"Titan A.E." not meant for preschoolers

Cale didn’t know how good he had it. Fifteen years after the destruction of the earth and the death of his father, the young human was working on an outer space salvage yard among aliens and, what he considered, low-life human scum. His only friend was his guardian, Tek (voiced by Tone-Loc).

Then his life, which he didn’t like much anyhow, came crashing down on him when the Valkyre docked on his Salvage yard and picked him up. In a split second he went from “just another human” to the savior of Earth’s former inhabitants. It was up to Cale (voiced by Matt Damon) to restore humanity to the greatness it once had. The only problem is, he hates humanity. He blames Earth and all humans for his dad’s death; and he blames his dad for leaving him.

That’s a tough topic for a young child to handle, and I still believe it, although I used to believe it was difficult for a child of any age. When I first saw the trailer for this movie last year, I had a difficult time deciding whether to take my family to see it. Then my cousin gave the tape to us as a gift. I was a little cautious about it, not knowing if it would be appropriate for my two young sons. But since my cousin has two sons of her own, I set aside my concerns temporarily.

I was pleasantly surprised, but I’m also a big Trekkie, so I was bound to like something with a science fiction touch to it. The question remains about my kids. Fortunately, “Titan A.E.” keeps one-on-one bloody violence down for a futurisic flick, but it is implied and kids do have very vivid imaginations. I do not recommend “Titan A.E.” for small children, but older children should be capable of dealing with the short snatches of shooting lasers and the brief nude scene where we see Cale’s rear end. The father’s death is not witnessed and only briefly brought up. Other scenes that might be of concern for parents might include one dream sequence where Cale gets shot in the chest by the Drej, another sequence where Akima gets shot in the shoulder, and one where the roach-like and very unlikeable cook gets disintegrated by a Drej laser and (this is gross) only his eyes remain bouncing around to the echoes of his annoying voice.

In “Titan A.E.”, Cale’s people have been displaced -- an evil race of aliens, known as the Drej, has destroyed Earth. Some humans managed to escape and have been living in “drifter colonies” scattered throughout space. Cale’s father invented a device that could create a new planet and, like a futuristic Noah’s Ark, its inhabitants; but he hid it so the Drej could not destroy it. Only Cale has the map, but until Korso and the crew of the Valkyre appear, he has no idea he holds the fate of humanity in his hand – the map is encoded into his ring.

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