THE ADVENTURES OF TITIN Movie Review
By: Rama
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It’s every bit as exciting as I’d hoped. THE ADVENTURES OF TITIN rocks! I think there should be a TINTIN theme ride 3D at Universal Studios because the film sure feels like you’re in one. Master storytellers Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson have brought to life one of all time’s iconic characters from the world of adventure and mystery. The CG mo-cap 3D turns out to be the perfect method and the perfect medium for this cinematic splendor. The action sequences are some of the most elaborate, the most clever and the most creative I’ve ever seen and they’re non-stop from start to end. Even if you didn’t grow up reading Herge’s comic books or watching the cartoon adaptation, Spielberg’s TINTIN is one of the best times you’ll have at the movies this year…
Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures Present a 3D Motion Capture Film “The Adventures of Tintin” directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Steven Moffat and Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish. Starring Jamie Bell (“Billy Elliot,” “Defiance”) as Tintin, the intrepid young reporter whose relentless pursuit of a good story thrusts him into a world of high adventure, and Daniel Craig (“Quantum of Solace,” “Defiance”) as the nefarious Red Rackham
I grew up in Asia and just like in Europe, Herge’s TINTIN comic books were quite popular there. I don’t remember much of its stories anymore because it’s been a while since I read them, but here’s what you need to know first, it’s that this Spielberg film combines two books, The Secret Of The Unicorn and Red Rackham’s Treasure. The latter is the continuation or the sequel to the former. And I have to give mad props to screenwriting team Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish for successfully combining those two books. Now, we could stay here and rant on for hours about what they left out and what they added but the point is, they’ve done an excellent job of being respectful to the material and at the same time making it their own and I don’t think Tintin’s purist fans would be offended at all. It actually makes more sense this way.
What I appreciate about this film is the choices the filmmaker makes on which element to introduce and which element that would be wrapped in one nice little package without wasting too much time. For instance, the way Captain Haddock first meets Tintin (Rama’s SCREEN reader Jesper reminded me this part of the story that’s told in The Crab With The Golden Claws). Spielberg wants the audience who are not familiar with the characters to know how these two characters may collide in relation to the bigger picture of the story. But Spielberg doesn’t want you to pay too much attention about the origin of Tintin and why he’s such a famous journalist because the story needs to pick up its pace again.
And so what the film offers is a look at the frames of newspapers clippings stating Tintin’s previous accomplishments, implying that you’re dealing with a man who as soon as he faces a mystery, he’ll follow through to the end, that he’s pretty much like Indiana Jones, adventure in his blood.
So there is a constant sense of urgency in this film but there is also a shred of care and they’re both balanced.
If you’re worried about the possibility of the performance capture characters would look as creepy as the ones in those Robert Zemeckis movies, there is no need to worry because whatever magic those WETA wizards did, it has worked major wonders for Tintin, Haddock, Thompson and Thompson, Sir Francis, Rackham, and Sakharine. The characters’ looks have personalities and they have extraordinary and impressive details.
All the voice cast were spectacular. Jamie Bell truly captures Tintin’s curiosity and his love for solving clues. I told somebody the other day that watching THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN feels like you’re playing a board game. It is that fun! Bravo to Andy Serkis for voicing the drunkard, grumpy Captain Haddock. That heavey accent Serkis does for the role is bloody brilliant! Even Daniel Craig doesn’t sound like his usual self, he somewhat puts his own spin on the villain Red Rackham.
And you can’t get better than the dynamic duo Nick Frost and Simon Pegg as the bumbling, incompetent and hilarious Thompson and Thompson
The 3D depth of field adds to the suspense, and this film is loaded with cinematic set pieces that will blow your mind, especially in the action sequences that are better staged and better choreographed than any action movie in recent years. And to me, that is the biggest attraction about THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN. This comes from the director who brought us E.T., Jurassic Park, all of Indiana Jones movies, so he knows how to play with a series of immediate events and chase scenes accompanied by environments that are collapsing around them while the characters are simultaneously racing against time, this is Spielberg’s expertise, THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN offers all of that multiplied by ten.
I know we were all disappointed by Pirates Of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides this past summer, well, THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN has its own pirate story that will make up for that Stranger Tides blunder and fix your need to seem some good old fashioned swashbuckling treacherous pirates.
Fasten your seat-belts and enjoy THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN.
GRADE: 5 out of 5
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