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Released 28th October 2009
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Remember the joy that making a small rag doll brought as a kid and the need to love and care for it? This gothically charming and uniquely imaginative tale may deal with a post-apocalyptic fallout on the surface, with the end of the human race a sobering fact, but it actually explores the depth of the human soul that appears to translate into inanimate objects, bringing their very being and purpose alive. This intriguing concept comes with that telltale Tim Burton flare, complete with blade-styled limbs (as in Edward Scissorhands) and a looming, menacing danger to all characters involved.
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The sheer awe and pleasure of 9 is in the astonishing detail of this film from fledgling writer/director Shane Acker (The Astounding Talents of Mr. Grenade), which makes up for the paper-thin plot. So sumptuous and inventive are the visual compilations of the little sack puppets and their desolate surroundings, it is rather like watching an intellectual animated homage to all major post-apocalyptic and sci-fi films, including Terminator, War Of The Worlds, Transformers and Invasion Of The Body Snatchers to name a few. In this respect, at lot of the storytelling has been seen and told before, including the glowing red-eyed machines’ takeover of anything possessing a fraction of soul - as we discover, this is their (and pardon the pun) ’soul purpose’.
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Ironically numbered #1 to #9, with the latter being the tiny, courageous catalyst in the fold, wanting to create a safe and better world, rid of near super-intelligent, tyrannical machines, we instantly treat these material beings as individual personalities in their own right, with equally endearing qualities and unsavoury flaws, because of the scale of their near impossible plight and their own fragile state, but mighty little hearts. In apparent parallels even to The Wizard Of Oz, albeit set in a gloomy, brown-toned Burton-esque nightmare, Acker suggests that with a heart, anything can be accomplished. Such is the transformation that some of the A-list voices are virtually unrecognisable, including Elijah Wood as #9, Christopher Plummer as #1, Martin Landau as #2, John C. Reilly as #3, Crispin Glover as #6 and Jennifer Connelly as feisty #7, which is precisely what good animation should be all about.
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Interestingly, Acker appears to draw on his impressive visual effects background (LOTR: Return Of The King) and the wealth of talent of co-producer Timur Bekmambetov of Day Watch and Night Watch fame to inject some explosive action, little seen in such animation in the past. The overall result is one full of intriguing contradictions: touching and terrifying, technological and mechanical, modern and old-fashioned etc cultivating in a very original, nostalgic charm, but one laced with an uneasy ambience, as its puppets struggle for survival in a yet unset future.
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Burton’s protégé Acker evokes the extraordinary and imaginative spirit of his film-making master in 9, an adult-angled animation, in all honesty, and with a better storyline to hand in future projects, Acker proves he is definitely one to watch.
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By Lisa Keddie
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Synopsis
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The time is the too-near future. Powered and enabled by the invention known as the Great Machine, the world’s machines have turned on mankind and sparked social unrest, decimating the human population before being largely shut down.
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But as our world fell to pieces, a mission began to salvage the legacy of civilization; a group of small creations was given the spark of life by a scientist in the final days of humanity, and they continue to exist post-apocalypse. Another of their own, #9 (voiced by Wood), emerges and displays leadership qualities that may help them survive and possibly even thrive. The conflicted but resilient tribe already includes #1 (Plummer), a domineering war veteran and the group’s longtime leader; #2 (Landau), a kindly but now-frail inventor; #3 and #4, scholarly twins who communicate nonverbally and mostly with each other; #5 (Reilly), a stalwart and nurturing engineer; #6 (Glover), an erratic artist beset by visions; #7 (Connelly), a brave and self-sufficient warrior; and #8 (Tatasciore), the none-too-bright muscle and enforcer for #1.
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With their group so few, these “stitchpunk” creations must summon individual strengths well beyond their own proportions in order to outwit and fight against still-functioning machines, one of which is a marauding mechanized beast. In the darkness just before the dawn, #9 rallies everyone of his number to band together.
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While showcasing a stunning “steampunk”-styled visual brilliance, 9 dynamically explores the will to live, the power of community, and how one soul can change the world.
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Film Facts
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Official site: http://www.9-themovie.co.uk/
UK Release Date: 28th October 2009
Director: Shane Acker
Writers: Shane Acker (Story), Pamela Pettler
Cast: Elijah Wood (’#9′), Christopher Plummer (’#1′), Martin Landau (’#2′), John C. Reilly (’#5′), Crispin Glover (’#6′), Jennifer Connelly (’#7′), Fred Tatasciore (’#8/Radio Announcer’), Alan Oppenheimer (’The Scientist’), Tom Kane (’Dictator’), Helen Wilson (’Newscaster’)
Distributor: Universal Pictures International UK
Certificate: 12A
Run-time: 79 mins
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Video on Real.com
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Trailer:
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SIX CLIPS:
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