Titan A.E.

Reviewed by:
John DeVore

Titan A.E. is a perfect animated film for 14-year-old boys—and for those of us who haven’t matured beyond 14 (read: a good thing). An immensely entertaining, if not completely original, sci-fi epic, Titan A.E. is a welcome chaser to the crap cartoon musicals that are usually trotted out this time of year. And unlike these kid movies, Titan A.E. tries its best to be adult, complete with characters dying, double entendres, and honest-to-God wit and imagination.

The movie opens up in the distant future with the Drejs, a trippy, hostile alien race, blowing up the Earth as the planet’s inhabitants scramble into spaceships to escape. We fast-forward 15 years to find humans drifting through space as reviled refugees. Matt Damon lends his voice to Cale, a cynical young man who is the key to saving mankind from total extinction. What follows is a race against the Drej to find the fabled Titan A.E., a mysterious space craft with the power to rebuild the Earth.

Don Bluth, of All Dog’s Go To Heaven infamy, redeems himself here, mixing traditional cartoons with snazzy computer-generated effects. Completing the package are amazing chase sequences, unintentionally hilarious hard-rock montages, and brilliant voice work from the likes of Drew Barrymore, John Leguizamo, and Nathan Lane.

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