39 replies to this topic

[Otso]

My Thoughts on the Movie:

The Adventures of Tintin (with the subtitle: the Secret of the Unicorn) is 1st of the possible Tintin movies we’ll be seeing from Steven Spielberg & Peter Jackson. Based on the comic book series of the same name by the Belgian artist Hergé, this said adaptation adapts 3 comic book stories and molds it into 1 movie. Hollywood stars ranging from Daniel Craig to Andy Serkis with Edgar Wright having credit as one of the 3 screenplay writers alongside the movie being completely computer animated by Peter Jackson’s WETA Digital, how does this movie stand on Its’ legs?
Well in a way it succeeds greatly, it’s a fantastic family movie when you think about it, it has great visuals, stunning voice acting, witty banter between characters and enough action to get all the little children excited, but the problems I also had with this movie should reflect on the younger audience as well, so I’ll start what I didn’t enjoy about this movie.

1^st the main problem this movie has and this is incredibly bad, is that the movie never gives me a reason to connect, cherish or even root for Tintin, he’s the main fucking character of the movie and I have no reason to root for him, he’s also awfully established. The opening credits roll out some great animation establishing Tintin’s adventures and how he has solved tons of mysteries, put down criminal gangs among other heroic feats, but that is simply just referencing the character’s past and nothing is established. The movie just makes me assume the man is a great sharpshooter who can take down a plane with a single bullet, learn to fly an airplane thru a storm and practically get lucked out of anything, the guy received so much help and whenever he’s in trouble things just somehow work out for him, Its’ ridiculous.

2^nd problem comes sadly in the dialogue, I mentioned the witty banters between characters and it’s truly delightful chatter to hear as you can see the excitement, the anger, the emotions, just about everything is so well voice acted, but the movie has so much exposition it gets so boring, it really slows down the movie as a whole. It was just utterly boring to hear all the various explanations to this and that, now you might ponder why exactly, we’ll I’ll dig into a bit deeper into the plot without trying to spoil too much: The movie is after all called the secrets of the Unicorn, so it has this detective riddle story going for the very 1^st hour of the movie, but the very first riddle expositions the 1^st “twist” alongside the movie perfectly making clear the Haddock family legacy and the villain. The last 47 minutes of the movie become this sort of adventure revenge movie between Captain Haddock and the villain, but I’ll get more onto Haddock sooner. So ultimately what lies with this movie’s problems for me is the fact you don’t care about Tintin or his pet dog Snowie, nor is the Secret mystery even engaging but rather dull and I can’t imagining children even bothering to remember all the explanations, because they will simply remember all the ass-kicking scenes and comedic scenes instead, so yes my 3^rd cringe with this movie would be the bland “secret” that thru the dialogue just slowed down the pace and during the view offering nothing rewarding for paying attention to it.
The 4^th problem and this is luckily very minor is the pointless characters that serve no real purpose to the movie outside of the fact this is an comic adaptation and they wished to adapt these characters, but if you’re going to adapt minor supporting characters, you have to do it right! It’s like adapting Ace the Bat Hound or Leslie Thompkins, in fact Lucius Fox is a very minor Batman supporting character and he was wonderfully incorporated to the movies, but for this movie they put Aristides Silk (a picket pocket thief) who serves no purpose to the plot of the movie, and the comedic Interpol agent duo Thomson & Thompson (voiced by Simon Pegg & Nick Frost) do nothing worth mentioning in the movie outside moving the plot to Its’ conclusion and “few funny scenes” but otherwise there was no need for any of these characters, if you wish to adapt characters, make them useful to the story, not fan service!

Now what did I like about this movie? Why the very “Han Solo” of the movie of course! Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock, the weak shamed man who is nothing more than a blabbering alcoholic goes thru his character arc from zero to hero! By the end of the movie you’ll see him as a respectable hero and a good man with a golden heart. Serkis’ rough Scottish accent plays very well with the drunken stereotype and the dialogue banter he has between Tintin that doesn’t include exposition is very witty and delightful, granted there is one scene in the movie that is full on exposition, but it’s done visually as well as Captain retells the story of how the Unicorn sunk to the bottom of the ocean. This naval battle, I promise was even more visually engaging, creative and visually stunning than the final naval battle in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End had, and that to me was a great accomplishment, but again as I talk about Haddock’s family, I utterly wish if the movie was truly more about his family or himself, because Tintin is just a very bland character that remains the same from start to conclusion of the story. It’s really the character development and how the whole Unicorn is tied with Haddock that makes him the real star of the movie.

