard nor seen the original 2005 short upon which this film was an extension (you can now view the 11 minute version on YouTube so that's not a problem anymore). But after watching this, I IMMEDIATELY searched out the short film. Amazing. What's more amazing is that Acker took years and years to develop his work – and the technology – in order to give the burlap sack-like characters a sense of computer reality unrivaled before or since. And, if it is possible, even more amazing, I found it's visuals to be of a higher standard than the new AVATAR film everyone is raving about. Yes, they are THAT good. Every frame of this 79 minute film is brilliantly colored, muted and darkened. Looking at it, one gets a sense of near hypnosis, unable to pull their eyes away from what is, in every sense, wondrously appealing ...in a dark and dreary sort of way.

What else draws you in is the world that surrounds these nine characters. The simplicity (if you think about their names, 1 - 9) is perfectly formed from the beginning. The dangers aren't unique to human history, but to non-humans, this is a weird existence. The surrounding world is a mesh of alternate reality and, yet, familiarity. Songs such as "Over The Rainbow" play on ancient phongraphs while WWII weaponry bombard our heroes alongside advanced robots. Tell me that's something you've seen before?! The voices actors were perfect choices, from Elijah Wood (LORD OF THE RINGS) as the title character 9, to Christopher Plummer (INSIDE MAN) as 1. Plummer's distinctive voice added a darker quality considering his past acting efforts ...which pulled the story up even further in my eyes (and ears).

What else should surprise viewers is that the film cost a measly $33 million to make and is only 79 minutes in length. Whereas things like Avatar cost significantly more and run three times as long.

If you really want to be transported to another world, and see what it might be like to view it from the eyes of strangers, don't look to Avatar, look toward 9. You won't be disappointed. I promise.

Shane Acker has a good career ahead of him. At the least, one can only hope so. His talents expressed here, his first feature adapted from his short film of the same title, are immense and sharp and clear and dark and staggering and other words I didn't have time to look up for this review. He takes a scenario one could be familiar with- entities battling robotic elements in a future or just another time period, a desolate wasteland, a possibility of hope on the horizon- but it's infused with the passion and archetypes of a fairy tale. And even with this there's certain twists, or unexpected pleasures. You'll see a lot of critics talk about the lack of a full story, of the beauty of the animation and look of the film outweighing any kind of story or clearly defined characters. You can take that to heart before seeing the film, but a lot of them may have missed Acker's intention here.

These are some archetypes on screen, sure. And one may have seen them in films made by the likes of Don Bluth with the Secret of NIMH or, dare I compare, Henson/Ozs' the Dark Crystal (here the latter's object of purpose is reversed, sort of). But the characters in 9, the ones with personalities, are not complete. The idea in the film is that all of the characters, all numbered from 1 to 9 and called as such, are little robotic creations given life by parts of the soul of a scientist who gave himself up for his creations. Others he made, a 'machine' for it, was also imperfect - so much so that it turned against its creators and did what giant gorram robots do when created with human's own defects. So the characters may appear to be things we very simply identify- hero guy, hero girl, slight comic-relief twins, and the grumpy and ornery older one (#1)- and as it goes on the characters simply are what they are... actually, 1 develops a little more, and in a subtle, captivating way.

But if you're going to see an animated film this year for its distinctive style and design and (yes) cinematography and creations and colors out of the netherworld of a glorious imagination - and it's not from John Lasseter's Disney or Pixar - it's 9. And damn the torpedoes is this movie beautifully wretched to look at! One can see why Tim Burton and Wanted's Timur Bekmambetov latched on to Acker and helped him get the movie made as it is: it's a world like Terminator Salvation, only if it had actual focus and a capacity to elicit a terror in its audience (young or old). The little robots themselves are cute in a rough way, and the robots - and specifically what they do to one of the critters when they capture one of them by sucking out their souls - move and react like inhuman things that do what they should and look and feel like the world really has ended. You simply can't take your eyes off the movie, and it's animated with such an eye for original detail.

At the same time it doesn't aim directly at adults, albeit with a PG-13 rating. I can imagine, or at least would hope to, that a child watching this and being bewildered and confused and mortified and entranced, just as I was watching NIMH or Crystal, and that's a good thing. PIXAR has its wonders, but to see this is to see the A-game upped another notch in the medium and its potential. There are times I didn't even feel like I was watching just animation. Other times, I was taken away like any good fantasy or fable: in the one little moment of respite, 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' plays on a record and there's peace... until it's broken. It's rare a filmmaker can conjure something like that, but 9 has that in spades.

I don't know how much of a market there is for animated films like this but as someone who appreciates good artwork and computer animation, I enjoyed it. Yeah, the story is only so-so but the characters keep your attention - both good and bad guys, and it is deceptively involving.

The "good guys" in here are burlap-looking sewn puppets. Why they are who they are is explained near the end of the movie. The "bad guys" are the machines. Yes, this is familiar "Terminator" country, theme-wise, but the machines in this movie are brutal and scary. This movie is definitely not for little kids!

If you keep your expectations in the "fair" range, and watch it on Blu-Ray, you should enjoy it. As mentioned, the story draws you in. On the other hand, if you are looking for something fantastic, you might be disappointed.