On some level, this has been a weird movie summer. The blockbusters were good, but they didn't linger very long. The independent, not-quite-marquee movies were the ones that held my imagination. It happened again this weekend with the latest CGI-movie, 9.

The movie, based on an Academy Award-winning short film, tells the story of a "thing" (called a ragdoll by most) who has been given life and roams the land after a final battle between humanity and artificial intelligence. Insert reference to The Matrix and other apocalyptic movies here. And rightly so: this movie falls in that genre. 9 defies that pigeon-hole a bit, though. It remains a little bit child-like, really. Don't get me wrong: the themes are serious and the violence is graphic (for ragdolls, that is). It's a tense movie. But it works. The movie got lots of buzz based on Tim Burton's involvement, which is a tricky thing. The movie was said to be in the same "vein" as Burton's work, which hasn't always worked well for me. But this never gets that weird. It's also been accused of being light on story, which I can see but don't really care about as a reason to skip it. There are enough nice twists along the way to keep you invested.

I suppose the weirdest thing for me, besides the weak ending, was the inclusion of Elijah Wood as the voice for the titular character. It was an interesting juxtaposition, really. It reminded me that a great bit of the story of the Lord of the Rings is really a precursor to this movie and the likes of The Matrix and A.I. and so many other "the robots revolt" kind of movies. It's all about technology and the short-cut that it presents us. And it's about what happens when we give in to that presentation.

Solid movie, this was. And I recommend it. Visually stunning. A well-told story. That's quite a bit to ask for, and I think the movie gives us that. Sure, it's a little short. But I never said it was worth more than a matinee. Still, go see it if you get the chance.

You can catch the 2-minute trailer here.