 Don Bluth In Space
by Brad Cook Titan A.E. is merely good, not great. It looks beautiful and the plot and characters hold up well, but something seems to be missing. Perhaps it's the lack of a sinister villain, or perhaps it's the way some of the dialogue and plot points are lifted from other science-fiction films, most notably the Star Wars series, instead of being wholly original. The story is set in the year 3028. The Drej, alien beings which consist of pure energy, destroyed the Earth 15 years prior and killed most humans except for small groups which drift through space in rag-tag colonies. A man named Professor Sam Tucker escaped in a ship he created called Titan during the invasion and was never heard from again. Supposedly the Titan holds the key to mankind's future, and we learn that Tucker's son Cale (voiced by Matt Damon) has the map which shows where he hid the ship. The professor's old pal Korso (Bill Pullman) shows up with a mission to find the Titan and he needs Cale's help. But, Cale is bitter because his father left him and doesn't see why he should risk his neck for anyone or anything. After some Drej agents show up with guns blazing, Cale decides to leave mining colony Tau 14 with Korso and his colorful crew: the beautiful pilot Akima (Drew Barrymore), weapons specialist Stith (Janeane Garofalo), first mate Preed (Nathan Lane) and quirky navigator Gune (John Leguizamo). The last three are aliens which resemble Earth animals that belie their personality: Preed and Stith both look some kind of rat while Gune is a turtle-like creature with glasses. Of the voice talents, only Garofalo sounds like herself. The others manage to lose themselves so thoroughly in their parts that you never form mental pictures of them. They are their characters. Leguizamo in particular gives such an outstanding performance that I bet many theater-goers will be watching the end credits to see who played Gune. Despite the fact that an assortment of cooks such as screenwriters Ben Edlund (The Tick), John August (the movie Go) and Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), as well as the two directors who preceded Don Bluth, were involved in this film's development, they still produced a tasty broth. Many movies suffer from story dilution by a steady progression of creators itching to put their mark on them, but it seems like Bluth knew what he wanted and made sure he got it. The story is a straight-ahead adventure romp full of unique elements, from the hydrogen trees of Sesharrim to the beautiful giant ice crystals that float through the Ice Rings of Tigrin. While the creatures that inhabit Sesharrim look like they stepped out of an episode of the old animated Star Trek show and the final chase sequence through the ice rings borrows a bit from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn, the action still keeps us interested in finding out what will happen next.
Overall, the plot and characterization are about on the level we've come to expect from science-fiction films such as the Star Trek and Star Wars series. In fact, at one point, Akima asks Cale if she should get out and push when their ship's engines fail to work, a dialogue theft from The Empire Strikes Back which diminishes the moment. Bluth and company make up for it, though, with a joke between the two of them at the end of the film which takes us by surprise. Believe me, it's not the sort of joke one would expect in a film like this, and it underscores the fact that this is a light-hearted film. Titan A.E. is definitely superior to Bluth's last movie, Anastasia, which had a weak climax to the story and 3D animation that looked completely out of place next to the traditional 2D elements. While this film does feature the clichd triumphant return of a main character to save the day at the end (a la Star Wars), the story makes up for it with a few interesting plot twists. It also doesn't hurt that the animation is stunning. Since this is science-fiction, the pulsing form of the Drej doesn't stand out conspicuously, and the spectacular final sequence set among the Ice Rings couldn't have been done without the help of computers. In the end, this isn't a movie which will break any box office records, but it will likely have a place in film history as a solid effort from a director whose career has been below the radar screens of most theater patrons the past several years. It looks beautiful, the story and characters are engaging, and its message that humanity is worth a damn after all make it a fine way to spend two hours in a movie theater this summer.
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