So far the film is inspiring people to go out and read the
books, which is the thing you really hope for (well apart from an entertaining
film that is) and Spielberg himself hopes that the film will finally kindle a
really successful run of sales for the books in the United States.
Synopsis...
“Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures Present "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.”
To be clear I've been a Tintin fan since I was 5, maybe
younger, so there was a lot of room for me to be disappointed. Not a bit of it,
best adventure film Spielberg has made for a very long time. There's some
stunning use of the art form, camerawork and highly imaginative action
sequences. It is clever, witty, literate, funny, exciting. For contrast my Mrs.
also loved it and she never got into Tintin as a child at all (Although, she is
definitely a fan now). It's one of those films that I won't be able to
understand how people can't enjoy it, and I’m talking about fans and non fans
alike. Scratch that fan(atic)s can ALWAYS find something to moan about, 11
years on and you’ll still find people who swear that Bryan Singer’s 2 X-Men
films suffered greatly because of a lack of yellow Spandex! The choice was made to tell a story based
mainly on ‘The Secret of the Unicorn’ and parts of ‘Red Rackham’s Treasure’.
This meant that the writers (an excellent combination of Stephen Moffat (Dr.
Who, Sherlock) , Edgar Wright (Co-writer/ director of Shaun of The Dead, Hot
Fuzz & Scott Pilgrim) had the problem of getting Captain Haddock into the
mix; by deftly adding elements of ‘The Crab With The Golden Claws’ (The book
that introduced Captain Haddock) the film gives us Tintin & Haddock’s
legendary meeting whilst moving the film swiftly along its Globe-trotting course.
But of course some will complain that the details have changed and ignore that
the spirit, essence and sense of adventure remain.
That joy you always sensed that Spielberg had designing set
pieces in Raiders, Jaws & Jurassic Park is back here, with a vengeance.
There is truly some of the most creative, enjoyable action I've seen this side
of Miyazki, Cameron & well Premium Spielberg. This is Spielberg's first animated
film and his first use of 3D: It shows what a master of cinema he is, because
at first attempt he gets the full use out of both. He does things with physical
space, Physics etc. (The naval battle alone is a master-class in camerawork,
lighting and pacing in BOTH 3D and animation / Motion Capture.) If we thought
that Verbinski had gotten about as much out of old school naval battles as
possible then e are shown the error of our thinking here. Cannonballs come
flying through giant waves, the masts of two ships join together in the midst
of battle and those characters make full use of this anomaly, running and
swinging along the masts in visual treat of 3D camera movement.
The use match cuts
and of reflective surfaces is as prevalent, and inventive, a in any film I can
remember (No gopher mounds here) especially as created for the re-telling of
the meeting of the Unicorn with Red Rackham’s crew. This even goes as far as
matching the duel from the naval clash with Captain Haddock & Sakharine
duelling with cranes.
This is what I've been talking about when I say 3D is a tool
just like any other, not a fad, not a marketing ploy (even if the tool has been
used. promoted that way by hacks and money men) The man knows what he can do
because of the animation and how 3D will enhance his vision; the camera-work and
crane shots etc (I'm speaking virtually of course) He doesn't use those shots
because of 3D, 3D enhances them.
The penultimate action sequence is a huge scene involving a
chase (which becomes several chases) down through the port of Bagghar is pretty
mind boggling and a master class of action filmmaking. It is easily one of the
best action scenes I’ve seen in a film and worth the price of admission on its
own.
As usual I’ve avoided as much plot detail as possible here,
to save spoiling the film, but the mystery and dramatic elements of this film
are as important as the action and are very well handled. Tintin is after all a
crusading investigative reporter who solves mysteries. They may be
“deceptively” simple ones , Tintin is primarily a children’s comic after all,
but they are not dumb and this is a witty, clever film, with quality dialogue
and absolutely perfect casting. Daniel Craig brings the perfect amount of
sinister menace, never pantomime, to Sakharine and Jamie Bell imbues Tintin
with a wonderful spark and the perfect amount of energy and drive. Andy Serkis
continues his habit of stealing whatever movie he is in with a mesmerising
portrayal of Captain Haddock. One of the comic book world’s most famous and
recognisable characters it would be so easy to overdo Haddock and make him just
loud and boorish, but the performance is layered with subtlety. The
conversation between Tintin & Haddock, where his lack of sobriety is
foremost is very emotional and is a perfect example of how superb WETA’s Motion
Capture technology is There’s no hint of the “uncanny Valley” here and the eyes
actually carry through a great deal of the actors’ performance. The facial
expressions are very much acted rather than drawn; the eyes aren't quite what
you'd expect from animation but there’s never a sense of dead eyes.
