Well, if you are stuck inside your home, with tons of time on your hands, nothing could be more rewarding than watching this jewel of a movie. For me, as I watched it, I became an eleven year old boy again. It’s a movie about adventure, strange lands, mysteries, pirates, and a cute white dog named Snowy. It’s also about treasure, hidden secrets, maps, and hidden clues, motorcycle escapes, and survival at sea. Oh, and let’s not forget being kidnapped and Shanghaied by your crew and an endless supply of whiskey. It’s everything that an eleven year old boy could want and more. And that is why I loved this movies and recommend it for all your co-shut-ins.
The movie is perfect, but I do believe that a bowl or Doritos or Wise / Lays (American style) potato-chips with a nice onion dip would really help to enhance the enjoyment of this movie. Oh, yeah, and don’t forget the frosty ice-cold beer while you are at it.
It’s a great movie to have your favorite pet by your side as well.
The Plot
Before he died in 1983, (the man who created Tintin) Hergé said that if any filmmaker was to adapt his collection of stories about the adventures of Tintin into a movie, then Steven Spielberg was the only man for the job.
Thus after two decades of trial and error, the cinematic version of Tintin has finally reached our screens.
Alongside Spielberg on this project was maestro Peter Jackson as producer (perhaps you know him from the Lord of the Rings trilogy) and three of Britain’s brightest writers (Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish).
This 3D motion-capture and CGI masterpiece combines three of Tintin’s most beloved stories ([1] The Crab with the Golden Claws, [2] The Secret of the Unicorn and [3] Red Rackham’s Treasure).
Spielberg and Jackson and all the team behind this movie adaptation obviously gave the original material the love and respect it deserved, while making it their own.
To clarify the origins of the story itself, you have to know that it isn’t the adaptation of one, but three Tintin comics.
Its beginning takes root in [1] “Le Crabe aux Pinces D’or”, while the rest of the movie revolves around the two-albums story of the hunt for Rakham the Red’s treasure, [2] “Le Secret de la Licorne” and [3] “Le Trésor de Rakham le Rouge”.
While it could seem like a lot of material for a whole movie, the choice of blending those three (two and a half) stories together turns out giving the movie a rather perfect pacing.
After discovering an elegant model of the ship the ‘Unicorn’ at a market, Tintin (voiced by Jamie Bell) and his loyal dog Snowy are intrigued as to why so many desire it, and comment on the secrets it holds.
When the model is stolen, more information surfaces. And so the pair set out to discover the truth. Thus teaming up, after a surprise meeting, with the boisterous drunkard Captain Haddock (voiced by Andy Serkis).
Adventure
The group’s adventure spans the globe, with each destination bringing more danger and that crucial step closer towards unraveling the mystery.
From the moment the picture opens, the film’s tone and mood is set: mystery and adventure merged with fun and frolics.
The classy, hand-drawn, animated titles use the Tintin signature silhouette imagery with style and sophistication.
The Adventures of Tintin is an entirely new bunch of blistering blue barnacles – every frame enforces impeccable detail and naturalism. And like the best animated pictures, viewers will forget they are watching digitalised representations in no time.
Visuals
Whether the visuals are mind-blowing as in the all-important action sequences or brilliantly subtle this film is a clear example of just how magnificent technology is in this day and age.
Tintin is brave, and he always gets out of the tangles he gets in. He is a good guy. He doesn’t know doubts…
Haddock is the dark side of Tintin. He is prone to anger and shouting insults, hard drinker, natural born loser…
Far from a being just a comical sidekick, Haddock is the human counterpart to the flawless hero that Tintin is.
With it’s tremendous visual flair, the feature’s script is a masterpiece. It is beautifully written. It possesses a kind of whimsical dialogue that is frequently hilarious and yet manages to keep people riveted to their seats.
An adaptation from the origional
Considering Hergé’s original stories are completely separate volumes, the writing trio behind this movie are able to make a sensible structure with the texts at hand.
And let’s not forget the laughs, as the script provides great character development for those new to the world of Tintin without insulting audiences with an hour’s lesson.
Young children will have no trouble picking up who’s who in the early stages, before settling back for the incredible roller coaster ride of the second and final climatic act.
