|
The weakest aspect of this movie is the shallow characterization. Granted old fashioned adventure comics tended to feature very flat characters; even the Tintin comics aren't exactly Shakespeare, but they were still a cut above average. Spielberg has flattened the characters even further to the bare minimum. To call them cardboard cutouts would be too generous; they're one-dimensional. Tintin's only character trait is that he is super-excited to be on an adventure. His only motivation in the movie is to get a great story to write about in his newspaper. He has no emotional reaction whatsoever to the ordeals he goes through. Captain Haddock is even more offensive. His only character trait is that he's a drunken, self-hating loon. The only things he does is drink at inappropriate times and rant about his unworthiness for his family's legacy. We don't get to see anything more than this, because the plot actually conspires to keep him drunk as often as possible (Snowy the dog actually gives him some alcohol during a scene where he veers dangerously close to sobriety). In the comic books, he is not so pathetic. In the comics, he isn't drunk all the time, he has self-respect, and he knows how to behave in polite society. In the comics, he has enough qualities to justify Tintin's respect and friendship. In this movie, Tintin drags him along only because he has information Tintin needs, and maybe because Tintin needs a decoy. There is no chemistry between them. Tintin's relationship to Haddock can be summed up in two phrases: "Stop drinking!" and "jog your memory!" What's even more frustrating is that one of the screenwriters is none other than Steve Moffat, a writer on Doctor Who, which is a series that proves you can have great characterization as well as complex, fast-paced plots in an adventure story. If only he could have brought some of that talent to Tintin. I could have enjoyed the action and suspense more if I was emotionally invested in the heroes. This is a very plot-driven movie, and this is where the movie shines. It has a very fast pace and is satisfyingly unpredictable. It's like Indiana Jones, and I'm told that Indy was partly inspired by Tintin. It fuses plot elements and characters from several Tintin novels. 3/5 Baron Bifford fucked around with this message at 10:37 on Nov 7, 2011 |
#
?
Nov 4, 2011 21:44
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 23, 2024 21:41 |
|
|
Saw the movie last Friday. The animation is very good, and the ship battle looks amazing. The movie also makes decent use of 3D, I thought. But yes, thin on characterization. 4/5
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2011 01:02
|
|
|
When I was 8, my family moved to France, and for my birthday they gave me a bunch of Tintin comics to help me learn French, so I'll admit I'm a little less than impartial. That said, I went to the theatre expecting typical Hollywoody crap and Spielberg completely missing the point, but I was pleasantly surprised. The movie effectively combines the plot of two different stories (Le Crabe aux pinces d'or and Le Secret de La Licorne), however I don't think I've ever seen a more faithful film adaptation of a book (comic or otherwise). As the movie progressed I could picture each scene from the books, almost word-for-word and panel-for-panel. A lot of the negative reviews I've read have noted that the titular character comes across as being flat and poorly characterized, but that's pretty much how he's portrayed in the comics. On the negative side I felt that Haddock's inebriation was played up too much, and that the climactic scene was way too over the top for Tintin (but par for course for Spielberg). The CGI faces felt a little weird at first, but I eventually got used to them - especially after noticing how accurately they mimicked Herge's character designs for random people in crowds. I was thoroughly impressed by this adaptation, and I can't wait to see the sequel(s?). 4.5/5
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2011 03:44
|
|
|
I thought this was a great film for the first two acts. The third act, which was 99% new, wasn't. It reminded me of Indiana Jones 4. Tintin and Haddock destroy a city with no show of guilt or remorse and then destroy part of a shipyard. I was pretty much in shock by this point. I expected there would be some changes, but after the first two acts had been so faithful to the characters and the original stories, I was dismayed to see such wanton destruction. The mixing of the two plots was really well done. The animation and art in general was superb. I had no qualms with Haddocks drinking because until Tintin and the Picaros, he was a boozehound. In Crab With the Golden Claws (half of this movies source) he was a raging alcoholic. I can't accurately give this film a rating because it is, in essence, two different films. An adaptation of Herges work and then Speilberg raping my childhood (again.) This is not to say that the new stuff was not entertaining. It was, for the most part. It just had nothing to do with Tintin or Herge. I guess 3.5/5 will work. It would be 5/5 if not for the new stuff.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2011 03:45
|
|
|
I wanted to like this, I really did, but it felt like a run of the mill made-for-TV cartoon with super high production values. Tintin & Co. are on God mode the entire movie - there's no sense of any real danger or excitement. They're just doing stunts in exotic locales. I got tired of the endless chases and death defying last minute heroics. I get it, nothing can touch out heroes and they will eventually triumph over adversity to recover the sunken treasure/philosopher's stone/crystal skull. Eventually I stopped paying attention during the many action sequences and tried to make the movie more interesting by imaging a scenario where one of those thousands of wayward bullets the badguys fire at Tintin actually hit him as intended. I tried to picture the many gruesome ways Tintin could die - that was a lot more fun. I will say the animation and production values are spectacular on this. I imagine a blu-ray of this would be the perfect tech demo for your fancy new 60inch AMOLED TV. 3/5
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2012 22:32
|
|
|
The first two thirds of this movie are a perfectly executed and faithful blend of the set-ups to my two absolute favourite Tintin stories. The last third is the last third of an Indiana Jones movie with Tintin characters. That's not a terrible thing, since the way Herge usually resolved his stories was with maybe a page-and-a-half of light-to-medium action and lots of revelation that doesn't translate so well to the screen. Haddock's drinking was overdone, but I don't think his chemistry with Tintin deserves criticism. A dynamic of unidirectional dependence was how they started out, and I think it's good that there's room for their development into true comrades in future movies. What matters, though, I think, was that this was done not just with respect for Herge's style and legacy, but with genuine love for the works on which it is based. The childlike glee the key players must have had in making it really shines through and gives it much more heart than it sounds like it ought to have when you lay the concept down on paper. If you're under 14 and don't know Tintin already, this is a great popcorn-muncher in its own right and well worth the price of admission as an exquisitely animated and well-written action movie. But, if you're like me and find it impossible to judge a modern recreation of a childhood friend on its own merits relative to the medium in which it exists, you have to think about whether or not what has been created here is the first movie that Herge would have been proud to say was a Tintin movie, and from that perspective it deserves the uproarious applause from all the 10-year-old boys that live inside adult Tintin fans. 4.5/5 Smudgie Buggler fucked around with this message at 07:56 on Feb 28, 2012 |
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2012 07:46
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 23, 2024 21:41 |
|
|
I've never read Tintin, having only heard about the series, so I'm not sure if that left me in a position to like this movie more or less, but as is I had a great time. It looked amazing and everything about it screamed "HAVE A GOOD TIME" in a way that Spielberg seems less and less able to muster. Also, surprisingly few dead eyed uncanny valley moments, considering. Definitely a film for the kid in us all. 4/5
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2012 21:48
|
|
