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Review: 'Titan A.E.'
Titan A.E. is a good-hearted disappointment.
One of the striking things about Close Encounters Of The Third Kind was that it had the daring idea to present alien life as decidedly non-hostile, the aliens as curious about us as we are about them. Because extraterrestrial life is a blank, writers run amok imagining what life out there might be like. From Orson Welles to L. Ron Hubbard to Ben Edlund, John August and Joss Whedon (Titan's writers), they hardly ever come up with anything pretty.
Most recent sci-fi films, animated or otherwise, including the Mother Movie (Star Wars) construct their films around the premise that in the future there is a technologically advanced, demonic alien culture out there which has ravaged our planet; loathes humanity and is determined to wipe us out for murky reasons in the most vicious possible way at all costs. They always have great, if unreliable technology and weapons that fire light in pulsating bursts or laser beams. This has been the story of this summer's most spectacular catastrophe, Battlefield Earth, and also of this week's animated intergalactic adventure Titan A.E., directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman.
Some of the animation is very good, and if you're into it, worth the trek. But the plot is becoming numbingly familiar, the genre dangerously predictable: brash and irreverant (and handsome) young space orphan (Cale, voiced by Matt Damon) seething with father-son issues and soon to square off against the relentless and very blue Drej (like Border Collies, they are pure energy), which had suddenly blown up the earth 15 years ago to stave off the completion of the Titan Project, humanity's last and only hope. Yes, you probably have figured out by now that the headstrong Cale is the last hope for the future of the species.
Why wipe out an entire planet? It isn't because of anything humans have done, but because of what we clever rascals might do in the future, explains one character, especially if people regain control of the supership Titan, hidden away somewhere deep in the galaxy by Cale's dad. For some reason, just leaving primitive humans alone is never an option for the Drej. The Titan (A.E. stands for "After Earth) has the power -- precisely how is never explained -- to give humanity its own planet back, and Cale has to get to the ship before the Drej do, confronted along the way by innumerable laser blasts, betrayals, and rapid maturation experiences. Helping him along is the now standard sci-fi feminist tough-girl pilot Akima (Drew Barrymore) who flies and talks suspiciously like Han Solo when she and Cale aren't a-flutter over one another.
The well-equipped Drej are advanced enough to wipe out the earth in seconds and to capture Cale, but they haven't quite figured out how to build a cell that can hold him for 30 seconds. Although the future of humans is on the line, Cale never loses site of the real drama in the movie -- coming to terms with seething resentment at his Dad.
This movie, while entertaining and warm-hearted, isn't funny or scary enough. The special effects/animation bar is being raised all the time, and those in Titan, A.E. aren't spectacular. The studio expected male teenagers to flock to this movie, but according to the weekend grosses, they didn't. Neither did anybody else. Perhaps they sensed that the mythology is lame. That the writers stuck unaccountably close to the Star Wars story lines. That there are too many characters moving too quickly in too many different settings for us to know or care about any of them. And the plot....well, it's past time for some new clicks in the earth-ravaged-by-technology-humans-pursued by no-dimensional aliens sci-fi flick plot line. Almost anybody reading this could recite the plot line by heart without seeing a single scene. If you're into animation or special affects, go see it. Otherwise, Shaft is a better choice.
(Warning: Some of Jon Katz's comments may make little or no sense. Spoiler material contained within)
"This movie, while entertaining and warm-hearted, isn't funny or scary enough."
Ah, yes Jon. Exactly what were you expecting it be with a _PG_ rating? I was personally amazed at some of the content the ratings board let slip into the PG market. Gratuitous animated gore usually doesn't survive the 'dumbing down' to PG-level. Neither do butt-shots of the lead character. Had this been a PG-13 movie, and designed to be scary, we could've expected a lot more. They could have easily made the Drej absolute nightmares, but they didn't, because this is not a "scary" movie.
(WARNING: Spoilers below this point)
"The Titan (A.E. stands for "After Earth) has the power -- precisely how is never explained -- to give humanity its own planet back,"
It's not explained because most of the target audience (male teenagers, according to Katz) doesn't have enough of a grasp of physics. Hey Jon, do you know how Star Trek's Warp Drive works? How about their shields? What about the Death Star's energy cannons? No? Does it matter? Does it take away from the movie at all?
"The well-equipped Drej are advanced enough to wipe out the earth in seconds and to capture Cale, but they haven't quite figured out how to build a cell that can hold him for 30 seconds."
Sigh. And he misses a plot point entirely. Jon, did it ever occur to you that the Drej let him escape? Ever wonder why the Drej didn't wonder where their rogue fighter ran off to? Did Corseau's betrayal give you any clue? Sheez.
"For some reason, just leaving primitive humans alone is never an option for the Drej."
Gyah. Someone needs to explain the concept of a "plot" to Jon. Could the Drej be harassing humans because they're _gasp_ looking for Cale so they can make sure the Titan, a ship capable of destroying them utterly, is destroyed forever?
"Although the future of humans is on the line, Cale never loses site of the real drama in the movie -- coming to terms with seething resentment at his Dad."
Again, Jon misses another not-so-subtle plot point. Remember Cale's big speech at the start of the movie? About how he doesn't care about the human race as a hole, because it's already doomed? For a large portion of the movie, Cale is just in it for himself. As it progresses, he slowly grows into the role Corseau presented to him at the beginning, the "Saviour of Mankind". Meanwhile, Corseau slowly sheds his shiny exteriour to reveal the bitterness lurking underneath. It's wonderful to see plot depth like this in a _PG_ movie.
Overall, I found Titan AE to be exactly what I expected it to be: A "Transformers, the Movie" for the 21st century. Beautiful special effects, using a blending of CGI, hand-drawn animation, and painted art (which according to Katz is uninspiring and yet is supposed to appeal to the special-effects crowd?), a wonderful plot, and (for once) a non-orchestral soundtrack that not only fits well into the movie, but does wonders to set the mood. This is definately a movie to go see if you enjoy animation/cartoons at all, and while not quite as much 'fun' as Shaft, the fact that _it actually has a plot_ makes it far more enjoyable as whole (I saw Shaft prior to seeing Titan. It's a blast, but consists solely of Samuel L. Jackson being a badass).