Common Sense Note
Parents should know there is lots of fantasy violence. The earth is destroyed by an alien race. Some characters die on screen. There are fistfights, laser gun battles, and numerous scenes of spaceship combat. The heroes are constantly in danger, and a scene in which Cale and Akima are brought aboard an enemy Drej spaceship portrays an unnerving and hostile alien environment. Five-year-old Cale is traumatically separated from his father in a scene that could disturb sensitive youngsters. The weird-looking Drej themselves may frighten very young viewers.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Paul Trandahl
TITAN A.E. is an animated feature aimed at an older crowd, a fact made clear by its PG rating and less than sunny premise. In the thirty-first century, the earth is turned to charcoal, and humanity becomes a species in danger of being wiped out altogether. Refreshingly, the filmmakers--notably legendary director Don Bluth --have gone out of their way to insure that the movie is not a Disney clone. The story jettisons fairy tale magic and Broadway-style songs for elaborate high-tech imagery, fast-paced action, and a loud rock music soundtrack.
On a strictly visual level, the movie is a smashing success. The movie's plethora of imaginative futuristic environments was created with state-of-the-art computer animation. One nerve-wracking sequence, in which two spaceships play a game of cat and mouse in an interplanetary ice field, is genuinely jaw dropping. And both the Drej and their spacecraft have a truly menacing, otherworldly appearance.
On the down side, we never connect with the characters in an emotional way that would take the movie to the next level. Cale's transition from uncaring cynic to committed hero is predictable, and his romance with the space pilot Akima is perfunctory at best. Science fiction fans will recognize some recycled plot ideas, and even occasional lines of dialogue lifted from previous sci-fi classics.
However, as the movie's primary goal is apparently to provide its target audience with an adrenaline rush every ten minutes or so, at this, it succeeds admirably.
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Sexual ContentThe hero and heroine each appear in scenes of discreet nudity. |
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ViolenceLots of fantasy violence. The earth is destroyed by an alien race. Some characters die on screen. There are fistfights, laser gun battles, and numerous scenes of spaceship combat. Five-year-old Cale is traumatically separated from his father in a scene t |
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LanguageBrief profanity. |
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