I would however say that the best voice acting performance does actually come from Daniel Craig, who plays Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine, the main villain of the movie. I couldn’t recognize his voice at all, so that to me is a sign of great voice acting, he comes off as very intellectual, charming, powerful and dominant, the visual design enhances the voice acting as the man has the eyes of a killer. Good villain that plays well with Haddock’s character arc that ends with a great finale between the two men.
John Williams’ score for the movie also enhances the movie well, every musical score is just right for the scene, there we’re no mistakes in the music category, the music adds up the mood for the comedy and excitement to the action and chase sequences, wonderful job as usual from Williams.
The 2^nd best moment of the entire movie besides the outstanding naval battle comes in Bagghar, with a very exciting chase sequence and again just like the Naval battle it’s done so visually perfect! The various “camera angles” the whole large scale is just this big glorious mess as part of the city gets “torn” apart due to one vile man’s desire, Williams’ score amps up the excitement perfectly here, this and the naval battle are the scenes kids and myself alike will cherish and remember of this film, if I’d would be a memorable movie that is.
In summary this is a family movie, I think the parents get something out of this, they might be intrigued by the secret or they don’t have high expectations, just wanting to watch a movie with a protagonist with his puppy and an alcoholic “sidekick” embark on an Indiana Jones style adventure with great visuals, voice acting and a musical score.

PS. I don’t think the 3D is necessary for this movie at all, I don’t have any real memorable 3D effects outside of some broken glasses that get sharrered.

[Andrew]

I'm surprised at the lack of interest in this.

All the trailers and promo clips I've seen look amazing - leaps and bounds ahead of Polar Express and Beowulf, animation-wise. As for not being attached to the characters - it's Tintin - you'd read the comic or watch the cartoon without needing so much back-story, or knowledge of motivation. He's a wholesome, trusty good-guy, with a lovable if sometimes unreliable dog, and a curmudgeonly older assistant.

This is not necessarily about the film, but this little piece in the newspaper this morning was pretty touching:

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/herg-and-me-20111201-1o7jw.html

As a child, the empathy LUKE DAVIES felt for fictional teen reporter Tintin led to a special relationship with the Belgian artist who created him. Four decades on, the Australian author still treasures their correspondence.

My father remembers the moment, early in 1971. Nine years old, I casually announced that I planned to write to Tintin author Hergé´and I needed help to find an address.

''You predicted to me how things would play out,'' my father says when I call him as I prepare to write this story. "You said you'd write back and forth and tell each other what was going on. You were relaxed and happy about it. I tried to gently pour cold water on the idea - I told you that thousands of kids probably wrote to him and that he mightn't have time to get back to you individually. But you shrugged it off.''

...

[steveuk]

I'm surprised at the lack of interest in this.

All the trailers and promo clips I've seen look amazing - leaps and bounds ahead of Polar Express and Beowulf, animation-wise.

<SNIP>

I honestly don't think it looks any better at all. I'm sure it is better, technically, but it doesn't look more involving for a viewer.

'Avatar' and 'Planet of the Apes' both moved the technology on, but they were aiming for photoreal characters.

'Tin Tin' is going for a more stylized look for the characters and I really find them just as distractingly unreal as 'Polar Express', especially when so much of what's around them is very realistic.

[Carlos Pedro]

Watched it yesterday.

No.

Just... No.

I'm not the biggest tintim fan, I've red some stuff when I was younger but I can barely remember it.

I remember however the animated series and I loved it.

Still, this movie...

The plot is preety basic, point A to B, nothing more. The twist... Bah, what twist.

The movie never really stops for you to breathe and get into the mystery. It's action after action after action. Once it starts it doesn't stop, it doesn't make you breathe.

Now you can say "that is not actually that bad...", well it wouldn't be if in the end I could give two shits about the characters, the mystery and what the fuck is going on the screen, which I didn't. Why? Because they go on the idea that Tintim is such an universal character that in fact he doesn't need characterization. Well in part it's true but in the other part it's Not. Why? Because Tintim is as DULL as a blank sheet of paper.

What do we know about him?

Oh he's a journalist and he's brave. And he has a dog.

That's it.

Well... Woopdityfreakingdoo...

It's just... Boring.

Kinda like Sucker Punch boring actually.

I was expecting more mystery, the characters to be well characterized in the movie, some involvment and not a chase followed by fights by another chase and everything like the end of the world...

[Chic McGregor]

Get him Snowy!

[Ewan Shepherd]

I liked the Tintin movie. Its up in my top 3 films of the year. I went to see it not for the plot, but for the oppertunity to see Tintin and Haddock beat the shit out of pirates in great CG. And thats what I saw.
So I'm happy with it

[Johnny Henning]

I honestly don't think it looks any better at all. I'm sure it is better, technically, but it doesn't look more involving for a viewer.

'Avatar' and 'Planet of the Apes' both moved the technology on, but they were aiming for photoreal characters.

'Tin Tin' is going for a more stylized look for the characters and I really find them just as distractingly unreal as 'Polar Express', especially when so much of what's around them is very realistic.

Yeah, I have to agree that I'm not impressed by the preview material, and this is pretty much the sort of movie I'd never go see anyway. The style of the movie turns me off, actually. Not just the motion capture queasiness but the whole retro look - I'll let younger viewers discover the movie.

[Chic McGregor]

Bump for the Merkin launch.

[Robert B]

To 3D or not to 3D? I'm bringing the whole family so we're talking about a $20 difference or so. Not small change.

I'm leaning towards "no". Although I'd really like to see what Spielberg can do with this 3D technology, this doesn't seem like the right project.

