9
Director: Shane Acker
This post-apocalyptic adventure adds up to everything except an obvious audience.
Very much inspired by the gorgeously weird stop-motion animation of producer Tim Burton, although it’s actually done with computer graphics, it’s the extended and enhanced version of director Shane Acker’s Oscar-nominated 2004 short by the same name.
Both films feature zippered rag doll creations — “stitchpunks,” as they’re called — that are at once exotic while exhibiting human emotions. But are they human enough? The characters are given numbers rather than names, and their adventures in a ruined urban landscape are likely to terrify many of the younger tots who might conceivably be the target audience.
Older viewers will appreciate the craft that goes into Acker’s work — there’s genuine vision in it — and also the story that nods to sci-fi classics without stealing from them outright.
Extras include a commentary by Acker, deleted scenes and the original short film.
