Back in the heyday of the Cold War between the U.S. and Russia, it was often said that the only thing that would likely survive what then seemed like an inevitable nuclear war would be cockroaches. The irony, of course, was that the unsavory little fellas can't escape sticky miniature motels but apparently would be unfazed by searing heat and/or radiation.
Granted, they and any number of other small critters managed to survive Earth's one mighty mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs eons ago. Perhaps that will be the case again should the Swine Flu, an enormous meteorite or space invaders (no, not the old Atari game cartridges) do the same some day in the future.
Yet, they're nowhere to be found in "9," a computer animated, post-apocalyptic sci-fi tale that's clearly not for the young kiddies (or kitties, for that matter). Instead, it's a different sort of small creature that's managed to survive the mass extinction of humankind as well as the robot army they battled sometime in the future.
Those would be a set of rag dolls -- noted as "stitchpunks" but never identified that way in the film -- that are known by the numbers stitched or otherwise marked on them rather than by the old traditional names. As our story begins, the titular character falls from his perch and comes to life in a foreign world. And much like the title character in "Wall-E," he seems all alone in this desolate place upon which he looks with similarly large, expressive eyes.
He eventually runs into others of his numbered ilk and has his voice box fixed (so much for the silent film aspect that works so well, as it did at the beginning of Pixar's flick). The rag dolls are all different -- 9 being the most "advanced" but still primitive in construction as if cobbled together with spare parts -- and have distinct personalities.
In short, they're possessed by an external spirit, but this isn't a haunted house post-apocalyptic flick or a zombie filled one like "I Am Legend." But there are monsters of sorts, and most of the plot revolves around them and the rag dolls trying to avoid being captured and having their souls sucked dry from their bodies (the film gets its PG-13 rating for good reason).
This imaginative effort from director Shane Acker is actually an expanded version of his 11-minute Oscar-nominated short of the same name (from 2005), and one can easily see why filmmaker Tim Burton was attracted to this offering. He serves as one of the film's producers, but his direct or indirect influence is clearly on display throughout the film, from the master & puppet themes of "Edward Scissorhands" to the fantastical creatures that will remind viewers of similarly fascinating yet kinda scary entities in the likes of "Beetlejuice" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas."
The film certainly has visual imagination and panache to spare, and is something to behold from an eye candy experience. Thankfully, it isn't of the "in your face" frenetic variety that the "Transformers" films have popularized, but there are some decent action sequences.
The only problem is that screenwriter Pamela Pettler (working from Acker's original script) apparently didn't make it through the apocalypse as there really isn't much plot to speak of. Once the basic premise is introduced, we're basically left with the ragtag team of rag dolls trying to avoid any number of mechanical monsters that are unleashed upon them, meaning there are various battles and then rescue attempts, followed by more battles and such.
Further apparent proof that Pettler might not have made it all of the way through is that the film runs an incredibly short 79 minutes, including credits. It's not that I'm complaining, especially considering the 3-hour long Oscar bait movies that are likely in the release chute for later this year, but the surprisingly abbreviated run time certainly indicates there isn't enough here to sustain a longer, feature length film.
It also means there's little time for character exploration and/or growth (although the built-in parameters of the premise -- explained more fully late in the film -- somewhat absolve that very issue) and thus likely fairly mutes any emotional investment on the part of most viewers. Related vocal work (from the likes of Elijah Wood, Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, etc.) is top notch and does help in making up for some of those other character shortcomings.
But the brief and somewhat repetitive storyline doesn't make "9" (not to be confused with the musical "Nine" that's to be released later this year, or "District 9" that made a splash in August) a bad film by any means. It's just that considering the amount of detail that was obviously put into the visuals, one only wishes as much creative and imaginative effort would have been put into the script. Good, but not great, the film rates as a 6 out of 10.
![[Screen It]](/images/underground_header.jpg)