THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN (Spielberg - 2011)

5 clips have been released:

http://videos.dhnet.be/search/?q=the%20adventures%20of%20tintin%20secret%20of%20the%20unicorn%20making%20of%20cinebel

I gotta admit I have little interest in this film. There's no reason it shouldn't have been live action.

I think Spielberg wanted to experiment with the medium of animation.

Sharky wrote:

I think Spielberg wanted to experiment with the medium of animation.

I'm sure he did. Doesn't make the results look any more compelling, though.

Hmm it gives me the same vibe as I get from Zemekis' animations....impressive but why not just use live action, certainly something is lost in individual performance delivery....I struggle to see what's being gained?

The faces look much more expressive than in Zemekis's stuff. BEOWULF looked like an extended videogame cutscene. What a way to ruin one of the oldest masterpieces of the English language.

The faces do appear to be more expressive, but I don't understand why the neat to tread such an awkward compromise between a more stylized unreality and photorealism. It's quite uncanny.

Sharky wrote:

The faces look much more expressive than in Zemekis's stuff. BEOWULF looked like an extended videogame cutscene. What a way to ruin one of the oldest masterpieces of the English language.

Agreed and sad because it could have made a great live action tale. But tbh even if they eventually nail the expressions...then what, animation that looks like live action but isn't, I'm just not sure thats something positive even if it becomes possible.

Only a few weeks away from release in the Netherlands (26th of October). Really looking forward to this cinematic family outing.

Looks like a good film for the kids.


But, I don't have kids, so I won't bother with it.

I believe Spielberg thought that live action wouldn't allow him to keep some of Hergé's atmosphere and style intact on the big screen. Whereas pure animation would have been too limiting. I understand why he chose this option, but I fear the technology isn't quite as far along as he might imagine. Those faces still lack a bit of soul.

I will probably see it, if only for the fact that I grew up with the comics and I'm curious to see what they made of them, and if any of Hergé's charm has survived the adaptation to another medium.

I'm also a bit miffed they didn't use the intro to the TV cartoon on the soundtrack. :p

So has anyone here seen THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN, then? No one seems to be discussing it. What is this film, Scotch mist?

Well, in America, TINTIN failed to make any impression. I was going to get out to see it, but other films took precedence. I'll be waiting for DVD.

Harmsway wrote:

Well, in America, TINTIN failed to make any impression.

It certainly doesn't look like a huge hit, by any means, but, still, it's done $61,880,000 (according to Box Office Mojo), and was only released Stateside on 21 December. It's early days yet.

Mind you, I'm aware that it does seem to be perceived as a flop in America, and so I wonder what the implications are for the Peter Jackson-directed TINTIN 2. Is it possible that it could be scrapped? Or have Spielberg and Jackson (both of whom wield considerable clout, after all) invested too much time, money and energy in the planned Tintin trilogy to let it die?

Harmsway wrote:

I'll be waiting for DVD.

Same here, probably. Although I do wonder whether one hasn't really seen it till one's seen it in 3D.

Here was my review:

I loved it... it really brought me back to when I was 7-8 years old. I didn't pay too much attention to how loyal the film was to Hergé, but it did feel 100% Spielberg. As excellent as the art direction and choreography were, the film was carried by the voicework of Bell, Serkis, Craig, and co. Craig and Serkis in particular ham it up, but never to an obnoxious extent. Actually, the absence of the typical pop-culture references and exaggerations present in most American animated films is the most refreshing factor. Tintin is as old-school an adventure as one can find these days. I couldn't ignore some of the faults though, such as the "dead eye" syndrome. Although that's part of the source material, the rest of the motion capture and realistic photography were so well done that the beady eyes were an unnatural fit. The construction crane fight also looked out of place, especially given the enticing back story of the Haddock-Sakharine feud and that it already follows a number of loud action set-pieces. In any case, it's a shame that some audiences seem to vote with their wallets for the likes of Chipmunks instead, but it's their loss. I think that Tintin is right up there with Triplettes de Belleville, WALL-E, and Up as one of the finest animated movies of this century so far. 8/10

And hopefully Tintin 2 does go ahead. I know it's a Hollywood film and all, but Tintin's global earnings should be impressive enough to warrant it. It'll likely finish at around $350-375 million.

Loved Spielberg's Tintin, but then I was already sold on the property, so I guess my opinion is corrupted. What Spielberg does with animation itself is really worthwhile though, and he pushes it in all sorts of directions that traditional animation directors haven't ever thought of.

The most fun thing about it, for me, was Daniel Craig as a reedy, petty villain. That's a really interesting use of this mo-cap technology, since the performance is very obviously Daniel Craig's, complete with all his mannerisms and tics, but the "physical" model acting it out is completely opposite to how he looks.