I remember being pretty stoked for this movie back in 2000. A full fledged animated sci-fi/fantasy film was right up my alley, especially since it encompassed both my favorite genre and storytelling medium. Combine that with Don Bluth (the man behind The Secret of Nihm) and I could not see how this movie could go wrong. Sadly, when the closing credits began to roll I found myself both frustrated and disappointed. I could tell that a good movie was in there somewhere, but finding it would have required many fundamental changes in the films animation and story structure.
The story of Titan A.E. goes something like this; in the year 3028 A.D. Earth has been destroyed and the human race now has to wander the universe as galactic drifters. The cause of Earths destruction is the Drej, an alien race comprised entirely of energy. For some reason the Drej fear mankind (something about our boundless creativity) and with the completion of our greatest invention - the Titan spaceship - they decided it would be best to end the human threat by blowing up our planet (can't argue with that logic). The Titan escapes destruction though thanks to its inventor Sam Tucker. Sam manages to launch the Titan and jump to light speed before the Drej can get to it, but in the process he uses up all the energy needed to power the ships true purpose. Before this escape Sam is forced to send his four year old son away on a separate evacuation vessel (since the Titan was the Drej's primary target Sam knew it would be safer this way). During the dramatic goodbye Sam gives his young son Cale a ring and states that "as long as you wear it, there is hope". Fifteen years later Cale is now nineteen years old and works in a space based salvage yard. Soon after the introduction of teenage Cale (complete with cynical, angry attitude) Captain Korso arrives. Korso shows Cale that the ring he still wears is actually a genetically encoded map leading to the location of the Titan. Turns out the Drej are also looking for Cale and before you know it he and Korso find themselves in the middle of a good old fashioned space station shootout. Eventually they escape aboard Korso's ship the Valkyrie, and begin their quest to find the Titan, mankind's last hope. Of course no spaceship is complete without an eclectic crew, and the Valkyrie is no different. Joining Cale and Korso is another human Akima, she is co-pilot of the Valkyrie and obligatory love interest for Cale. On the non-human side we have first mate Preed, navigation expert Gune, and a cranky female weapons/combat officer named Stith. Can this rag-tag bunch find the Titan before the Drej and save mankind? Of course they can, but it’s not the destination that counts, it’s the journey to get there.
As you may have been able to tell from my description above the plot of Titan A.E. is not exactly groundbreaking. It does make for a good action/adventure vehicle however. Executed properly this would be an excellent film. Instead the movie fails in its delivery with uneven story structure and cliché characters. Problem number one occurs during the film's first act. Once Cale joins up with the crew of the Valkyrie we are whisked away to the maps first landmark. With no time to acclimate ourselves to Cale's new surroundings, the movie begins to feel unnaturally rushed. Worse is Cale's capture - and eventual escape - from the Drej. The capture itself serves no purpose other than to allow the Drej to copy Cale's map, and the escape is far too easy and under explained (how is it that Cale can manipulate the Drej energy fields, or fly one of their space craft?). These events just don't feel organic, instead they feel like forced plot points necessary to progress the story. At the same time other important plot points - such as Cale's ability to fix just about anything and Akima's piloting skill - are almost completely ignored. This is especially bad since these character traits play an important role in the movies' climax.
Speaking of characters, I found all three of the central human characters in Titan A.E. to be exceedingly predictable and cliché. I mentioned before that Cale is your typical angry, jaded teenager. He's mad at daddy for leaving him and all he cares about is himself. Of course the journey to find Titan changes all that. Failed attempts to interject humor into Cale don't help either. Jokes about frozen burritos and naming new Earth "Bob" fall completely flat. Korso is even worse (warning I'm about to spoil an important plot point). At first Korso offers Cale friendship and purpose, but Cale soon discovers the ugly truth. Korso is using him to find the Titan so that he can turn it over to the Drej (gasp!). Don't worry though, Korso's betrayal is eventually followed by his redemption as he sacrifices his own life to see the Titan's purpose achieved. Though these are not age old character archetypes they definitely fall into the "modern stereotype" department (much like the space smuggler with a heart of gold, and the naive young hero found in the 1980s). Akima is not as bad but mostly because she lacks definition. Outside of her past as a colony drifter there is very little to be said about Akima. This is unfortunate because I think she had the most potential. A flashback or two from her childhood could have really driven home her passionate desire to find the Titan.
Though I found the story and characters of Titan A.E. somewhat lacking, my real beef with the movie comes from the animation. Have you ever met two beautiful people and thought their children would be gorgeous, only to later find out the kid's butt ugly? Such is the case with Titan A.E. The traditional cell animation and painted backgrounds are fantastic, not surprising when you consider Don Bluth's involvement. Character models are consistent, movement is a fluid 24 frames per second and the overall craftsmanship is decidedly feature film worthy. The same can be said in regards to the movies CGI (computer generated images). Though not as good as the traditional animation, Titan A.E.s CG stands on its own very nicely and there is nothing cheap looking about it. So what happens when you combine these two beautiful forms of animation? You get crap. How can something like this happen you ask? It's simple, the traditional animation and CGI animation look drastically different. Separate from each other they work fine, once they occupy the same space however, the whole illusion necessary for animation to work is destroyed. This is a classic mistake made in other animated films such as Sinbad and Anastasia, it's also baffling. The use of CG in traditionally animated movies was not that new in 2000. Other movies like The Iron Giant (if you have not seen The Iron Giant stop reading and do so now!) and Tarzan were made prior to Titan A.E. and they figured out how to do it, so why couldn't Don Bluth and company do the same? Some scenes do work better than others, but on a whole the effect is simply too distracting. The final scene of Cale and Akima standing atop new Earth is exceptionally bad.
Production and character design is mostly good. I loved a lot of the space colony and space station design as well as the various alien designs. Korso, Preed, Stith and Gune all look good, as does the Valkyrie. Sadly Cale and Akima do have issues. Cale's haircut is exceedingly dated (even back in 2000 it was dated) and Akima's look, though nice, comes across as a little "hipster". Still these are small complaints and do little, if anything, to hurt the film.
Unfortunately the voice acting in Titan A.E. does hurt the film. I've always liked the saying "He has a face for radio", but wondered if the reverse could apply. Well thanks to Matt Damon I now know that the answer is a resounding yes. Matt Damon must have a face for live action entertainment because he certainly does NOT have a voice made for animation. Cale's voice (performed by Damon) is so flat and monotonous it actually becomes distracting during the course of the film. I know studios want to cast big name actors in these roles, but they should at least make sure the person can pull it off first. Drew Barrymore is better as Akima, but there are so many actresses that could have done a better job it’s just sad. On the plus side Nathan Lane (Preed), Janeane Garofalo (Stith) and John Leguizamo (Gune) all turn in good performances. Surprisingly the big standout of the group is Bill Pullman (Korso). I never would have expected such an unassuming actor to have such a distinct voice. His inflection and cadence gives much needed dimension to an otherwise formulaic character.
I don't have much to say about the music of Titan A.E. The movie uses a lot of "popular" songs from 2000, something that can be dangerous if done incorrectly. Luckily the choices were all good and actually complement the film. Still I worry that in another ten years or so the movies soundtrack will date it the same way that the Transformers movie soundtrack does (animated movie from 1986, not the crappy Michael Bay stuff).
Looking back at Titan A.E. I continue to wonder what could have been. If all the issues I've detailed were fixed would the movie be a classic? Probably not, but I do think the film had a real shot at respectability. As it is the movie still has enough positive qualities to warrant a viewing, if for no other reason than the fact we don't get a lot of epic space opera animation these days.