Action fans will gain greatness from this movie too.
Expect high octane chases, pirate swordplay and more bullets than a Sylvester Stallone entry – just a lot less gore and swearing.
Action packed
In fact, although The Adventures of Tintin is action-packed, its PG certificate is justified. Seriously, I cannot recall anything remotely damaging or frightening for young eyes. So relax. Eat some chips and spend quality time with your young-in’s.
The voice casting is collectively brilliant with Bell (Tintin) and Serkis (Haddock) being the obvious standouts.
Bell provides the voice for Tintin. It is his inquisitive tone and frequent high-pitched bursts that mirror the speech bubbles that Tintin utters in the comic panels.
When reading a Hergé story, this is exactly how the character sounds in your head don’t you know.
Serkis steals the show as Captain Haddock and is given splendid dialogue to growl through bitter Scottish chords. Haddock’s often stupid remarks and forgetfulness is beautifully represented through the animated character.
Daniel Craig is also fantastic as the less-than-trustworthy Ivanovich Sakharine, Heh heh.
And let’s not forget Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as the voice overs for the lovable policing dunces Thomson and Thompson.
Plus Snowy (the lovable dog) is absolutely wonderful.
Welcome to the world of Tintin
Perhaps those new to Tintin will be influenced to re-visit the books and television shows of yesteryear and become more involved with one of the century’s most beloved and important literary creations.
This was such an enjoyable film, there are so many great things about this movie.
Easily one of the most visually stunning films I have ever seen. The animation is perfect. it’s bright, colourful and scarily lifelike.
The characters, scenery and landscapes all look incredible and so creative. Even the opening credits look fantastic! I can’t stress how good the visuals are in this film.
The Movie Flows Well
Spielberg has done an incredible job here, nothing could have been improved in this aspect. The way the movie flows and the way the scenes intertwine and change is beautiful.
There are scenes where it switches from past to present and back again in such a way that you just get lost in it.. you will understand what i mean when you see the movie.
There are scenes of fights and chases which are so creative and so imaginative, the way he uses angles and the way everything links on is a real joy to watch. Its hard to explain, watch the film and you will know exactly what I mean.
However, the film is not just a visual feast like many films are. It has a good solid story with likable, interesting characters – I found the story line kept my attention throughout. A very original adventure/quest film, searching for hidden treasure and defeating the bad guys along the way!
I cannot recommend this film enough, i was so surprised by just how good it was. I am sorry I didn’t go and see this in the cinema as it really would have been a fantastic experience.
Exposition
The movie also deftly skips what could have been a typically Hollywoodish mistake of giving Tintin exposition. But none of that nonsense here.
Exposition in a written work is the passages which explain where events take place, what happened before the story begins, and the background of the characters.
Tintin is a reporter, that’s all you need to know.
That’s all the comics ever told us about him. None of them ever showed Tintin doing actual reporter work.
I don’t think he ever used a typewriter, he has no boss, no workplace. Tintin just finds himself where adventure is.
Because he’s a reporter.
Hergé never needed more, kudos for the guys behind this movie for keeping true to that. It will be held against them, but that will be coming from people who don’t know the original material.
CGI Bad?
Yet the movie did a great job of shutting up the anti-CGI geek in me. It simply looks stunning, and your mind easily jumps back and forth between forgetting these are cartoon characters and appreciating their transition to a 3D environment, respectful of the original designs but literally bringing them to life.
In short, all these elements drew me to the same conclusion, Spielby and co. managed to deal a great adaptation.
One that has true respect for the original material, and the great ambition of adding something to it.
Yes, not everything of it. “Le Crabe aux Pinces D’or” could have deserved a whole movie itself. So yeah, shortcuts are taken, and as true to their originals as they are, the characters have been redesigned.
But in the end you have a movie that can be appreciated both by fans of the comics as well as people who have “just heard about them”.
It is fun, packed with adventure and action, enjoyable at all ages.
And most of all, you can go see it without having to worry about seeing another piece of Hollywood-flavored perversion, a fast-foodified betrayal.
Some background
Since 1981, Spielberg has become an avid fan of this gorgeous “Tintin” comics and has been longing to create a film about it. Before he and “Tintin’s” master, Herge could meet, Herge passed away.
