Genre: Sci-Fi/Animated
Director: Shane Acker
Writers: Pamela Pettler (screenplay)/Shane Acker (story)
Cast: Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, John C. Reilly, Crispin Glover, Jennifer Connelly, Fred Tatasciore, Elijah Wood
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for violence and scary images)
Summary: A war between man and the destructive power of their own creation ‘The Machine’ leaves the world devoid of life, save 9 stitch-punk dolls and the evil that is ‘The Machine’.
Run time: 79 min.
View The Trailer HERE.
If the trailers didn’t grab your interest yet, perhaps this review will. This is no ordinary animated feature. “9” is the feature length production of an Academy award-winning animated short by Shane Acker. It features nine dolls that awaken in a post-apocalyptic world and battle ‘the machine’ that killed all life. At first you may think that these dolls are not even cute, but that wasn’t the point of their stitch-punk design. It’s the world that Shane Acker creates for this film that absolutely shines.
I must say that this film is the most beautiful post-apocalyptic world I have ever seen animated or otherwise. Everything is represented in amber tones like a sepia photograph, making time seem past-tense, purposefully disjunctive of the continuity of natural events. The atmosphere it creates enforces just that, this world that we see here came about through artificial means.
In all this destruction, the wasteland is juxtaposed with these few stitch-punk doll life forms. These dolls breathe vitality to an otherwise empty world unlike any other human-created life form I’ve ever seen. These dolls are singularly unique in their character design and concept. Each doll is wonderfully expressive and the actors’ performances shine through the talent of the animators. Pay attention to the detail that went into the design of each doll, especially the evolution of the dolls from the design of number 1 to lastly, number 9.
At the heart of the story, it is life and the human spirit versus the merciless destructive directive of ‘the machine’. Even though ‘the machine’ didn’t have much else of a motive, it expressed frustration, craftiness, and anger all pointing to its flawed design. ‘The machine’ turned against its human masters to destroy all life. This concept may sound familiar, but it’s not done in a Terminator fashion- ‘the machine’ leans more Matrix-esque, gritty, using parts where it can, with the easy cue of ‘evil’ in the shine of its red eye.
The technical merit of the animation in this film is superb. The opening scenes where 9 awakens almost took my breath away as the camera’s vision passes through different objects on 9’s way to the window. This film must win another award for the quality of animation alone! The stills I’ve included here with this don’t do this film justice at all. You must see it on the big screen or in HD.
The story of ‘9’ is a little loose but I say just go along with the ride. It’s the spirit of the movie that weighs more in this case.
Another aspect of the film worth mentioning is the score. It compliments and drives the action in this world. Danny Elfman delivers a beautiful film score once again. A big thumbs up to Mr. Elfman!
All this said, I have to poke a comparison with James Cameron’s upcoming 3D animated adventure, “Avatar”. Tim Burton (producer for ‘9’) has one up-ed you again, Mr. Cameron!! The trailer for “Avatar” showed before my screening of “9” and it paled in comparison with “9”. I mentioned before in the article in which I reviewed the 16- minute “Avatar” preview that I thought the 3D trailer for Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” impressed me more and I stick by that assessment here as well. Even in 2D, “9” kicks the crap outta the 2D “Avatar” trailer!
Rating:
I give “9” Three Out of Five Stars!
