Movie Review: Shane Acker's 9

Stitchpunk Charm & Incredible Animation in a Post-Apocalyptic World

Sep 14, 2009

A scrappy band of sentient rag dolls struggle to survive and to redeem mankind in this animated short turned feature-length film.

The 2009 animated film, 9, is already being heralded as a definitive piece of the stitchpunk genre. Although this exact species of film is too new to have a proper classification, (there really aren't many movies or books with the same flavour), the patchwork aesthetic and doomsday feel of 9 has animation fans and steampunk enthusiasts enthralled. With a slew of well-known actors, (including Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer and John C. Reilly), incredibly detailed animation, and the enthusiastic backing of Tim Burton, 9 has the makings of a classic animated film for adults. But the movie is awkwardly balanced, a PG-13 post-apocalyptic movie that is too scary for kids, and not challenging enough for adults.

The film begins, not with a bang, but with the quiet awakening of the titular 9 (Elijah Wood) in the workshop where he was created, occupied by only himself and the corpse of his creator. As he ventures into the seemingly deserted world outside, 9 soon comes across a fellow stitched-together doll, 2 (Martin Landau), a gentle old inventor scrounging for parts in the bombed out, corpse-laden streets. But the two have exchanged only a few words mechanical beast, the remnant of the machines that destroyed mankind, attacks and drags off 2. After meeting the rest of 2's comrades in hiding, 9 embarks on a rescue mission that leads the rag dolls into the machines' dark territory, and to the truth about the dolls' own existence.

9 Characters: Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer & More

9 is the hero of the movie, and has all the bravery and sensitivity one might expect, along with a healthy dose of curiosity. Christopher Plummer lends his voice to 1, the curmudgeonly and conservative leader. The hulking 8 (Fred Tatasciore) is the muscle of the group, a goon with a fistful of sharp implements. Jennifer Connelly's 7 is the steadfast guerrilla fighter. 6, a slightly unhinged artist, is voiced by the soft-spoken Crispin Glover (yes, that Crispin Glover). The timid, childlike twins, 3 and 4, never speak, but they steal the scene whenever they appear, endlessly archiving everything around them with the blink of an eye (they can replay any scene that they've witnessed by projecting images through their eyes). But the most endearing character in the set has to be 5, who befriends 9 early on and never wavers in his loyalty; gentle and reliable, 5 is voiced by John C. Reilly.

Overall, the rag dolls are cute enough, with their wee zippers and buttons and aptitude for clambering around buildings, but the breakneck pace of the movie doesn't allow for the audience to really form much of an emotional attachment to any of them. There are a lot of unanswered questions about the little golems: Why nine of them? When were they created? At less than an hour and a half long, a few extra minutes spent on character development would have gone a long way.

Conclusion: Conventional Post-Apocalyptic Story Tempered by Stitchpunk Originality

If the respective success of the Mad Max, Matrix, and Terminator series are any indication, moviegoers seem to have an insatiable taste for watching our planet destroy itself. Consider the evergreen success of zombie flicks, like the upcoming Zombieland, as well as adaptations of dystopian literature, like Cormac McCarthy's The Road.

At the core of 9, like many post-apocalyptic tales, is a warning against misplacing humanity's faith in technology, an excess of science without considering the repercussions. But the thing that sets 9 apart from the machines, and the factor that ultimately saves the day, is that he and his fellow rag dolls have souls, or at least, the semblance of souls, and thus, the capacity for compassion and love.

This message is hardly an original one, and the way that it's handled is a bit too tidy, too black and white. In the film's climactic showdown, one of the dolls bitterly questions why they should have to suffer in order to correct humanity's wrongs; this question of responsibility and inaction in an utterly ravaged world is skimmed over by predictable tension between the nine, numerous chase scenes (which are admittedly fantastic), and a too-neat ending. The film could do with a push into a darker territory that better suits the issues that it begins to explore. Still, the richly detailed visuals, thrilling action sequences, and imaginative world of 9 make it an irresistible experience for any animation fan.