9
For the second time in a month, veteran visionaries have taken a younger protege under their wing to create an original and imaginative science fiction story from an earlier short film. Last month we had the viral phenomenon “District 9,” this month, we have just “9.” To be fair, Shane Acker’s adaptation of his Oscar-nominated short cannot compare to Neill Bloomkamp’s visceral, bold social commentary (shepherded beautifully by Peter Jackson into a fully-realized vision), but the imaginations of both Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov (unfortunately, better known for “Wanted” than his “Night Watch”/”Day Watch” epics) is alive in well in Acker’s visually-astute hands.
One only wishes the screenplay, by Pamela Pettler from Acker’s story, was up to the visual’s level. Don’t get me wrong- it’s still one of the most original post-apocalyptic films I’ve ever seen. But once thought about after the fact, the ultimate themes of Acker’s story are elusive, and not in a good way.
In what my friend Ron and I figure is an alternate post-WWII world, where machines have been built with staggering artificial intelligence beyond what the real world has, the human race has been destroyed by machines. All that remains are 9 rag doll-like beings created by an inventor, and invested with a part of his soul. One of them- 9 (Elijah Wood)- wakes up to find the inventor dead, the world destroyed around him. He eventually finds the previous 8 dolls (ranging from Christopher Plummer’s wise 1 to John C. Reilly’s loyal 5 to Crispin Glover’s inquisitive 6 and Jennifer Connelly’s tough 7), but not after giving a final piece to the machine “Beast” that still roams, a piece that’ll allow the machines to maintain dominance over the Earth forever.
Of course, the first question I have to ask is, is the human race truly extinct? We assume it is, but more depth in the story might have opened up (or closed) possibilities that would’ve made that question moot. Secondly, while I get the inventor’s desire to keep his soul (as well as the human spirit) alive in the bodies of the 9 (as well as maybe atone for the sins of his creation), with humanity (seemingly) wiped out, what is his eventual end game? Perhaps I should be prefacing this discussion with a “spoiler alert,” but it won’t be long in the film when you might be asking yourselves the same questions.
Of course, you’ll also be having your mind blown by the detail and power of the visuals, which ultimately drove “9” (along with the vivid characterizations and motivations) and how I enjoyed it. Apart from the well-staged (and conceived) action sequences, this film is just a wonder to look at, an exciting expansion of previous sci-fi worlds as well as original creations. This is the side of Acker’s storytelling that no doubt drew Burton and Bekmambetov to help him get his first feature off the ground; unfortunately, there’s another part of it that- like both of those filmmakers (at least some of Burton’s work- I can’t really argue with most of his recent work)- still needs to be cultivated and matured in order to rise to their ranks of cinematic richness.
