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| The contours of the well-known cartoon characters stand out on this adventurous poster for Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin |
Tintin buys a model ship at a market, which is instantly coveted by the sinister, reckless Ivan Sakharine. Our young journalist hero and his dog Snowy will get to the bottom of the mystery!
The Adventures of Tintin is written by Steven Moffat (Coupling (2000-04)), Edgar Wright (Baby Driver (2017)) and Joe Cornish (Ant-Man (2015)), based on Belgian artist Hergé's (Fred and Mile (1931)) Tintin comics The Crab with the Golden Claws (1941), The Secret of the Unicorn (1943) and Red Rackham's Treasure (1944), and directed by Ohioan master filmmaker Steven Spielberg (Hook (1991)).
The film is made as a motion capture animation, which means that actors have acted in special suits and had their performances captured for use for animators, who have created the characters and film with inspiration from these performances.
The film moves a bit too fast for us to really fathom the logic behind the fantastic plot; the filmmakers have focused too much on the incredible action sequences to enable this. Some of these, however, are rousing, funny and impressive, - with a 'camera' that leads one more to think of video games than films. - But they are allowed to drown out some of the stage that should have been used for storytelling.
Best in the film is, without a doubt, Captain Haddock whom Andy Serkis (War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)) gives fine life and his wonderful voice. The other characters are brought to life with varying degrees of luck, - some simply seem to lack just that; life. I couldn't help but miss Tintin actor Jamie Bell's (Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (2017)) real physical presence.
Some older audiences will not be able to watch The Adventures of Tintin without dreaming themselves back to the good old days of Indiana Jones (the memorable first three films were made by Spielberg in 1981, 1984 and 1989), as the movie icon Spielberg really walks the opposite, modern CGI plank all out here. The Adventures of Tintin is a mixed experience.
Related posts:
Steven Spielberg: War Horse (2011) - Spielberg visits WWI with problematic horse drama Super 8 (2011) - Abrams' nostalgic family crowdpleaser (producer)
Band of Brothers - TV mini-series (2001) - WWII-sacrifice and -comradeship portrayed with skill and integrity (producer)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) - A robot fairy tale with both heart and mind
Amistad (1997) or, Must... Free... Slaves!
Empire of the Sun (1987) - Spielberg's grand production of boy-in-China-during-WWII is a misfire
Twilight Zone The Movie (1983) - Fear takes many forms in tragedy-struck anthology
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) - Spielberg's greatest accomplishment
1941 (1979) - Spielberg's bizarre 'comedy spectacular' sinks like a rock
Top 10: Best car chases in movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Duel (1971) - Spielberg's truck terror is ideal afternoon fare
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 135 mil. $
Box office: 373.9 mil. $
= Box office success
[The Adventures of Tintin premiered 23 October (Brussels, Belgium and Paris, France) and runs 107 minutes. Spielberg discovered Tintin and Hergé during his making Raiders of the Last Ark (1981), the first Indiana Jones movie. Hergé also became a Spielberg fan and wanted him to get the film rights but passed away before the two had met. Jack Nicholson and Roman Polanski were in talks to make Tintin movies in the following years, before Spielberg announced an animated Tintin film and partnered with fellow Tintin fan Peter Jackson (who acted as one of the first film's producers) on a mo-cap (motion capture) version, the first film to be directed by Spielberg, the second by Jackson and a possible third film co-directed by the two. Filming took place from January - March 2009 in New Zealand. The film opened #5, behind Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (the only other new release in the top 5) and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, to a disappointing 9.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it earned more in the following week but left the top 5 and ended up grossing a slight 77.5 mil. $ (20.7 %), undoubtedly influenced by Americans' lesser familiarity with the Hergé source material than, especially, Europeans. The film's 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 53.9 mil. $ (14.4 %) and the UK with 25.9 mil. $ (6.9 %). The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Score (John Williams, who was also nominated for Spielberg's other 2011 disappointment, War Horse), which it lost to Ludovic Bource for The Artist. It also won a Golden Globe, was nominated for two BAFTAs, a Grammy and many other honors. The sequel plans have sat on the backburner since the good but not impressive performance of Spielberg's first film. The Adventures of Tintin is certified fresh at 75 % with a 7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of The Adventures of Tintin?
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