Matt Damon voices Cale, the teenager who's going to save the universe from the Drej, an electric blue alien race that within the first 10 minutes of the film reduce the Earth to rubble. As animated, Cale looks like he could be a fill in for N*sync if Justin Timberlake ever takes a sick day. It's quite obvious that this film is aimed at people who have grown tired of the traditional Disney formula. The filmmakers even went so far as to give Cale a butt shot. Now, I ask you, how many times did Aladdin, Hercules, or even Tarzan moon the camera? I thought so. Unfortunately, the makers of Titan A.E. didn't go far enough when developing their "mature" animated epic. I enjoyed Titan A.E. mind you (I own the DVD), but it to often got stuck in a rut of a story that's been done ten times over, and it's done with a mix of computer and traditional animation that doesn't always blend together seamlessly. Sadly, most of the supporting characters are stock and pretty predictable. Not even 20 minutes into the film, I had already figured out who was going to double cross who, and what the final outcome of the story would be.
If it sounds like I'm being to harsh on Titan A.E. (especially after I stated I liked and own the movie), it's only because I haven't gotten to the positive parts of the movie, which outweigh the negative.
Visually, the film is stunning. No, some of the cross animation doesn't blend together very well, but the majority of the film is beautiful. The space vistas are colorful, interesting and just plain gorgeous. The interactions between Cale and Akima (Drew Barrymore) are good, and the film moves along quickly. I also liked how the Drej remained mysterious and spoke in their own language.
As I said at the beginning, Titan A.E. is an animated film geared towards those who are looking for something a little less traditional, and there are numerous scenes that point out that that attempt was made. One such scene is the much talked about ice crystal cat and mouse chase. This one scene just about makes the movie. This is what the whole film should've been.
Given it's checkered history, it's not hard to see why Titan A.E. looks more like a committee movie than a filmmakers passion. This film put the last nail in Fox Animation Studios, and from what I understand, Don Bluth was never that into the movie to begin with. It's too bad that all the behind the scenes actions hurt it like it did because Titan A.E. really is a good flick. I was never bored and have watched it repeatedly since picking it up. With a little more focus and freedom, I think this film really could've been the envelope pushing sci-fi epic it was originally intended to be.
If it sounds like I'm being to harsh on Titan A.E. (especially after I stated I liked and own the movie), it's only because I haven't gotten to the positive parts of the movie, which outweigh the negative.
Visually, the film is stunning. No, some of the cross animation doesn't blend together very well, but the majority of the film is beautiful. The space vistas are colorful, interesting and just plain gorgeous. The interactions between Cale and Akima (Drew Barrymore) are good, and the film moves along quickly. I also liked how the Drej remained mysterious and spoke in their own language.
As I said at the beginning, Titan A.E. is an animated film geared towards those who are looking for something a little less traditional, and there are numerous scenes that point out that that attempt was made. One such scene is the much talked about ice crystal cat and mouse chase. This one scene just about makes the movie. This is what the whole film should've been.
Given it's checkered history, it's not hard to see why Titan A.E. looks more like a committee movie than a filmmakers passion. This film put the last nail in Fox Animation Studios, and from what I understand, Don Bluth was never that into the movie to begin with. It's too bad that all the behind the scenes actions hurt it like it did because Titan A.E. really is a good flick. I was never bored and have watched it repeatedly since picking it up. With a little more focus and freedom, I think this film really could've been the envelope pushing sci-fi epic it was originally intended to be.