Titan A.E.

Saw this on DVD, missing it completely at the cinema. Which was probably what happened to the audience for the film, as it was difficult to market for any target group. Having seen it, it's apparent that lot of very hard work went into producing it.

I can compare it to a few other sci-fi animated films of recent years...

As ground-breaking as The Last Starfighter was in its day. Though not pure animation, Starfighter showed off what even early CG could do in terms of gimbal-free animation of spaceships and vehicles.

Much, much better than Final Fantasy, as the action is genuinely epic. The story goes places and uses the chosen technology very nicely. Titan is not a boring film.

Very similar to Disney's later production of the Treasure Island book. Disney appeared to have cribbed one or two scenes from Titan A.E. Not nice.

Graphically, it's up there with Iron Giant, using finely animated CG figures mixed with traditional cell animation. The scene where we first see the older Cale Tucker (in space, cutting up junk) is very impressive.

But something bugs me. There was something missing. Iron Giant gave me a sense of wonder, which was achieved by some great character acting, clever pacing and a wonderful story line. At no point was I "taken" by what I saw on-screen while watching Titan A.E.

I think Titan tripped over itself in the drama department more than a few times. Along with the latest Star Wars films, it tumbles along without stopping up and letting the audience know what the characters are feeling. The actors have to have the skills to enable the audience to feel, to immerse. Without that, the action has a risk of becoming incomprehensible.

Pretty, fast-paced, intriguing. But I wish someone would use these toys to produce something great, something big.

Something wonderful.

TITAN A. E. / (2000) *** (out of four)

"Titan A.E." is like a giant looming over movie animation landscape; it is one of the most visually bracing family fantasy adventures to come down the pike in years. The film's animation is wonderfully spectacular, visually enticing and entirely convincing. Directors Don Bluth and Gary Goldman enthrall the audience with a sweeping sense of atmosphere and action. This is the kind of cartoon that is mature to the level in which the characters and set designs could have been replaced with live action filmmaking without changing the movie's perspective.

The production takes place twenty-eight years after the third millennium. Planet Earth has been demolished by a cruel species called the Drej, who fear the potential intelligence of the human race. Cale (voiced by Matt Damon) is a young man working as a space dump attendant who believes his father abandoned him when he was a child. Cale doesn't know it yet, but he holds the key to the survival of the human race with a genetically coded map on his hand showing the course to the hidden position of a special spacecraft called the Titan.

Cale meets a young woman named Akima (voiced by Drew Barrymore), who cherishes conventional memorabilia of her late planet. She and her captain, Korso (voiced by Bill Pullman), and the navigator, Gune (John Leguizamo), set out to locate the vital Titan before the evil Drej can exterminate it along with mankind's future hope of existence.

Instead of our traditional, well-developed bad guy that posses serious threats to the protagonist's mission, in "Titan A.E." we receive something of a different sort: an underwritten alien race whose motives and backgrounds are unclear and undeveloped. The movie seems to know of this, however, therefore the film wisely switches villains in the second act. The story provides an interesting twist that supplies us with solid and comprehendible antagonism.

This movie's plot feels somewhat pieced together from previous science fiction fantasies like "Star Trek," "Star Wars," and "Lost in Space." John Whedon, Ben Edlund, and John August vividly detail a story that moves along steadily, but occasionally stalls to build momentum for the character's purpose for achieving goals. There is a scene on a spaceship holding Cale in captivity that feels trite and dual, but the film quickly rejuvenates itself with an exhilarating chase sequence. The film's plot would have been more involving if we knew more about the characters. They seem pretty interesting but we never really get to know them because the filmmakers were more concerned with special effects, a common misconception both animated and live action films.

This production is engaging and well animated; "Titan: After Earth" is smart to jolt a appropriate about of energy into its action scenes and contains sufficient amounts of style and wit to satisfy younger audiences as well to hold the attention of the older, more sophisticated viewers. It is not every day a cartoon is able to do that.

The first time I saw this I was 13 or 14. I saw it in a theatre with some friends. Most of em didn't really seem impressed but I really thought it rocked. I really like Cale's character. He seemed to "click" as a normal guy you wouldn't mind being identified with. And that Goon character was just fantastic. I really liked the scene with the giant ice crystals, and the sound effects during that scene were awesome. And I noticed this movie had a lot of Starwars references, but who cares. Didn't bother me in the least---in fact I like that kind of thing.

I was sort of disappointed at how this one just sort of dried up and blew away (I don't even think it played a whole week at the theatre). Luckily a friend, knowing I liked this movie, gave me a DVD he'd bought and no longer wanted. So, again, I watched and enjoyed this unappreciated great creation. Somehow it seemed even better now.

As usual, I'll leave all the technical discussions to other reviewers (of which there are a multitude). I try to review on an entertainment level only...yeah, I suppose I'm the shallow guy who only sees what's right up front.

Anyhow, if you care a whit about sci-fi, don't miss this one even if it is animated. It doesn't really have that "anime" feel to it. So if you're turned off by anime, check this one out anyway.

BTW, this movie is great for family viewing.

It's 3028 A.D. Earth is attacked by the Drej, aliens of pure energy. Hundreds of ships manage to escape before the earth is destroyed. Cale is separated from his father Professor Sam Tucker who saves the spaceship Titan. Sam gives him a ring which is a map to find Titan. Tucker was the lead researcher on Project Titan which is feared by the Drej. 15 years later, Cale is working on a salvage station with other aliens. Humanity is reduced to lower class citizens. Joseph Korso, captain of the Valkyrie, finds Cale and his ring to search for Titan, humanity's last hope.

The blend of traditional hand drawn animation and CGI works well mostly. The best is the ice crystal world. The hide-and-seek game inside the crystal is both exhilarating and visionary. In general, the story is a little too simplistic with questionable plot lines. Why would the father give the key to the ship to his son? Why couldn't the father do what the son ended up doing? If the father figure out how to build Titan, couldn't he build simple weapons against the Drej? Wouldn't it be simpler to build contraptions that sucks up Drej energy? The whole quest seems manufactured. The simple story has some rip-roaring fun. The characters are interesting. The evil aliens are formidable. The animation is interesting. I don't like the use of rock music. Overall it's a fun ride but not that compelling.

Titan A.E is a story set in a post-earth era (hence the A.E: after earth, which i thought was a nice touch). Its about the son of a scientist who is thrust upon him the quest of finding the Titan, the greatest ship ever built, and is humanity's last chance.

The movie begins with an awesome scene of the evacuation of earth, and caught me nicely off guard with some great 3D rendering of the Titan (when launched), and the escape ships. The imagination that went into some scenes in the movie, especially the cruising alongside the wake angels, and the ice rinks were fantastic. And the plot, though a bit unrealistic in terms of modern science, was thoroughly refreshing in concept. And its got just the right balance of action to move it quickly from a kids film to a good sci-fi show for slightly older audiences.

Titan A.E is a great film. It has a story that's original and neatly executed. It brought about some great 3D rendering in a time where animation was primarily 2D. Its got good character development with a nice twist in the middle. And its also got a fine soundtrack, which I love to listen to.

Go watch this movie. You will not be disappointed.