The next instalment, in which Peter Jackson has his work
very much cut out for him, simply cannot come quickly enough. With over $125m
in its first 10 days of release in just some markets, the planned follow up is
surely all but certain. (I’d almost wait an extra few months for the Hobbit;
hey I said almost.)
Movie-going / popcorn experience - 10/10
Critical, film school view -
8/10
Overall score -
9/10
North America
|
|
Canada
|
09-Dec-11
|
United States
|
23-Dec-11
|
Latin America
|
|
América
Central
|
30-Dec-11
|
Argentina
|
5-Jan-12
|
Bolivia
|
12-Jan-12
|
Brasil
|
20-Jan-12
|
Chile
|
5-Jan-12
|
Colombia
|
1-Jan-12
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Ecuador
|
13-Jan-12
|
México
|
25-Dec-11
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Perú
|
25-Dec-11
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Uruguay
|
6-Jan-12
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Venezuela
|
23-Dec-11
|
Middle East / Africa
|
|
Bahrain
|
3-Nov-11
|
Egypt
|
2-Nov-11
|
Israel
|
3-Nov-11
|
Jordan
|
2-Nov-11
|
Kuwait
|
3-Nov-11
|
Lebanon
|
3-Nov-11
|
Nigeria
|
23-Dec-11
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Oman
|
3-Nov-11
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Qatar
|
3-Nov-11
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South Africa
|
23-Dec-11
|
Syria
|
3-Nov-11
|
United Arab Emirates
|
3-Nov-11
|
Asia Pacific
|
|
Australia
|
26-Dec-11
|
Hong
Kong
|
24-Nov-11
|
India
|
11-Nov-11
|
Korea
|
8-Dec-11
|
Malaysia
|
10-Nov-11
|
New Zealand
|
26-Dec-11
|
Pilipinas | Philippines
|
30-Nov-11
|
Singapore
|
10-Nov-11
|
Taiwan
|
12-Nov-11
|
Thailand
|
10-Nov-11
|
Vietnam
|
11-Nov-11
|
Europe
|
|
België | Belgique | Belgium
|
26-Oct-11
|
Bulgaria
|
4-Nov-11
|
Ceská republika | Czech Republic
|
27-Oct-11
|
Danmark | Denmark
|
27-Oct-11
|
Deutschland | Germany
|
27-Oct-11
|
España | Spain
|
28-Oct-11
|
Eesti | Estonia
|
28-Oct-11
|
Ελλάδα | Greece
|
3-Nov-11
|
France
|
26-Oct-11
|
Hrvatske | Croatia
|
3-Nov-11
|
Íslan | Iceland
|
28-Oct-11
|
Italia | Italy
|
28-Oct-11
|
Latvijas | Latvija, Latvija | Latviju |
Latvia
|
28-Oct-11
|
Lietuvos | Lietuva | Lithuania
|
28-Oct-11
|
Magyarország | Hungary
|
3-Nov-11
|
Nederland | Netherlands | Holland
|
26-Oct-11
|
Norge | Norway
|
28-Oct-11
|
Österreich | Austria
|
28-Oct-11
|
Polska | Poland
|
4-Nov-11
|
Portugal
|
27-Oct-11
|
Россия | Russia
|
3-Nov-11
|
România
|
28-Oct-11
|
Slovenija | Slovenia
|
3-Nov-11
|
Slovensko | Slovakia
|
3-Nov-11
|
Srbija | Crna Gora | Serbia and Montenegro
|
3-Nov-11
|
Suisse | Switzerland (Fr)
|
26-Oct-11
|
Schweiz | Switzerland (Ger)
|
27-Oct-11
|
Svizzera | Switzerland (Itl)
|
28-Oct-11
|
Suomi | Finland
|
4-Nov-11
|
Sverige | Sweden
|
28-Oct-11
|
Türkiye
| Turkey
|
4-Nov-11
|
Ukraine
|
3-Nov-11
|
United Kingdom
|
26-Oct-11
|
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