A synopsis of Shane Acker‘s 9 (Focus Features, 9.9.09) reads as follows: “When 9 (Elijah Wood) first comes to life, he finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world. All humans are gone, and it is only by chance that he discovers a small community of others like him taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the earth intent on their extinction.

“Despite being the neophyte of the group, 9 convinces the others that hiding will do them no good. They must take the offensive if they are to survive, and they must discover why the machines want to destroy them in the first place. As they’ll soon come to learn, the very future of civilization may depend on them.”

The animated pic, directed by Acker and produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, costars Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Martin Landau, Christopher Plummer and Crispin Glover . It also features the music of Danny Elfman.

Anything that has Bekmambetov’s paw prints on it has to be approached cautiously. His direction of Wanted showed that he’s energetic and relentless in the worst possible way. He’s a gross and undisciplined brute…a three-toed sloth in need of a neck-chain.