9 (animated film)
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9 is a 2009 animated fantasy film/action film directed by Shane Acker and produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov. The film, which expands on a short film of the same name, stars Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Crispin Glover, Martin Landau and Christopher Plummer. It is based on Acker’s Academy Award-nominated 2005 short film of the same name. The screenplay for the film was written by Pamela Pettler. Casting for 9 was done by Mindy Marin, with production design by Robert St. Pierre and Fred Warter, and art direction by Christophe Vacher. The film is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for “violence and scary images”. In the U.K., the film has been rated 12A by the BBFC for moderate sustained threat.
Plot
The movie begins with the scientist creating a little mechanical humanoid rag doll as it tells how humanity, in its blind pursuit of science and technology, went to its doom. He finally gives life to the doll with a talisman and then, he dies.9 awakes, unable to speak. He takes the talisman, depositing it on the opening of his body under the closure. He opens the windows and sees a terrifying post-apocalyptic world, and someone walking.
He leaves the building to see who it is. Outside, he sees several human corpses. 9 hears someone close, and then he meets 2, another stitchpunk created by the scientist, who inserts a speaking device in 9 and becomes his friend. 2 tells 9 that there are others like themselves. 9 shows 2 the talisman, when suddenly the Cat Beast appears and attacks 2. 9 accidentally rocks the can he is hiding in, drawing the attention of the Cat Beast. The Cat Beast searches the can 9 hides in, but 2 distracts the Cat Beast allowing 9 to escape, tearing his shoulder in the process. The Cat Beast takes 2 to a towering factory in the horizon. 9 lays unconscious.
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9 awakes in a church, the shelter of the rest of the stitchpunk tribe. He meets 5, another of the stitchpunk who fixes 9’s shoulder. 1, the leader of the group, appears and tells 9 that they have hid ever since the machines won the war. 9 explains what happened to 2 and insists they save him, but 1refuses to risk jeopardizing their safety. 5, on the other hand, is convinced to help 9. The two enter the factory and save 2 from the Cat Beast, which is decapitated thanks to the timely arrival of 7. Noticing a socket shaped like the talisman, 9 inserts the talisman into it out of curiosity, only to have it open and instantly absorbs 2’s soul, leaving 2 lifeless. This awakens the long-dormant Fabrication Machine, forcing 9, 5 and 7 to flee
Seeking answers about the Fabrication Machine and the talisman, 9 is taken to meet 3 and 4, who reveal details about the machine’s past, though they know nothing about the talisman. 5 tells 9 that 6 might have answers and return to the hideout, where 6 states they must “go back to the source,” where the talisman’s secrets can be found. However, they are caught by 8, who brings them to 1. 1 berates 9 for awakening the Fabrication Machine and argues that 9 will just lead them to more trouble. Suddenly, the hideout is attacked by the Winged Beast, a new machine created by the Fabrication Machine. Through a combined effort, the stitchpunks destroy the Winged Beast, though the hideout is burned down in the process. They seek refuge in a ruined library and meet twins 3 and 4, but are attacked by another new machine, the Seamstress, which kidnaps 7 and 8 and nearly kidnaps 1 as well, who is convinced to strike back against the machines.9 infiltrates the machine factory where he is able to save 7 and destroy the Seamstress, though he arrives too late to prevent the Fabrication Machine from absorbing 8’s soul with the talisman. 9 and 7 escape while the others ignite a barrel of oil and roll it into the gas-filled factory, causing the building to explode, thus leaving the stitchpunks to presume that the Fabrication Machine was destroyed as well. As the stitchpunks celebrate by listening to Over the Rainbow, 5 wanders off to chase an escaped record. He finds that the Fabrication Machine survived the explosion and, though damaged it is still active and no longer stationary. 5 barely manages to warn the others before the machine grabs him and absorbs his soul. During the nonstop chase while walking on a bridge, 6 tells 9 that they shouldn’t destroy the machine because the souls of the dead stitchpunks are trapped inside the Fabrication Machine. Suddenly the Fabrication Machine reaches out from below the bridge and grabs 6. While 6 is being pulled down by the machine, he tells the other stitchpunks to go back to the source, where 9 awoke. Then the Fabrication Machine absorbs his soul leaving him lifeless, and drops him into a deep chasm. Despite this, 1, 7, 3 and 4 decide to destroy the Fabrication Machine anyway, believing the dead souls cannot be saved. 9 decides to heed 6’s final words and returns to the laboratory where he first awoke and find the talisman, determining that it is “the source”.
