| Product: |
Titan A.E. (DVD) |
| Date: |
08/07/08 (130 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Western anime..
Disadvantages: Didnt take off
Being a gentleman I gave up my Saturday night on the Northampton tiles (sorry girls!) to look after my favorite lady - my little niece Eloise. So, if you're babysitting you obviously have a child at hand so you need a movie to watch, and as I am that fair minded guy I let her choose. She is only two and when I asked what she wanted to see she gurgled something like cartoon, counting it out on her fingers, which was the only excuse I needed as I quickly extracted Titan A.E. from that pile of free films you get in magazines that you haven't yet stuck in your DVD. I finally had an excuse to watch a boys cartoon! If 'grown ups' are allowed to watch those things from Pixar because they have subtle adult references sprinkled in (in-jokes for adults to get both mum and dad to go to the multiplexes to make the studio more money) then I can watch Titan A.E.
Because Titan A.E. didn't do very well at the said box-office in 2000, 20th Century Fox closed down its animation studio operation in Arizona after only two feature films (the other one was "Anastasia"). Then Fox stepped in and contracted Blue Sky studios to produce animated films using 3D computer graphics such as "Ice Age" and "Robots". The digital pixel film boom was born. Although Titan A.E has a very dated look it was the first real Japanese anime style film to make money in Hollywood. What didn't change in the lucrative genre was the use of big name stars to voice the characters to get that older audience in. Matt Damon is the 'money' here as the handsome hero. But do any of you remember 'Tone Loc' and the 'Funky Cold Medina'..?
-Cast-
Matt Damon ... Cale Tucker (voice)
Bill Pullman ... Capt. Joseph Korso (voice)
John Leguizamo ... Gune (voice)
Nathan Lane ... Preed (voice)
Janeane Garofalo ... Stith (voice)
Drew Barrymore ... Akima (voice)
Ron Perlman ... Professor Sam Tucker (voice)
Alex D. Linz ... Young Cale (voice)
Tone Loc ... Tek (voice) (as Tone-Lõc)
Jim Breuer ... The Cook (voice)
Christopher Scarabosio ... Queen Drej (voice)
Jim Cummings ... Chowquin (voice)
-Plot-
Earth is about to be destroyed in the 33rd century by the aliens of Dredge, a pure energy life-force that doesn't particularly like non pure energy life forms. The humans must die and the Earth is indeed quickly fried, Hitchhikers Guide style, the colonists fleeing in all directions. Young 7-year-old Cale Tucker (Voice of Alex D. Linz) escapes the planet with minutes to spare, but not his heroic father, Dr Sam Tucker (Ron Pearlman) has only seconds to spare to clear the scorched planet, entrusted with saving the mysterious Titan A.E project vessel.
We flash forward 12 years where Cale (voice of Matt Damon) is all grown up into a square-jawed hunky space drifter who works on a floating junk yard and anything but a hero like his missing presumed lost dad. So enter Preed (Nathan Lane), offering Cale a way out of his crappy life, a chance to save the human race no less, they being reduced by the Dredge across the universe and he the only one who can save them. For on his finger he has a ring his father gave him just before they left Earth that will lead them to the hiding place of the Titan Experiment. Although less than impressed with what's on offer, the arrival of the angry Dredge at the base station and a promising ride with beautiful pilot Akima (Drew Barrymore voice) out of there on Preeds ship is enough to change his mind to scarper.
So off they go in search of the Titan vessel, the Dredge not far behind. But this is an Empire striking back so there's room for a double-cross or two as the prize draws close. Will Cale shape up into the Luke Skywalker hero and get the girl or will he fail miserably when the human race call upon him...
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-Trivia-
(C/O imdb.com)
For a preview screening on 6 June 2000 in Atlanta, this movie was transmitted in digital form from the studio, across the Internet, to the digital projector at the theater. It never once touched film, and was the first major Hollywood film to be publicly previewed that way.
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-Conclusions-
Well my little niece certainly enjoyed it as she eeked and squealed at exactly the right moments. They must have been the right moments as I did the same. I suppose we can call it a success in the babysitting stakes then. Eli did indeed fall for leading man Cale, and if that young girl that won Wimbledon can take 34-year-old Marat Safin to the Wimbledon Ball then Eli can go for ice cream with Cale. Cale is cute, guys! I, of course, fell for Akima, Drew Barrymore definitely one of my favorite leading ladies.
I suppose this is essentially Star Wars the cartoon for young teenagers who are still living their dreams and fantasies in their bedrooms and you can't expect much more than that if you're in your very late thirties. With a cracking 'skater rock' soundtrack and distinctive and artistic space panoramas from the graphics production team you can see it was a film very much of its time, made some 8 years ago now. I can't say I was blown away by it but I wasn't supposed to be. But it had enough tempo and creativity to it to break even as far as entertainment goes and if little Eli loved it then her warm blue eyes would recommend it to everyone! Now, what film for next time for a two year old...What do you mean I won't get asked back!
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Imdb.com scores it 6.3 out of 10:0 (13,324 votes)
RuN-TiMe 94 minutes
For young kids and lazy babysitters...
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Summary: Cartoons make money..
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