It didn’t make Shawn’s Remaining Top 5 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Summer Movies list and landing in September, it’s pushing the envelope in regards to “summer” slotting, but 9 has what I would consider a recipe for success written in to it’s digital make-up:
(Tim Burton + Digital Animation + Post Apocalypse Quest) x (Science Fiction + Horror) = 9
And, if the above is true, then we must also conclude that
9 = Freakin’ Awesome
But the film isn’t the only thing that’s kinda cool, Focus Features, who is distributing this film, is making the build up worth paying attention to as well. Okay, first about the film, and then the build-up…
Watching the clips and trailers, another formula came to mind:
Toy Story + Terminator + Resident Evil + Silent Hill
Wall-E, this ain’t. The movie concerns itself with nine canvas doll creatures that have been imbued with a “lifespark” by a scientist in the closing days of the human race. Humanity is no more by the open of the film, having been wiped out by sentient machines who manufactured themselves into a powerful race (does that sound familiar from somewhere?). Here’s the thing, these machines appear to be programed to hunt living organisms, so when the canvas people start walking about, they become hunted targets.
The project has been a little cryptic up to now, but it appears that there are nine canvas doll people, the 9th of which is supposed to save them from robotic destruction. The film, as the trailer after the jump will show you, is decidedly Tim Burton-esque in visual design. The machines are cobbled together horrors and the canvas people resemble gingerbread men who brandish scissors as weapons. And it looks dark. Mmmmmm….dark Tim Burton film. I’m salivating already.
Oh, but wait. The film is attempting to go viral by allowing us to watch as humanity takes a nosedive. So the final few months before it's release will allow the final few months of humanity (as portrayed in the films universe) to play out in real-time. You can keep up with the doomed scientist as he creates the robotic brain which, it appears, will turn on humankind in short order, via his Facebook page (as of my writing this, he's doing a few prelim experiments on his soon-to-be-overlord-that-he-doesn't-see-coming). And you can run through his workshop and all his notes on the 9 official site. I highly recommend checking out some of the movie clips.
So, how did we not hear about this movie before now? Why has it been so quiet? This has every indication of being a digital cartoon that's geared more towards adults and I'm excited to see if it follows through as such (bringing kids to this one would be a bad idea, unless you have a fetish for changing soiled pants).
Check this out and decide for yourself...
Do you love apocalyptic fiction? So do we! If you're looking for a few good reads, then check out Betsy Mitchell's post about her 10 favorite apocalyptic tales.
Still want more? Wikipedia has an impressive list of Apocalyptic and Post Apocalyptic Fiction
Listverse weighs in with 15 Influential Early Works of Apocalyptic Fiction.
Go forth and enjoy the havoc, but mind the crumbling societal walls around you.
It's actually just titled "9", and it's based on Shane Acker's cool animated short from 2005 of the same name:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IQcMeNh7Hc
(quality's not the best for this dark film, but free is free, eh?)
Ohhhh...good catch Tillie! I've updated the title of the post with the correct name. See, I found it and then had to share it ASAP, and as a result had the title wrong. Not 9 Experiment, just 9. Sweet.
..and how long have you known about this movie and not told me?! I feel slighted. This is exactly the kind of thing I would get awkwardly and disproportionately jazzed about. Case in point, I'm now going to watch the short film at least 20 times. *sigh*
And is Shane Acker directing this one? I think that he is. Burton is Executive Producing. I should be clear about that to give credit where it is due.
Heh, I'm big on the animation world, but I sometimes forget to connect it with the sci-fi/fantasy stuff. To make up for this one-time slip-up (I promise!), here's a pretty sweet animated short of the sci-fi persuasion you might enjoy. A little something I was introduced to on the Cartoon Brew blog, called "The Terrible Thing of Alpha-9!"
http://p.castfire.com/2p7bO/video/105353/terrible-thing-mov_2009-06-04-102657.flv