Back in the laboratory, 9 finds a holographic message from the scientist explaining how to use the talisman, why the stitchpunks were created and that they contain parts of his life force. When the others begin their attack on the Fabrication Machine, 9 returns with a plan to take the talisman back from the machine and use it to retrieve the souls, intending to bait himself to the machine and sacrifice his soul. 1, however, ultimately makes the sacrifice instead, allowing 9 to steal back the talisman and use it to retrieve the souls of the fallen stitchpunks, thus destroying the Fabrication Machine in the process. Afterward, 9, 7, 3 and 4 set up a memorial for 1, 2, 5, 6 and 8. 9 opens the talisman and releases the souls, which rotate up the sky. A rainstorm begins with each raindrop having a part of the stitchpunk’s soul (the appearance of which seem to be a bacteria in the raindrops, meaning the bacteria would soon evolve), leaving the future in the hands of 3, 4, 7 and 9 and the spark of life renewed. The film end’s with 7 asking 9 what they should do next, 9 replies “This is our world now, it’s what we make of it”.
Cast and characters
Elijah Wood as 9, the last creation of the scientist. He awakens from the lifeless world and seems destined to save the future.Fred Tatasciore as 8, who came into being for the purpose to protect the rag dolls from the evil machine uprising. He wields a meat cleaver and half a scissor, a none-too-bright muscle and enforcer of the group, 8, is created to help the others physically survive the dangerous, post-apocalyptic world.
Jennifer Connelly as 7, brave and self-sufficient warrior, 7 is the group’s sole female. A fiercely independent adventuress, she has been out patrolling the wasteland. To survive, she has adapted, finding the bones of a deceased bird and crafting her signature skull helmet. 9 manages to save her from the winged beast and the seamstress and later gains feelings towards him.
Crispin Glover as 6, the visionary rag doll that can have visions of the past and future. He draws all the time and he only draws the talisman and one picture of the cat beast.
John C. Reilly as 5, who is a caring, nurturing engineer – the loyal, big-hearted “common man” who always tries to play the peacemaker. He is also an apprentice of 2, with whom he shares a special bond. He is also the healer.3 and 4 are the scholarly twins who voraciously catalogue everything they can see and find, recording and building a massive database for the group of the world that surrounds them and the history that led up to their creation. Unlike the other Stitchpunks 3 and 4 are unable to speak, so they communicate to each other by flashing lights from their eyes.
Martin Landau as 2, the scientist’s second creation. 2 is a kindly but now frail inventor and explorer who embodies the Scientist’s strong creative spirit. An inquisitive personality, 2 is fearless. Christopher Plummer as 1, is the Scientist’s first creation. As the elder, he is the self-declared leader of the group. He sent 2 out to scout but he really sent him out to die.
Alan Oppenheimer as The Scientist, a former toy maker who created the stitchpunks and also invented the B.R.A.I.N. Each of the stitchpunks is a component of the Scientist’s soul. He used the talisman to transfer his soul out and supply 9 with life. At the beginning of the film, one of the first things 9 comes across is the Scientist’s lifeless body sprawled on the floor.
Machines
The Fabrication Machine – An intelligent machine created by the B.R.A.I.N. It is pod shaped, has a large red eye, several arms and a long tail that fixates the Fabrication Machine to the ceiling of the factory it lives in. Unlike the stitchpunks (with the exception of 3 and 4) the Fabrication Machine cannot talk, instead it screeches and growls. It was designed to build war machines. After being forced to build more and more war machines, the Fabrication Machine snapped under the pressure and self-programed the war machines to attack any sign of life. After the humans were destroyed, the Fabrication Machine fell dormant (for an unknown reason) until 9 awakened it by (out of curiosity) placing the talisman into a socket built for it. The Fabrication Machine used the talisman to steal the souls of stitchpunks because it was trying to destroy all life. Its victims were 2, 8, 5, 6 and 1 in that order. The stitchpunks first presumed that the machine was destroyed when they blow up the factory with a flaming barrel ofoil. However, the stitchpunks soon discover that the machine survived the explosion. It is later defeated by 9 when he uses the talisman to take back the souls of the fallen stitchpunks.
