Titan A.E. (2000)

Movie Info

Titan A.E. combines cel and CG imagery in this science fiction saga. In 3028, after the Earth is destroyed by an invading alien race, a tiny number of surviving humans roam the universe in ragtag spaceships, trying to find each other and maintain some sense of community. Shortly before the final destruction of the planet, Cale (voice of Matt Damon) was given a map that would guide him to a space station called Titan, secretly constructed as a last hope in the event of alien Armageddon. Cale sets out in search of Titan and the fabled Ice Planet with the help of his friend Korso (voice of Bill Pullman), the beautiful Akima (voice of Drew Barrymore), and a crew of friendly aliens. Titan A.E. was directed by noted animators Don Bluth and Gary Goldman and scripted by Ben Edlund, creator of the comic book series The Tick. Other members of the voice cast include Nathan Lane, Janeane Garofalo, John Leguizamo, and Tone Loc.

Mark Deming, Rovi

PG (for action violence, mild sensuality and brief language)

Prepare for life after Earth. Good animated movie! The animation by far is a turning point in the world of animated features. From the start, you can tell the animation is exceptional. Extra time was taken to make the characters lifelike, as well as the environments they are in, the coordinating of colors, and even the shadows from a tree on the character's faces. It's unbelievable. And the 2D animation mixes so well with the 3D animation, it just adds to the thrill of the movie. The scenes in the movie are exceptional, from the ice rings scene with the reflections to the wake angels scene in space. Go watch this movie. You will not be disappointed. In the year 3028 A.D. Earth is being attacked by the Drej, which are aliens made of pure energy! The Drej mother-ship destroys Earth with an energy beam just as hundreds of space vehicles manage to escape with the last of mankind aboard! One of the escapees is Sam's young son Cale, who carries with him a ring given to him by his father. Fifteen years later, Cale works on a salvage station, eking out a rough life and hating his father for having disappeared aboard the Titan so long ago. Without a home planet, surviving humans have been reduced to outer space drifters and are constantly bullied and looked down on by other space-faring races. A human captain named Joseph Korso and his pilot Akima seek out Cale and explain that he must help them find the Titan which contains a mechanism that will create a new Earth and therefore unite all of humanity. Meanwhile, the Drej wants to find the Titan so that they can destroy it. With Korso's help, Cale discovers that the ring his father gave to him contains a genetically encoded map to the Titan, and thus begins his race across the universe with Korso and his ship and crew, including Preed, a wisecracking rat-like humanoid, Gune, an eccentric, green-skinned scientist, and Stith, a tough, hard-as-nails weapons expert who resembles something of a kangaroo. Before long, Cale and Akima finds out that Korso is searching for the Titan in order to hand it over to the Drej.

It's exciting to see Bluth/Goldman tackle an animated Scifi feature. Known for their tendency to break the child-like constraints of their Disney competition and deliver sophistication above the average "cartoon" movie, this was something to look forward to. And It doesn't disappoint. It's beyond me why critics are so hard on Titan AE. The movie plays on many SciFi themes/templates from existing material, but there's enough original concepts in the designs and ideas to make it more than a mere derivative. It's a perfect entry into the Scifi genre for newcomers and a respectable ride for veterans. It never actually falls short of anything except for the 90's rock mashed into a few scenes that probably would have benefit more from a traditional approach. (but hey, I'm no music critic!) That and maybe because the technology was new at the time but the 3D work never really meshes that well with the 2D on several occasions. For the record, Stith is awesome and Gune is deliciously quirky. Intelligent Guard? The best.