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Director Shane Ackner was nominated for an Academy Award back in 2006 for his animated
short of the same name. Now, four years later, Ackner has received backing from visionary
directors Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov (Night Watch and Day Watch), and has
churned out a feature length version of his beloved creation, 9.
Since I’ve never seen or even heard of Ackner’s original short, I can only assume that this
version has been force-fed loads more money, and beefed up with more plot points,
character development, and startling visuals. And, if that’s all that’s been added to the
source material, then the filmmakers have succeeded in their mission.
The film begins when 9, a makeshift rag doll, awakens to find himself in a scrap heap devoid
of human existence. He soon realizes that there are eight others who closely resemble
himself - each with a number plastered on his/her back - and quickly he’s thrust into a
number of haphazard encounters and confrontations in a race to save what remains of life
on the planet.
Coming in at a lean 79 minutes, 9 is visually daring and stunning to look at. Set in a post
apocalyptic world, Ackner’s narrative revels in the charred industrialist remains of a
civilisation that was wiped out by its own inventions. With respectful nods to James Cameron’
s Terminator duet, Ackner’s song features the same cynical disposition, and by this token it
remains elusively prophetic. While it only tinkers on the repercussions of man’s allegiance to
technology, and the subsequent betrayal of this volatile relationship, it’s great to see these
kinds of observations in an animated film.
With Burton and Bekmambetov on board as producers, Ackner was able to attract some truly
wonderful performers. Elijah Wood provides the vocals for the lead character, 9, and
Christopher Plummer, Jennifer Connelly, Crispin Glover, John C. Reilly, and Martin Landau
round out the rest of the cast. All of them deliver excellent impersonations.
It seems to be the season for end of the world yarns, with 2012 raking it in at the box
office, and the critically acclaimed adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road soon on its
way. 9 is certainly a breath of fresh air within the realm of animation, touching on some
really profound truths that are pertinent in the world today.
My only gripe is that the film’s plot seemed to be driven by a series of confrontations,
whereby one action sequence would invariably lead to another, with very few moments of
pathos in between - the ending was an exception, and was endearing to say the least. This
process quickly became monotonous and dull, but the fact that 9’s duration didn’t exceed 80
minutes was definitely something that was agreed upon with great skill. So, if you love post
apocalyptic films as much as I do, then you’re in for a visual feast.
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