However, Herge’s widow decided to give them the rights and began the adventure to re-create this marvelous wonder of art.
Three comics
Adapted from three of the comics, Spielberg’s re-creation of the comics introduces us to Tintin (Jamie Bell), a Belgian reporter who gets caught up in all sorts of adventures.
One day, he found a model of a ship, the Unicorn and bought it and brought it home. However, when Tintin was buying the ship, two men came to try to buy the model, Sakharine (Daniel Craig) and Barnaby.
Later, Tintin discovers that the model holds an important secret and somehow, the secret is linked to the real ship itself. On the way for answers, he meets the grumpy Haddock and head off to an adventure spanning around the globe with his white fluffy dog Snowy.
Animation
The animation is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. It’s not right to call it a CGI film as the motion of the characters are much smoother than that of CGI films. Tintin’s animated self looks stunning (even though he looks kind of different from his comic-self) in his blue long sleeves.
Snowy is fluffier than ever.
Captain Haddock is grumpier than ever.
All of the animation is simply breathtaking and the best I’ve ever seen.
Scene shifting
I like how they change scenes.
While most other movies just shift scenes normally, this film uses a little imagination and is ingenious in shifting scenes. They can change from a scene of shaking hands to a desert scene by using the outline of the two hands into the surface of the desert.
This thing is just entertaining and great in its own right and deserves some reward.
A Fun Movie
The movie itself is fun to watch. The story is compelling, the lines are natural-sounding, and the action is plenty of fun to watch. It is great excitement to watch and I was hooked from beginning to end. Great plot + awesome action + breathtaking animation equals up to amazing movie.
The 3D is perfectly fine. The depth is seen and the 3D just makes the movie even more fun to watch.
Excitement
OK, let’s release now all the excitement about this movie. If I had just five short seconds to say how I think this movie is I’d chose 7 words: Mesmerising from the beginning to the end. That’s quite true if you consider that even the opening credits are little shining pearls of direction and creativity.
Overall Impression
The general impression you get from this movie, talking about direction, is that nothing could have been better. Spielberg’s direction is, in this case as well, a real warranty of general great quality.
Three things I particularly appreciated:
- There’s literally a STORM of brain-waves (and here comes the Spielberg’s touch); especially, in the connection phases between one scene and the other the director totally expresses his genius, turning the open ocean into a pond, making two shaking hands become dunes in the desert and so on (you’ll understand what I mean when you’ll watch the movie)
- The ‘camera’s movements’ literally pull you into the movie and you can’t help feeling excited or scared according to the situation.
- The movie flows perfectly; it is kind of a pleasure for your eyes and for your brain to follow the adventure.
You can tell it’s a Spielberg’s movie even just looking at these things.
The quality of animation.
I really could not find a proper term to define my astonishment when my eyes approached the beautiful places and landscapes shown in the movie. They look perfect, shining and bursting with emotions, sensations; they almost look like paintings: For instance, there’s a sunset in the movie that I will hardly forget. It’s the same with the CGI models: you can see the wrinkles on the character’s faces, even their sweat.
The Actors
Furthermore, some words about the actors: Bells and Serkis are maybe the sole two living beings who could have given birth to the cinematographic version of the two main characters.
The first succeeds in the hard challenge to provide the audience with a convincing and faithful interpretation of the beloved protagonist (he did A GREAT job indeed), the second is a delightful surprise again, with a funny Scottish accent and a very good interpretation.
Soundtrack
One last word goes to one of the best composer alive: Sir John Williams. There’s nothing to do, every piece of music he creates is able to touch the deepest strings of our hearts.
With a soundtrack that ranges from the epic tones to the mysterious ones he gives us another example of his limitless genius, because he still remains one of those composers able to make us cry.
Conclusion
‘The Adventures of Tintin’ is quintessentially the perfect family film and has plenty to offer audiences of all ages. This is an incredibly joyous, thrilling and comically genius adventure. Hergé was onto a winner with his thoughts towards Spielberg and he can rest easy now knowing his tales have been faithfully and beautifully translated into a cinematic masterwork. Great Snakes, it’s good.
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