9

9 (Focus Features)
Directed by Shane Acker

Computer animation has come a long way over the years and frankly, many of us forget how it used to be done. Before CGI, animation was a little tougher to manage, relying on drawings being brought to life with motion, frame by frame. That was animation for a long time, and to this day is still used in some way or fashion. Whether that’s through traditional animation, live-action, Anime or stop-motion animation; all these methods helped bring us to computer animation. And CGI is only the beginning, as already, studios are finding better techniques to help bring animation to life even more. The use of 3-D, alongside CGI has become the latest trend and pretty amazing; outside having to use the same old cheesy 3-D glasses that seem to never go away. Nevertheless, animation continues to evolve and just when you think you’ve seen everything, a film like 9 gets released, proving that it even the smallest of stories can become giant, no matter the look or feel.

Originally based from the Academy Award nominated original short film by the same name, 9 follows a group of ‘stitchpunks’, numbered 1 thru 9 as they attempt to preserve the legacy set forth by humans in this now post-apocalyptic world, a mitt heavy attacks by machines set forth to destroy all life, big or small. After waking up in his creator’s lab, 9 (Elijah Wood) wanders out to take a look at the world around him, one of which he had never seen. It was then, he ran into 2 (Martin Landau), a fellow stitchpunk, who was out on a reconnaissance mission. Turns out there are several others just like him, but before 2 could explain further, he is captured by one of the machines dubbed Cat Beast and taken to a towering factory off in the distance. Shortly after, a group consisting of 1 (Christopher Plummer), 5 (John C. Reilly), 6 (Crispin Glover) and 8 (Fred Tatasciore) find him, originally out to find 2. Once 9 explains what happened, 1 immediately rushes the group, back into hiding, out of fear to Cat Beast. Having just arrived to the scene, 9 had no idea how it worked, but saw no reason not to go after 2, so after convincing 5 to go with him, the two set out to rescue 2 from Cat Beast. Not too soon after arriving to the factory where 2 was held up, Cat Beast is decapitated by 7 (Jennifer Connelly), a rogue stitchpunk out to save any of her own, no matter the situation. And as it turns out, 7 winds up becoming the glue to the entire group, as her relationship with the twins, 3 & 4, was one that would become quite useful when all hell started breaking loose once the long-dormant Fabrication Machine is awoken accidently; leading to a wild conclusion that had the look of being genius, until the very last act, which was anything but.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, a good cast in any animated feature film is important, but not crucial. Fact is, CGI is the lead star in any animated story nowadays and although this group make their mark, it’s in short spurts and in-between all the high-tech animation engulfing them. A cast in any animated feature film is as good as its script, and here the script wasn’t that good, leading to a cast that was just OK when it was all said and done. Sure, each had their moment, and certainly when Christopher Plummer is involved, something great is bound to happen somewhere, but outside of a few unique interactions between he and the group, there just isn’t too much to talk about. And I think that’s unfortunate, because sometimes the shallowest of scripts can produce great acting, but that just wasn’t the case here, leaving the likes of Elijah Wood, John C. Reily and Jennifer Connelly to fend for themselves in a film that maybe didn’t deserve them in the first place.

Many will see 9 based on the fact they thought Tim Burton directed it, when in fact he only helped produce it as a favor to young director Shane Acker. That’s as far as Burton got involved and although there is some validity to the fact Burton wouldn’t just put his name on anything, he maybe should have tried to be more involved than what he was with this one. On the surface, 9 looks spectacular and for the most part it was, but I guess Acker just couldn’t figure out a good way to make what was a brilliant 11-minute short into an 80-minute film. I’ll give him credit for trying, and along with co-writer Pamela Pettler, they came up with a story, just not one that was all too worthwhile. That’s a shame too, because I think the true premise of this film was brilliant, had more time put into it. The CGI and special effects were spectacular, especially with the machine beasts, but where they flourished, the smaller stitchpunks seemed to fall behind. It’s hard to put my finger on exactly why, but the small, hand-woven ‘rag doll-looking’ beings, aka stitchpunks, just didn’t look all too fluent to me. I actually think the CGI kind of ruined them, as their movements begged to be one of which you would find in stop-motion animation. And had they been stop-motion, I might have appreciated them and the film more. I know that’s surprising, but I guess in doing this film, Acker had to make a decision on what was more important, the stitchpunks or machine beasts. He chose the machine beasts, which although remarkable, might have been why this film somewhat failed in the end. That or the story was just so poorly written, that nothing would have a chance at saving it, not even the ingenious CGI- driven special effects. Either way, it’s funny how far we have come with this genre, where we actually now care about the story and want it to mean something.

9 is one of the films that has that look of intrigue and one of which that should certainly wow you in more ways than one. And although 9 does wow you, it’s not in the way you would like, as I found myself wishing it had been done in a completely different manner. That’s a shame considering how great this film truly looked on the surface, so although it had its moments, I wouldn’t consider it to be a must see, unless you just happen to be a fan of this sort of darker animation.

C+