Review: ‘9’ will not disappoint cinema lovers

By Dominick Delgadillo
STAFF WRITER

The computer-animated movie ‘9’ by little known writer, director and animator Shane Acker, is based on a short he made four years ago in the UCLA animation program.

‘9’ takes place in a not-too-distant future, in which scientists have created a machine that rebels against humanity. A scientist, seeing the end approaching, breathes life into nine mechanized puppets, with the mission of carrying on civilization after human beings are exterminated.

The character 1 is the first of the creations and, as the oldest, takes it upon himself to be the pious leader of the group. However, his age may have affected his ability to make good decisions. The character 9 is the youngest and most innocent of the puppets and inspires them to fight back.

“The characters stopped asking questions that could lead to their salvation,” Elijah Wood said about his character, 9, in a conference call with college media.

All too often, many of the summer’s most hyped movies tend to fall a bit short upon execution, but ‘9’ delivers on its promises. From the opening sequence, as a puppet without a voice makes his way to a window to witness a post-apocalyptic wasteland, the sound of hearing a pin drop gives you chills and prepares you for a cinematic journey.

While this movie has gained notability due to Tim Burton’s involvement, his influence is thankfully seen only in the backgrounds of the film. For what is ostensibly a children’s movie, it has a lot of religious references and a few human corpses.

Shane Acker’s original ten-minute short is wonderfully recreated as a full-length animated feature with stunning visuals and even better sound effects. The action sequences allow the audience to finally understand why animated movies need to have a director and choreographer. The screech of a bat and the clink of a blade coupled with a fan-powered flying creature fighting against a lone burly puppet keeps the audience anticipating each next move.

The original short only showed us a part of the story, one where 9 fights off one of the smaller hunter creations. A similar creation is in the feature-length film and is gloriously rendered.

The original short was without dialogue, but the voice actors, with a bit of help from green electricity, bring these characters to life. John C. Reilley is endearing as 5, the curious inventor, and Martin Landau delivers an excellent performance as the paternal protector, 2.

This movie is a must-see for audiences of all ages. Despite Shane Acker’s initial reluctance to turn his project into a full-length film, I offer much thanks to him for changing his mind.

Go see ‘9’.