In less than a month’s time, there have been two feature-length films released nationwide which were based on short films. Many of you will likely recall District 9, which is all the rage on Twitter. District 9 was based on a short that hinted at the possibilities of an expanded narrative. Given the money it has received and near universal praise, most would say it was a good call. The second short-to-feature I’m speaking of is 9. Does it repeat the success? Nein (that’s German for “no”).
It’s not a hard concept to understand. A scientist has breathed life into some pseudo-ragdolls just as the time of man is drawing to an end. With war machines wiping out mankind, the world’s next hope is his nine creations. His last creation is called 9 (voiced by Elijah Wood). Shortly after his creation, 9 discovers that he has perfect English skills and runs into the 8 dolls who preceded him. For the most part they get him up to speed; this involves pointing out that cyborg birds are their chief enemy.
That about does it. Unfortunate for viewers, shockingly little is explained till the very end, and when it is explained, it’s unsatisfying. The method for which the scientist created the nine is irrational on many levels. At the very least it confuses me how he didn’t leave instructions for any of them but 9. The behavior of every character is bizarre. Almost nothing is done compassion beyond that of a robot meeting a deadline.
I dare say that the content is too adult for an audience that may have been eying this. It is a computer-animated movie after all, and one which features doe-eyed protagonists no less. One scene in question may go over little Timmy’s head. It involves a brutish doll, 8, who discovers that a magnet has a secondary function as a source of entertainment. When placed near his metal eyes, he trips out, becoming oblivious to his surroundings all the while making a variety of sounds. The noises are peculiar because they had me believing that magnets serve as the pornography of this culture. This is also the first and only character exploring scene of the movie—a disguised lewd reference.
The designs of the characters are pleasant, and the CG rendering is par, but not near Pixar or DreamWorks. At an hour and twenty minutes in length, there is plenty of time for the movie to go wrong, and little to rectify it. With only a few action intense scenes, it’s surprising how much time they can eat up. We aren’t dealing with humans, but they are humanoid. Somehow traits are largely absent. We never see them eat, joke, romance, etc. 1 (Christopher Plummer) may be the grouchy leader, but 9 is the most boring character I can imagine. We are supposed to be pulling for these guys but our hero has no distinguishable qualities. It ultimately doesn’t matter since no amount of developed thought was placed into the sappiest ending of the last 15 years, which I can only imagine being disdained by intelligent crowds.
So much of 9 is suggestive of short films. It’s like watching a few in a row or being shown only the very beginning of a trilogy followed by the very end. With character traits and development missing, we get hurried introductions, and more questions raised than there are attempted answers. It’s been years since a computer animated film floated solely on the intrigue of it’s medium, and 9 is a reminder. *½
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