Research 9, the short

 The short film 9 is an animated story about a goggled creature with the number 9 on its back. Its story is told quickly, as the short only lasts 7 minutes. Thanks to its run time, we are presented with the beginning, middle, and end without much time in between to grasp the story or what's going on. For me, the suspense falls flat as I haven't had enough time to get invested in the characters enough for me to worry for them. Right at the beginning of the short, we meet and witness the end of a creature of 9's species. They could possibly be 9's mentor, or possibly just a friend, we don't learn enough before they are killed off by a monster robot dog of equal mystery. Before their death, they hand 9 a lightbulb, a battery, a wire, and an object that the audience doesn't know what it is or does. After witnessing the death of their friend, 9 runs away from the robot that killed his friend. This is where the tension that the audience is supposed to be feeling falls flat due to the characters being improperly introduced. We have a clear antagonists, sure, but we also have no idea why this thing is hunting down 9 and its species. 

The chase scene was done well. The animation is fluid, which it has been all throughout the short. I appreciated the use of the characters' size and how it was integrated into the chase scene. I was disappointed by the appearance of the cliché of cornering the protagonist on a ledge. The ending only left more questions to be asked. Doing so opened this short film to the opportunity of becoming a full film. The universe has already been set up, all that's left to do is to expand upon it and to explain it to the audience. Learning that this short film was made a relatively small crew is impressive. The film is very well done, to the point where one would guess that it took a lot of money and crew to animate. For what it is, the short is good and it's animation alone is notable.