No Star Wars animation, this!

Sukanya Verma

An animated Star Wars?

Don't even think about it!

Titan AE is a fun and visually exciting film, targeted at teenagers.

Circa 3028, Earth no longer exists, hence the AE (After Earth). We are introduced to lead protagonist Cale (Matt Damon) who's one of the few survivors of the alien onslaught, namely Drejs.

A brief flashback: Cale's space fighter dad Tucker had revealed the secret to finding Titan, the only hope left for human existence, before the Drejs killed him. A genetically coded map on Cale's hand is the sole key to the whereabouts of Titan.

This piece of information is revealed only years later to Cale by his dad's fellow fighter Korso (Bill Pullman).

Cale is reluctantly coaxed into joining him and Akima (Drew Barrymore) in their quest for Titan. Akima, who seems like a cross between Belle (Beauty and the Beast) and Mulan, is a tomboyish, a gingery dame who soon falls for Cale's disarming charms.

Together Cale, Korso, Akima and a bunch of goofy intergalactic species Preed, Steeth and Gune (Nathan Lane, Janeane Garofalo and John Leguizamo) form an army to terminate alien invasion and restore Earth to its natural form.

The rest is history.

Titan AE has some spunky, hi-tech animation. The background is incredibly colourful and innovative. Special mention must be made of the 'beautifully executed hydrogen trees' sequence.

Directors Don Bluth and Gary Goldman (Beauty and the Beast, Anastasia) make up for a wafer-thin script with cool gizmos, gadgetry and a vivid imagination. The playful chemistry between Cale and Akima is unlike anything you've seen in animated flicks.

You could be easily persuaded into thinking that Titan AE is a glorified music video with funky tracks by Jamiroquai and Fun Lovin' Criminals.

The voiceovers by Matt Damon and Bill Pullman are alright. But it is Barrymore and the trio of Lane, Garofalo and Leguizamo that infuse life in the inventively sketched characters.

If you’re a space freak, you might enjoy Titan AE, to some extent. But let me warn you, it's no classic.

As an aside, the box office disaster of this film resulted in the closure of Fox Animation and the director duo was named as the sole reason.

Official website of Titan AE