It's somewhat apt that the ninth post in this series of film reviews concerns a lesser known CGI animated science fiction / fantasy that was originally released on the 9th September 2009. It stars the voice talent of a veritable who's who of genre actors, including Elijah Wood, Crispin Glover, Martin Landau and Christopher Plummer. It's name could only be:
It's an alternate world. An unspecified time in the future, a strange rag-doll like creature with the number 9 on it's back wakes up in a laboratory. Clutching an artefact he finds in the lab, 9 ventures out into a landscape devastated by a planet-wide war. A world where creepy bio-mechanical machines stalk the surface - built and controlled by a self-aware computer brain.
Discovering others of his kind, 9 learns that he is one of a series of "Stichpunks" - each imbued with a portion of the soul of the scientist that created them. 9 must rally his new friends into action and discover why the machines want to destroy them and why the Stitchpunks may just be mankind's last hope...
So far, so predictable you might think. But it's the depth of the themes behind the story, the quality of the animation and the vision of it's first-time director, Shane Acker, that allow this brief film (it's a mere 79 minutes long) to rise above many other bigger-budgeted CGI films.
Originally planning to become an architect, Shane Acker obtained degrees in that subject before realising that his true passion lay in film-making. Joining UCLA's animation workshop, he went on to produce two highly regarding animated shorts - "The Hangnail" and "The Astounding Talent of Mr Grenade", before spending four and a half years (on and off) writing, directing and co-animating an 11-minute CGI dark fable - the first version of "9".
Released in 2005, it went on to be presented at a number of high-profile film festivals and was nominated for an Academy Award. It also caught the attention of Tim Burton, who was so impressed that together with Timur Bekmambetov (at the that point coming off the successes of "Night Watch" and " Wanted") he decided to produce a full length version with a modest $30 million budget.
So what makes this version of "9" so great? Well, first of all it's just stunningly beautiful to look at. This is not just 'good' CGI, this is some of the best I have ever seen. Seriously, if you want a film to show off your giant TV and Blu-ray player, this should be your first choice. Every single element has been painstakingly realised from the rubble-strewn cityscape to the terrifying bio-mechanical animals to the individual stitches on the bodies of the lead characters. These creatures are actually more expressive and well realised than the humans - they really look like they are made our of sackcloth and thread, not pixels. The film has a bleak, eerie visual style that looks like nothing else. It's breathtaking.
Secondly, although it's an animated film, there is far more going on that with some traditional CGI fare. Each of the nine Stichpunks are embodiments of different aspects of human personality. There are some interesting metaphysical and psychological thoughts running though the narrative about how as humans, interaction with others helps define ourselves. Divided up the other Stitchpunks are somewhat directionless and desire only to exist and not strive for greater understanding - slaves to the pure logical "brain" (the "Fabrication Machine" which is the primary evil of the film). If they are integrated and work together and have compassion for others, do they become a "whole" personality? Is that what their creator intended? Is that what is needed to save the world?
All the great "kids" releases work on multiple levels for multiple audiences and this is no different. If there is a problem, it's that the themes are perhaps buried deeper than usual, so that on first watch the film could come across as a confusing and even simplistic. It's one of those movies that bears out repeated viewings, but I can see how it could divide opinion.
It also sadly didn't set the box office alight on release back in 2009. That could partly be because it's not really suitable for very young children, as the monsters are unique and terrifying and some of the action sequences are pretty intense and scary. Also, maybe it was too difficult for some to see past the surface storyline to the allegories within. "Time Out" magazine described it as "an intriguing failure", but I think that's being extremely unkind.
"9" is not your average kids film. In fact, I'm loathe to call it a kids film at all, as I think it appeals to an older audience looking for something that requires one to stretch the brain cells that little bit more. On top of that, unlike some of the bloated blockbusters of recent years, this is a film that could actually have benefited from a longer running time. I wanted to know much, much more about this world. It's a film full of innovative cutting edge CGI but also mystery and a sense of wonder.
Dark, different and original. An overlooked and underrated gem. I adore it.
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