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Thursday, December 15, 2011

The Adventures of Tintin

Q: What’s the movie about?

A:  Based on a combination of stories from the Belgian comic books, a young journalist named Tintin buys a model ship from a flea market, and suddenly people are trying to kill him and steal the ship, which leads him on a journalistic adventure to find out what is so special about this little ship.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A:  Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Toby Jones, Cary Elwes, Daniel Mays, Mackenzie Crook, Gad Elmaleh, Tony Curran, Kim Stengal, Enn Reitel, Joe Starr

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A:  PhotobucketProceed with Caution. I spent most of the movie wondering who the target audience was supposed to be.  If it's supposed to be for grown-ups, then making it live-action would've made the action-adventure parts more exciting.  And if it's supposed to be for little boys, then why is one of the main characters a drunk?

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A:  For once I can say, I preferred the book.  I remember reading these as a kid, and I remember them being funny-- especially those twin cops Thomson and Thompson. Even with one of my favorite comedy teams (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost) in the roles, this is not.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A:  I felt like crying for poor little Tintin because the way they animated it, he looks about 14, so when he gets lost at sea and then lands in a foreign country without his mommy and daddy, I worry.  Turns out-- and I had to have this explained to me-- that he's in his low twenties.  I'm not a fan of the look they chose for him.  He doesn't look old enough to be a journalist, and more importantly, he doesn't look like Tintin.  It's animated!  You could've made him look exactly like he does in the books.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A:  The Award for 2011 goes to Belgium!  Between this and The Smurfs, Belgium is really positioning itself this year to look like more than just the European Canada.

Q: How is the Acting?

A:  Once again, my favorite actor is the dog.  But in comparison to the live-action dog in The Artist, who I've heard has people campaigning for his eligibility in the Best Supporting Actor category, this dog is nothing more than a drawing.

Q: How is the Directing?

A:  The choice to do this animated originally made sense to me, because the comic book lends itself to animation.  But the choice to do the animation using motion capture, so that the characters end up looking  semi-human, without  looking anything like their drawn counter-parts mind-boggles me.  Now that I've seen it, I think they should've gone with live-action  -- which was Spielberg's first instinct, once again proving the point that you should always listen to your gut.

Q: How is the story/script?

A:  Tintin is such a goody-two-shoes, that his character is boring, and never gives you any sense that he might mess up, or not figure something out.  In other words, there's no suspense. 

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A:  Spielberg isn't the only master of his craft to deliver less than stellar results here, composer John Williams also creates a score that is beneath him.  The music itself is fun and light, and would probably make good listening if you were sitting around in your library smoking your pipe, but put up against this movie, it just feels wrong.  In the opening credits for example, twice as much action is in the music than in the images on the screen.  And in the rest, it would've served the movie to have music creating a greater sense of suspense in the parts when the story did not.  It's cheating, but it's exactly what makes renowned composers like John Williams so great at their jobs.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: The Adventures of Tintin Trailer

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