There are a few fleeting moments of brilliance in Shane Acker’s 9, most of which come within the first 5 minutes. With images so magnificently animated and wonderfully nuanced, as the first of the film’s 9 main characters stumbles to life, we are filled with wonder about their existence. This magnificence is oh so short lived though. Acker’s film, inspired by his 2006 Oscar-winning animated short film, and co-produced by Tim Burton leaves the space of mystery its origins inhabit and clunks around on the big screen at just under 90 minutes.
The film’s plot, much like it’s landscapes is sparse. Instead it makes a big to do about action sequences that create stakes we are not really sure about, and characters with motivations that we are not really invested in. It is somewhere in the future or some alternate view of the past, and the only remaining remnant of life on Earth is a band of rag-doll esque beings who have been sparked with life by a late scientist. The team of 9, each go by their respective numbers, being named 1,2,3 etc… Our hero, voiced by Elijah Wood is the youngest, and quickly becomes intrigued with the decimation of Earth’s population and what his species now must do in response.
We learn that Earth’s destruction was wrought by (go figure) machines of the highest technological sort. The screenplay seems to pay no attention to this “its-all-been- done-before” approach. Instead it pens a human race that obviously never read their H.G. Wells and therefore was unaware that building a race of All-terrain, laser machines would only bring about our demise. Now the 9 remaining must fight “the beast” which has been placed into the story with no origin or explanation simply so that our heroes will have something to do for their on-screen time.
The film raises interesting questions left and right that are quickly swept under the rug with the most rudimentary discussions of battle-plan between the main characters. I don’t suppose I was expecting the rag-doll species to sit around and pontificate the vastness of their far-reaching effects on humanity, but needless to say the dullness of the dialogue makes for an uninspired story.
9 is a visually arresting film at times, but mostly it bored me to tears. It’s not a children’s movie, but I’m not sure adults will find much to chew on here either. Whoever it’s billed for, I hope they can stomach the thought of a world that exists solely for animators to run amok in, because 9 delivers, if only on that one order.
2/5
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