dracoslayer16 said:
The characters are derivative and stereotypical, which oddly is something that Timmur Bekmambetov <a href=http://io9.com/5354084/timur-bekmambetov-9-is-about-your-coworkers>touted as a good thing about the movie.
The main problem is, shorts and features are entirely different animals. In a short, arch characters and a quickly-understood universe are positives. A feature needs more than that - even if it's just plot divergences - to hold interest and give things weight. It's a common beginner's error, especially in animation where it's so easy to lose the forest for the trees.
What would've helped, though, is if the character roster wasn't quite so cliche: OF COURSE the "hero" guy is the 'nondescript'-looking one, OF COURSE the tough guy is mute and vaugely "challenged," OF COURSE said tough guy is loyal to the old guy who is OF COURSE British and OF COURSE costumed to invoke negative associations with organized religion (usually Catholic or Orthodox Christianity), OF COURSE the seemingly-crazy one is actually holding the key to everything, OF COURSE the lone female is a "den-mother" Amazonian martial-arts master, OF COURSE the "tech guy" is unsure-waiting-to-prove-himself, OF COURSE there's a pair who speak a separate language only to each other, etc.