9 Movie Book Review

Today I received a package in the mail from Focus Features, in which was a Burlap pouch with 9 on the front. Inside of this Shane Acker/Tim Burton-esque bag was the book of "9". Upon opening it you see a familiar image:

The book begins with the Scientist's journal. If you have been following the 9Scientist on Facebook you would recognize the posters of the Chancellor with RESIST sprawled over the phrase "Victory Demands Sacrifice".

This section of the book follows the scientist's work on the B.R.A.I.N. project (Binary Reactive Artificially Intelligent Neurocircut). The journal entries are those that have been posted on Facebook but among them are pictures and drawings of the machines and newspaper clippings, among which are headlines that read "MACHINES TURN AGAINST US!" and "SCIENTIST ENEMY OF THE STATE Chancellor Denounces Machine Inventor". So far this book is very creative in how it presents the story of the scientist and his creations, and the art makes me even more excited to see the movie and view the world that Ackner has created.

Next is a section called 'The Film' and it is full of stills and some promotional pictures from the movie, some of which I've seen, but many others that are new. Accompanying the art are quotes about the movie from Director Shane Acker, Star Elijah Wood, Producer Timur Bekmambetov, and our favorite: Producer Tim Burton, along with quotes from the film. The pictures not only show the characters, but also the amazing setting that has been created.
"It's a world composed of everything that's been discarded. From that rubble, from those bits and pieces, these new life forms are emerging, and we're experiencing their struggle in this post-human landscape" --Shane Acker

"One of the things I responded to from Shane's short film was even though I'm a real lover of stop-motion animation, he had the same kind of textures that I love, that you get from real puppets and read dimensional characters that you can touch and feel in stop-motion, I felt the world that he was creating and the characters and just everything had that kind of texture."
--Tim Burton

"The Seamstress is the most disturbing, although that's high praise to all the others because they are all disturbing in their own way." --Tim Burton

The final section is 'The Making of the Film' and it begins with a description of each of the character, including the 9 main characters, the Fabrication Machine ("Visit 9themovie.com/AR on how to experience The Fabrication Machine in 3D" is also included in the book), the Seamstress, the Catbeast and the Winged Beast. There is also story board art and origional sketches by Shane Acker.

Finally at the end of the book is a DVD of the origional short by Shane Acker that the movie is based off of. Tim Burton says, "The short was among the most extraordinary 11 minutes of film I've ever seen. Shane's conception was and is a stunningly detailed and hauntingly beautiful universe that resonates not only visually but emotionally."

Overall this book is a visually joy and a must have for any fan of the movie.