Titan A.E.
**1/2
Rated on a 4-star
scale
Screening venue: Warner Village (Birkenhead Conway Park)
Released in the UK by Fox on July 28, 2000; certificate PG; 92 minutes; country
of origin USA; aspect ratio 2.35:1
Directed by Don Bluth, Gary Goldman;
produced by Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, David
Kirschner.
Written by John August, Ben August, Joss Whedon; based
on a story by Hans Bauer, Randall McCormick.
Edited by Bon Bender, Fiona Trayler.
CAST.....
Voice of Matt Damon..... Cale
Voice of Bill Pullman..... Korso
Voice of John Leguizamo..... Gune
Voice of Nathan Lane..... Preed
Voice of Janeane Garofalo..... Stith
Voice of Drew Barrymore..... Akima
Voice of Ron Perlman..... Professor Sam Tucker
Voice of Alex D. Linz..... Young Cale
I make a not unreasonable demand of animated movies,
and that is that they suit their medium. Most people see cartoons and just
accept that they are cartoons. I don't understand that at all -- it's a stylistic
choice like any other, and if it doesn't have a purpose, then it deserves
to be called a flaw.
"Titan A.E.", the notoriously expensive
new animated film from studio 20th Century Fox and directors Don Bluth and
Gary Goldman, feels like the storyboards for a wonderful movie. It's bright
and lively, with a potentially powerful plot and structure, and wonderful
imagination. It also has no business being illustrated. The film did not
bore me once; it did cause me to constantly muse how much better it would
look if it had been filmed as live action.
The plot: Earth is destroyed by a malevolent alien
race known as the Drej. The humans who manage to escape live as an endangered
species, in space stations scattered across different parts of the universe.
Several years after the end of earth, a young man named Cale (Matt Damon)
is given a map and told it is his destiny. It is the key to an invention
his late father was working on, the 'Titan', a device that can genetically
recreate the conditions of Earth in the event of its
destruction.
Cale, along with several other human and animal
chums, travel to find the Titan, and have to contend with Drej members out
to thwart their operation, as well as other aliens who simply want to steal
from or fight them. There are good action sequences during the journey, and
sharp moments of humour. One scene gives us the cliché of our heroes
donning phoney uniforms to try and sneak past an enemy guard -- this time,
though, the guard pretends to be fooled, then reveals that he's rumbled the
game. "An intelligent guard!" one of the characters exclaims. "Didn't see
that one coming..."
Scenes like that, along with the overall structure
of the film, serve as a reminder of the fun and sly intelligence of "Star
Wars". The story is a powerful tale of human determination, and there's a
smart, likeable hero in Damon, who dodges slimy characters with crafty
one-liners, and has some nice sparring matches with a love interest figure
played by Drew Barrymore.
But all the film's plus points simply made me
more frustrated about the catastrophic choice of filming it as animation.
There are bizarre creatures, weightless acrobatics, grand gunfights, intricate
interior designs -- technology would have to be pushed somewhat to realise
all this as live action, but isn't that what we demand of special-effects
movies these days? Walking out of "Titan A.E." is like waking up from a dream
in which you've had a great idea for a movie; except you can't fantasise
about making it, because somebody's already tried and failed.
COPYRIGHT© 2000 Ian
Waldron-Mantgani
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