Lightbulb versus menacing red-eyed robot — if this wasn't the hero of the film, this fight likely wouldn't work out.

9

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This summer has provided a pair of complementary (and oddly similarly named) case studies in wunderkind directors: District 9’s Neill Blomkamp and 9’s Shane Acker. Both created feature-length versions of shorts, one live action (Alive in Joburg) and the other animated (9). Both established an esthetic striking enough to catch the eyes of major Hollywood backers. But where Blomkamp was able to expand his six minutes of tease into a science fiction film that blended his original documentary style with the energy of an action movie, Acker’s feature-length debut takes the striking beauty of his original short and crams it into an ill-fitting children’s movie shell.

It’s not clear what kind of movie 9 wants to be — it’s too dark for children, but too shallow for adults. In a post-apocalyptic city, the titular 9 (a sentient rag-doll voiced by Elijah Wood) wakes up to find himself mute and confused in a dead man’s house. Carrying nothing but a mysterious disc, he begins to explore the wastes and, soon, makes the acquaintance of eight other numerically named dolls.

The movie’s extremely tight running time (81 minutes) means the plot is virtually nothing but a collection of shortcuts. A perfect example happens immediately after 9 arrives at the dolls’ sanctuary. The group’s self-imposed leader, 1, insists 9 stays for his own safety. After the warning, 9 pleads with 5 (John C. Reilly) to venture outside and, after a near instant capitulation, the two are on their merry way. The scene, like others, feels like an obligatory obstacle on an overcrowded path.

Pamela Pettler’s (co-writer of Corpse Bride) script does the film no favours either, with dialogue that alternates between silly (“You forget to remember to be afraid!”) and plain lazy. In an early scene, 9 doesn’t have the word to identify a smokestack. Later, he’s suddenly fluent enough to call a hitherto mysterious object a talisman. It’s children’s movie plotting and pacing that doesn’t mesh well with gorgeously hideous creations like a clockwork tiger fronted with a cat’s skull, or a metaphysical conceit based on the human soul.

While Acker is a master at building a world, his control doesn’t extend to the more human elements of his film. Reilly, usually a solid dramatic actor, delivers a lacklustre performance in the already lacklustre role of the character 9 is supposed to have connected most deeply with, despite only a few minutes of dialogue passing between the two. With nine rag doll characters, 9 is badly overstuffed and none register beyond their basic roles.

Still, though it’s deeply flawed, there’s no denying how striking 9 is. The consistent use of found materials leads to tools like a broadsword made from a knife blade and a nail, or a light bulb staff. Horrifying creatures come to life, like a predatory worm with a broken doll’s face whose mouth is filled with red thread fangs, menacing with terrible screams. Whatever weaknesses Acker may have as a filmmaker, there’s no denying his power as an animator. If his debut isn’t a one-off, there’s hope for him yet.