[Chris D]

I've been assuming this movie is going to bomb domestically. Tin Tin doesn't seem too well known here in the States and the previews I've seen are pretty bland. And from a personal stand point, I really dislike the motion capture animation style. It just doesn't work for me. I'm interested to see how it performs, both domestically and internationally, though.

[Ulf Imwiehe]

One of the more peculiar takes on the Tintin movie:

When I was a kid, my heroes were Willie Mays, Snoopy, Donald Duck, Winnie the Pooh, Daredevil and Tintin. I am now an adult and, sadly, those are still pretty much my heroes.

Thus, the Daniel Craig movie I am most eagerly awaiting this week is not "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'' but "The Adventures of Tintin,'' directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Peter Jackson. I'm also very nervous. I've been waiting for a Tintin movie ever since I was 8 years old and first read the Herge stories serialized each month in "Children's Digest'' (that and "Baseball Digest'' were my first magazine subscriptions). I want this movie to be good. I want two of cinema's great directors to fill me with the thrill and wonder Herge did. I want the movie to be a hit so that I no longer have to explain who Tintin is, how the comic has been hugely popular in Europe and parts of Asia for more than 70 years, how his adventures have sold more than 200 million copies in more than 50 languages.

But mostly I worry the Tintin movie will be too popular, that if I wear my Tintin watch and my Tintin T-shirt now I'll seem like a Trekkie. That once everyone in America knows who Tintin is, being a fan here will lose the sense of being in a secret, exclusive and cool club. That Tintin will be regarded as Garfield in knickers and a trenchcoat. […]

That's what I worry about. I worry there will be all these Tintin wannabes who only know the character from the movie, who don't appreciate Herge's genius, who don't know what it was like to wait a month for the next 10-page installment or when you had to special order the few books made available in America. Fans who didn't earn this movie.

While I truly admire this guy’s passion and enthusiasm… he wants people to earn this movie?

[Paul F]

I've been assuming this movie is going to bomb domestically. Tin Tin doesn't seem too well known here in the States and the previews I've seen are pretty bland. And from a personal stand point, I really dislike the motion capture animation style. It just doesn't work for me. I'm interested to see how it performs, both domestically and internationally, though.

It's already made $240m+ internationally: http://www.boxoffice.../?id=tintin.htm

[John Brook]

But with the marketing cost, how much is this movie REALLY earning ? Thats what I am REALLY curious about.

[Robert B]

I wanted to like this film, and liked several of the action scenes, but as a whole it didn't gel. I like motion-capture animation better than some of you seem to, but it doesn't really lend itself to the kind of Gunga Din or Indiana Jones style humor that Spielberg likes for these kinds of projects. And, to be honest, Tintin himself isn't that engaging a protagonist for a movie. There's something in the charm and the pluckiness of the comics that gets lost on screen.

The movie also had the weird effect of feeling too long AND ending too early. Having seen everything Spielberg's done I was dead certain there was going to be a turnabout of some kind in the final scene, but nope.....roll credits. Weird.

Really liked the nod to Jaws, though. That was cute.

[Chic McGregor]

Amazed that the American launch has not brought more comment. Especially since most of the on-line reviews there seem positive.

[Robert B]

Amazed that the American launch has not brought more comment. Especially since most of the on-line reviews there seem positive.

I don't think it's the kind of movie that really stirs up much passion, favorable or unfavorable. I actually forgot I saw it.

[Chic McGregor]

But with the marketing cost, how much is this movie REALLY earning ? Thats what I am REALLY curious about.

Over 330 million and still moving up the imdb charts.

Also scores 7.7 with over 30,000 reviews. Nae sa bad, as Captain Haddock might say.

[Chic McGregor]

Well it has beaten the stand out favourite for best animation, Rango, at the Golden Globes and the PGA. Can it do the hat-trick and get the Oscar? Doubt it, its a tall order even for a canine assisted hero.

It has done OK at the box office nice profit after production and PR costs so there will be more even if it doesn't take the Oscar.

I think it will be a serial sleeper. By the time the next one comes out American kids will have seen the DVD and the 'domestic' audience will be huge next time round.

[Chic McGregor]

So despite winning the Globes and PGA no Oscar nomination. The shock result is seemingly down to anti-mo-cap prejudice, see here

http://www.hollywood...as-pixar-287831

Ach well, nae Oscar for Gollum in the up and coming Hobbit then.

Edited by Chic McGregor, 10 February 2012 - 03:02 PM.

[David Chapman]

So despite winning the Globes and PGA no Oscar nomination. The shock result is seemingly down to anti-mo-cap prejudice, see here

http://www.hollywood...as-pixar-287831

Ach well, nae Oscar for Gollum in the up and coming Hobbit then.

As if this were a surprise, given that Andy Serkis has already been snubbed once by the Academy for the same role on grounds that as Gollum was a CGI character Serkis was technically a voice actor. That's why Peter Jackson included the flashback to Smeagol's finding the Ring in ROTK - to give Serkis actual screen time and hence the possibility of a nomination.