9 Review
Have you ever seen something or met someone that you were so impressed with that you wanted to see success follow? In entertainment it can be an independent filmmaker or artist, someone whose talents are undeniable but up against lousy odds in breaking into the big time. Most recently for me, that was Shane Acker, a young dynamo of the 3D world who had created a 10 minute short, nearly single handedly, that stirs feelings of sympathy and hope for a heroic sack-cloth doll who never speaks a word.
Acker dubbed it ‘9’ and almost as many years later, his ten minute short has become a 120 minute feature backed by the likes of Tim Burton and voiced by Elijah Wood, Christopher Plummer and Jennifer Connelly. In the full CG animated film, 9 (Wood) awakens to a post-apocalyptic world where machines have turned on their creators and destroyed human-kind. 9 ventures out to discover he’s not alone and not safe, but has a drive to find out what happened to this world before his ‘birth’ and how it is he came to be.
Since seeing the original short and others created by Acker, I very much wanted to leave the theater awe-struck. Still coming away impressed, I felt as if the storyline suffered the same demise as the humans did in the film, by relying solely on the mechanical efforts to carry the burden. Post-apocalyptic films are almost always the same: survive some horrific beast, stop fighting amongst yourselves and find someway to ensure the future of the species. 9 is no different and follows a predictable path up to its final frame.
Visually however, the film is stunning. Acker and team bring a dark, gritty and harsh tangibility to the big screen that crushes Pixar’s efforts to date. Everything from the sack-creatures to their rudimentary tools and the rusted, dented and otherwise obliterated environment feels real. Even the subtleties come off as tactile, like burning embers or years of dust settled over the books in a giant library.
This isn’t a film for the kiddies. There aren’t any gory, bloody or otherwise ultra violent moments, but there are some disturbing sequences that would make a 9 year old wet the seat. Those scenes are part of what makes 9 a unique film experience that I recommend, but not without lowering your expectations by just a bit.
See 9 for its visuals and an always stirring Danny Elfman soundtrack. Appreciate that the director began humbly as a student and this is first of what I’m sure will be many future films, just hopefully with some better writers.
