| 9 | |
| Director: | Shane Acker |
| Screenplay: | Pamela Pettler |
| Story: | Shane Acker |
| Cinematography: | Kevin R. Adams |
| Editing: | Nick Kenway |
| Distributor: | Focus Features |
| Runtime: | 79 minutes[1] |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $30 million |
| Gross: | $48.4 million |
9 is a 2009 animated science fiction film directed by Shane Acker, written by Pamela Pettler and produced by Jim Lemley, Tim Burton, Timur Bekmambetov and Dana Ginsburg. Set in an alternate version of the 1940s, the film follows a rag doll labeled "9" who awakens shortly after the end of mankind following the uprising of machines. The film features the voices of Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer and Crispin Glover, with Martin Landau and Fred Tatasciore.[2] [3]
The film is based on Acker's 2005 CG-animated, Academy Award-nominated short film of the same name created at the UCLA Animation Workshop.[4] Focus Features released it theatrically on September 9, 2009. The film received generally mixed reviews from critics, earned $48.4 million on a $30 million budget and received a Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures nomination in 21st Producers Guild of America Awards. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 29, 2009.
A scientist, ordered by his dictator to create a robot in the apparent name of progress, creates the highly intelligent B.R.A.I.N. (Binary Reactive Artificially Intelligent Neurocircuit). The dictator seizes the B.R.A.I.N. upon its completion and turns it into the Fabrication Machine, an armature that can construct an army of war machines to destroy the dictator's enemies. However, the machine becomes corrupted and declares war on all biological life on Earth. As a last resort to stop the machines, the scientist uses alchemy to create nine homunculus-like rag dolls called "Stitchpunks", giving them portions of his own soul via a talisman. He dies upon completion of the final doll.
The final Stitchpunk, 9, awakens in the workshop and ventures into the devastated city, where he meets another Stitchpunk, 2, a frail inventor who gives him a working voice box. The last active machine, the Cat-Beast, attacks the pair, abducts 2, and takes the talisman. 9 collapses but awakens in Sanctuary, the tower of an empty cathedral that is home to other Stitchpunks – the dogmatic leader 1, his large bodyguard 8, the cycloptic engineer 5, and the mentally unstable oracle 6. 9 and 5 decide to venture to the condemned factory where the Cat-Beast took 2 and rescue him. There, the Cat-Beast attacks the trio, who are saved by 7, the only female of the Stitchpunks. 9 curiously connects the talisman to the dormant Fabrication Machine, accidentally reviving it, whereupon it kills 2 by sucking out his soul. 9, 5, and 7 manage to escape the factory.
7 takes 9 and 5 to an abandoned library, where the mute scholar twins 3 and 4 have taken residence. The twins teach 9 of the Fabrication Machine's origins. 5 realizes the talisman's symbols match the clairvoyant drawings of 6. 9 and 5 return to Sanctuary to investigate, but 1 reprimands them for disobeying his orders. Meanwhile, the Fabrication Machine assembles new robots; one of them, the bird-like Winged Beast, attacks the Sanctuary. 7 joins the fight, and the Stitchpunks defeat the Winged Beast, but at the cost of Sanctuary burning.
Back at the library, 6, 3, and 4 cryptically explain the talisman's origins, but 1 reveals that he sent 2 out on a scouting trip, expecting him to die. 7 furiously attacks 1, but flees when 9 intervenes. Meanwhile, the Fabrication Machine uses 2's corpse as a hypnotic lure for another of its robots, The Seamstress. The Seamstress attacks the library and captures both 7 and 8, but 2's body is recovered and given a proper funeral by the others. The others then retreat to the factory to destroy the machines. 9 goes in alone, destroys the Seamstress, and rescues 7, but not before 8's soul is absorbed by the Fabrication Machine. 9 and 7 escape while the others destroy the factory.
The Fabrication Machine, having survived, emerges from the factory's ruins and absorbs 5's soul. The Machine attacks the group as they flee. 6, having realized that the deceased Stitchpunks' souls are trapped inside the Machine, begs the others not to destroy it. The Machine manages to capture him, and he tells 9 to go to the Scientist's workshop for answers before being absorbed by the Machine. At the workshop, 9 finds a holographic recorded message from the Scientist, explaining the Machine's origins and confiding that the Stitchpunks have pieces of his soul, making them the only hope for humanity. Following this revelation, 9 uncovers the purpose of the talisman and returns to his friends.
9 reunites with the other Stitchpunks, planning to sacrifice himself to the Machine, distracting it long enough for the others to retrieve the talisman. Having finally seen the error of his ways, 1 redeems himself by pushing 9 out of the way, allowing himself to be sucked into the Machine in his place. 9 removes the talisman, resulting in the Machine's final destruction. Afterwards, 9, 7, 3, and 4 release the souls of 5, 1, 6, 2, and 8 from the talisman. As the souls fly up into the sky, it starts to rain. The raindrops contain small flecks of glowing bacteria, bringing life back into the world.
