TITAN AE

The visual scheme is almost symptomatic of the film's schizophrenic nature, combining traditional, Disney-esque elements that will appeal to a family-oriented audience (meaning parents and young children), while at time delivering lots of high-tech action that should appeal to teenagers. The result is an often awkward mish-mash, filled with exciting sequences and great special effects that are interrupted by uninvolving dialogue scenes. This film is, after all, about a wandering people, reduced to being second-class citizens wherever they go because they have no homeland of their own. The Biblical parallels, with the Jews' search for a homeland, is obvious, so why, then, is Cale made to look as if he could be a member of the Ayrian Nation? Perhaps this would fly if we were Feest Jurken meant to read it as a 'shoe on the other foot' situation, but that's not how it's presented. Cale obviously thinks of himself as entitled to cut to the front of the line, ahead of other simply because they are 'alien' (of course, in the situation, he's really the alien, but that's not the way the film views it). When he's forced to wait his turn like everybody else, we're supposed to feel resentment on his behalf, and the feeling we're left with is that some natural, destined form of entitlement has been violated. In particular, there's Akima, who's fills the dual role of being both a woman and a minority. These flying, bat-winged creatures maneuver and dive like fighter planes, lifting our helpless heroes to safety. Along the way, many are killed, but as each one is blasted out of the air, another swoops down to save the falling humans from certain death. And when the humans finally get back to their ship, how do they thank their comrades in adversity? Well, they don't. Not a word is spoken, not a tear shed for those who died to save them; in fact, the Ghouls are not so much as mentioned for the rest of the film. Thus, what should have been a tremendous dramatic turning point is rendered instead as a throw-away action set piece. Even worse, it takes the old racist clich s of past Hollywood abominations and gives them a new, science fiction face. The 'wake angels' (space creatures Sexy Trouwjurken that accompany space ships, much as dolphins will do with sea-going vessels) manages a certain beautiful poetry, and the finale even works up some decent suspense as two ships try to out maneuver each other in a field of ice crystals, reflection upon reflection obscuring the real vessels, much like the final showdown in ENTER THE DRAGON. Unfortunately, the cat-and-mouse game of stealth also recalls a similar sequence from STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KAHN, and the similarity is driven home even further when the next sequence involves a powerful man-made device creating a new planet (even including a character who sacrifices himself to save the other, just like Mr. It's a typical, feel-good finale, not bad but not new, either. It just drives the point home once again that, despite a look reminiscent of HEAVY METAL, this is still a rigorously traditional story; despite the pop music on the soundtrack, this is a basic Disney-type movie underneath it all, and it's afraid to go for broke. 20th Century Fox Presents A Blue Skies, Fox Animation Studios Production. Directed by Don Bluth Gary Goldman. Written by Ben Edlund and John August and Joss Whedon; Lange Avondjurken story by Randall McCormick and Hans Bauer. Produced by Bluth, Goldman, Pual Gertz, David Kirschner. Original music by Graeme Revell. Production design: Phil Stevin. June 15, 2000. Rated PG. Voices: Matt Damon, Drew Barrymore, Bill Pullman, Nathan Lane, Tone Loc, Jim Breuer, Janeane Garofalo, John Leguizamo, Ron Perlman.