The Cat Beast – A big cat like machine created by the Fabrication Machine. It has sharp metal claws, a cat skull for a head, a light bulb for a right eye and a red mechanical left eye. This beast also appeared in the short film. It has the behavior of a big cat. It appears not to tolerate bright light; it is shown turning its head away when 9 shined a light bulb at it. When 9 first encounters it, it attacked both him and 2, and took 2 and the talisman to the factory where the cat beast was defeated by 7 who decapitated it with her sword. Two made the remark that it looked like it was hastily put together, insinuating that maybe the machine was not voluntarily made dormant.
The Winged Beast – A pterosaur like machine created by the Fabrication Machine. It has four eyes, wings made out of the national flag, a harpoon tail and a mouth made of various sharp metal objects. It invaded the cathedral and attacked the stitchpunks. It was destroyed when its tail got caught on a spinning propeller that shredded the beast to pieces.
The Seamstress (Spider-snake) – A machine with an appearance that appears to be the mixture of a cobra, an anglerfish, a spider and a crab (also it was inspired by Medusa). It has the head of a broken doll and has a red, glowing mechanical right eye. It also has a cobra-like hood that opens and closes. It has a snakelike body and slithers like one as well. The tip of its tail is 2’s body. It can make lights rapidly flash from 2’s eyes to hypnotize its prey (like how a anglerfish does to attract it’s prey) and then tie them with red thread from three spools on its back (hencing its name). It also has several spider like legs and a pair of scissors that acts as a crablike claw. It was destroyed when 9 covered his light bulb staff with some burlap, drew eyes on it, tied a rope to it and tied a bolt to the rope. He threw the bolt between two gears and pretended it was a stitchpunk waving it in the air. The seamstress took the bait, sowed it up and realized it was a fake. He then ran chasing 9 and got pulled between the two moving gears and died.
Production
9 was produced in part by Tim Burton, Timur Bekmambetov and Jim Lemley, and released on September 9, 2009. Animation began in Luxembourg at Attitude Studio, but subsequently moved to Starz Animation in Toronto, Canada. The film was released by Focus Features. Director Shane Acker at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con InternationalShane Acker directed the film and wrote the story. Pamela Pettler and Ben Gluck wrote the script.
Marketing On December 25, 2008, a trailer was released on Apple.com, featuring The Knife's "The Captain" and Coheed and Cambria's "Welcome Home".In the trailer there were several machines up against the stitchpunk group: the Cat Beast, an ape-like ambush predator that appeared in the short filmof the same title; The Winged Beast, a raptor-like with movable blades of various types in its mouth; the Seamstress, a hypnotic serpent; Mech Walkers, large two-legged machines armed with a machine gun and poison gas missiles which can kill in a matter of seconds; the Fabrication Machine, a cyclopic, spider-like machine with many multi-jointed arms; and Seeker a several flying zeppelin machines with searchlights.Later trailers also reveal the existence of several small ant-like machines. Part of the film's marketing strategy was its release date of 9 September 2009 ("9/9/09").
9 is the second animated feature film to be released by Focus Features, the first being Coraline, based on the book by Neil Gaiman. The trailer for 9 preceded the film Coraline when it was shown in theaters and released on DVD. A second trailer for 9 first appeared on G4's Attack of the Show. It is an extensive trailer which includes a bit of the background story behind the existence of the stitchpunks.
In April 2009, the movie's "Scientist" began making journal entries on a Facebook page called "9 Scientist". Daily thoughts and images of his inventions are updated frequently. The "9 Scientist" Facebook page seemingly references events leading up to the release of the movieMost recently, a new viral campaign promotional website for 9 has been launched. It sheds some light upon the background of the 9 world Blu-ray Disc & DVD release. 9 will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on December 29th, 2009.
9 has received mixed to positive reviews from critics, with its visuals being the most highly praised aspect. Based on 112 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an overall "Rotten" approval rating of 56% from critics, with the Top Critics ranking it slightly lower, giving it a "Rotten" rating of 50% and the film having an average score of 6/10. The rating from the RT Community has been slightly higher, with a rating of 73%. On Metacritic, it currently holds a score of 60 out of 100 mixed or average reviews.[13] The general sentiment by critics is that the film is "long on imaginative design but less substantial in narrative." [14] Variety's Todd McCarthy says "In the end, the picture's impact derives mostly from its design and assured execution."
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