See main article: 9: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. The film soundtrack was released on August 31, 2009 in physical and digital formats, nine days before the film was released.[5] [6] It includes the themes created by Danny Elfman, Deborah Lurie's film score, and "Welcome Home" by Coheed and Cambria. The latter song was used in two trailers for the film, with minor censoring for the full song in the soundtrack. Along with "Welcome Home", the teaser trailer also features an excerpt from "The Captain" by The Knife, which was also not included in the soundtrack. Other songs within the film that were not included in the soundtrack was the traditional "Dies Irae" chant, performed by Crispin Glover as part of the background score, and "Over the Rainbow", the song from The Wizard of Oz and performed by Judy Garland. The song plays in a lighthearted scene when the surviving stitchpunks were celebrating the destruction of the factory and played it on a 78rpm phonograph record.
On December 25, 2008, a trailer was released on Apple.com that features The Knife's "The Captain" and Coheed and Cambria's "Welcome Home".[7]
9 is the second animated feature film to be released by Focus Features, the first being Coraline, written and directed by Henry Selick and based on the book by Neil Gaiman. The trailer for 9 preceded 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 and was later shown before Land of the Lost. It is an extensive trailer which includes a bit of the background story behind the existence of the creations. In April 2009, the film's "Scientist" began making journal entries on a Facebook page called "9 Scientist", including essays about each of his nine creations. The "9 Scientist" Facebook page seemingly references events leading up to the release of the film.[8] A viral campaign promotional website for 9 was launched. It shed some light upon the background of the 9 world.[9] The trailer featured several machines: the Cat Beast, a catlike ambush predator that appeared in the original short film; the Winged Beast, a pterosaur-like machine with movable blades in its mouth; the Seamstress, a hypnotic serpent; Steel War Behemoths, large two-legged machines armed with a machine gun and poison gas missiles which can kill in a matter of seconds; the Fabrication Machine (previously known as B.R.A.I.N.), a cyclopean, spiderlike machine with many multi-jointed arms; and Seekers, aerial machines with searchlights. Later trailers also reveal the existence of several small spiderlike machines. Part of the film's marketing strategy was its release date of September 9, 2009 ("9/9/09").
Shortly before the film's release, Life released a mobile game adaptation titled 9: The Mobile Game for the iPhone and iPod Touch.[10]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an overall approval rating of 57% based on 185 reviews and average rating of 5.90/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Although its story is perhaps too familiar and less complex than some might wish, 9 is visually spectacular, and director Shane Acker's attention to detail succeeds in drawing viewers into the film's universe."[11] On Metacritic, it holds a weighted average score of 60 out of 100 based on reviews from 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[12]
Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, contrasting it with the works of Hayao Miyazaki and saying that, "’9’ is nevertheless worth seeing…[the visuals] are entrancing."[13] The general sentiment by critics is that the film is "long on imaginative design but less substantial in narrative."[14] Varietys Todd McCarthy says, "In the end, the picture's impact derives mostly from its design and assured execution."[15]
The film performed poorly at the box office. Its opening weekend landed it at #2 behind I Can Do Bad All By Myself with approximately $10,740,446 and $15,160,926 for its five-day opening.[16] The film has grossed US$48,428,063 worldwide.[17]
| + Awards | ||||
| Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Outcome | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annie Awards | ||||
| Best Animated Effects in a Feature Production | Alexander Feigin | [18] | ||
| Best Production Design in a Feature Production | Christophe Vacher | |||
| Producers Guild of America Awards | Producer of the Year in Animated Motion Picture | [19] | ||
| Visual Effects Society Awards | Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture | Ken Duncan, Jinko Gotoh, Daryl Graham, Joe Ksander | [20] | |
| Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association | Best Animated Film | Focus Features | [21] | |
| Motion Picture Sound Editors | ||||
| Best sound editing for music in a musical feature film | [22] | |||
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 29, 2009, three-and-a-half months after the film's theatrical release.[23] The DVD and Blu-ray contained special features such as the director Shane Acker's original 2005 short film of the same name, cast interviews, and commentary by the filmmakers.[24]
| "I think there is definitely room. I mean, the way we end the film, there is a slight suggestion that it may be a new beginning. And I think we could continue the journey from where we left off and see how these creatures are existing in a world in which the natural environment is coming back and perhaps even threatening them in some way. Do they make the decision to not affect it, or do they try to affect it in some way? And do they still try to hold on to that humanity within them or do they recognize themselves at being machines too and go off on a different trajectory? So there's lots of idea that I think that we could play with and make another story out of."[25] | |
| — Director Shane Acker in a 2009 interview with Joblo.com. |
Despite the silence from Acker, in January 2017, the Facebook profile of the character "the Scientist" was updated with a rather cryptic message. The profile had been inactive since 2009, leading some to speculate the teasing of a sequel.[32]