'9'

The eyes have it. That vulnerability mixed with an unbreakable spirit. Yes, he's scared; but he's got the right stuff to persevere.

"WALL-E" had those eyes. Frodo, too. And so does this little guy. The journey will be long, but the look over his shoulder lets us know there's danger behind him, too. We can see that he has to move forward, with only his cool, steam-punky staff to light the way through the endless blackness spewing from the industrial evil in the far background. The postapocalyptic landscape is littered with a doll's head and pieces of brick and mortar; recognizable signs that this world used to be our world. And that something very bad happened here, a long time ago.

There will be obstacles along the way, mutated creatures in his path like the spidery robot with the red eyes moving toward him. I'm already caught in its web, because this is great stuff - and the poster for "9" does exactly what a movie poster is supposed to do. With one image, it makes me care about this paunchy little burlap man and his mission. He's going to save this wildly imaginative world and I want to be there, to see him win.