The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

The fact that they have Haddock - Herge's most entertaining and psychologically fascinating character - spouting tiresome H'wood 'positive' propaganda like 'Be true to yourself', 'Listen to your inner truth', is the final nail in the coffin for me. I already like neither the animation style nor character visuals but with the soul of Haddock mutilated too to make way for the spewing of vapid self-empowerment cliches, then count me out - because Herge's Haddock is a sacred cow for me. You don't mess with the wonderful psychology of Herge's finest creation. He's worthy of something from Nineteenth Century literature for God's sake. He's like something from a play by Moliere! You DO NOT go filling his mouth with lame H'wood positivist garbage as reported in the following review:


The Adventures of Tintin is great art crudely redrawn | Books | The Guardian
 
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Just decided to see it tonight in 3D! Was very hesitant since the animation looked IMO too realistic, with the heads of the characters still being very cartoony, but it´s starting to grow on me and the wife. Really curious to see what´s it going to be.
 
frosty said:
I just don't get it, does this have a built in audience waiting to see it? i've heard of tintin but thats it, does the books etc have a huge following overseas? a few people i've spoken to have never heard of it
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If you took French at school then you got to see the TIn Tin comic books. The Tin Tin and Asterix comic books were both in French.
 
Meh, I´ll take the old animated adaptions over Spielberg´s hollow interpretation any time.

One thing that the movie did was make me want to revisit Tintin or "Tim und Struppi" as its called over here in Germany. Loved the books, love the artwork and the stories, but Senor Spielbergo overdid it.

The action sequences sometimes really felt Indiana Jones like, and I have to revisit the comic books just to see if I can find out whether he lifted some ideas from Herge and used them for Indy. A lot of scenes felt like they´d fit into an Indy movie or were better suited for an Indy movie.

The movie also looked so damn realistic at times that it makes me wonder when we are going to see a completely animated movie with realistically looking humans in it that won´t set the "bs-detector" off...

Other than that, quite disappointing, even more than Indy IV.
 
Colin Droidmilk said:
The fact that they have Haddock - Herge's most entertaining and psychologically fascinating character - spouting tiresome H'wood 'positive' propaganda like 'Be true to yourself', 'Listen to your inner truth', is the final nail in the coffin for me. I already like neither the animation style nor character visuals but with the soul of Haddock mutilated too to make way for the spewing of vapid self-empowerment cliches, then count me out - because Herge's Haddock is a sacred cow for me. You don't mess with the wonderful psychology of Herge's finest creation. He's worthy of something from Nineteenth Century literature for God's sake. He's like something from a play by Moliere! You DO NOT go filling his mouth with lame H'wood positivist garbage as reported in the following review:


The Adventures of Tintin is great art crudely redrawn | Books | The Guardian
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Sorry, Colin, I just don't see anything specifically "Hollywood" about those two phrases you mention. Knowing nothing about the character, I can't speak to how it is suited to him, but if we are to condemn those themes entirely we'd have to go a lot further than Hollywood to snuff them out.

But if the equation is as simple as "positiveness" = "Hollywood garbage" in your mind, I guess we just have definitions that are too dissimilar at their core to be compatible. Then again, elevating the whole lump of "Nineteen Century Literature" as something to be worthy of is as ineffective as condemning the lot of "Hollywood" as being capable of personifying any one ideology.
 
^Avast there! Ready to cross swords again, eh? Lol...

Perhaps you're right in there being nothing specifically Hollywood about those phrases (though you will probably find them more in H'wood kid movies than anywhere else). But they're still lame cliches and totally out of character for Haddock. This is inexcusable given the wealth of beautiful dialogue invented for him by Herge. Haddock's big-hearted heroism is always tempered by his sarcasm, his childishness, his impatience, his impetuousness, his quick temper (it's the aggregate total of these traits finely expounded over 15 books or so that begins to give him a literary quality). He's a scruffy big kid, not an inner truth-seeking self-improvement guru!

Haddock clearly becomes the main focus of Herge's interest by The Castafiore Emerald. It's as if Herge himself could stomach only so much wholesomeness from his main hero Tintin, and tempers it any chance he can get with misbehaviour and cynicism from not just Haddock but Snowy too. To make Haddock too wholesomely positive by giving him some core from which he speaks of personal inner truth etc. is absolutely against the spirit of Herge.
 
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Colin Droidmilk said:
.... To make Haddock too wholesomely positive by giving him some core from which he speaks of personal inner truth etc. is absolutely against the spirit of Herge.
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Vivek said:
... Spielberg ...
“The first part of the film, ....owes much to ...the whole German Brechtian theatre .... But at the same time the movie is ... an adventure.”
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Brechtian theatre ?
Epic Theatre proposed that a play should not cause the spectator to identify emotionally with the characters or action before him or her, but should instead provoke rational self-reflection and a critical view of the action on the stage. Brecht thought that the experience of a climactic catharsis of emotion left an audience complacent. Instead, he wanted his audiences to adopt a critical perspective in order to recognise social injustice and exploitation and to be moved to go forth from the theatre and effect change in the world outside. For this purpose, Brecht employed the use of techniques that remind the spectator that the play is a representation of reality and not reality itself. By highlighting the constructed nature of the theatrical event, Brecht hoped to communicate that the audience's reality was equally constructed and, as such, was changeable
. wiki.
 
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I think what he means about the Brecht comparison is in the nature of its heightened, representative reality, rather than as a self-reflecting fourth-wall reminder. (Which, if it were the case, would have no need to be limited to one section of the movie, as he mentions.)

Again, it's hard for me to say, not having yet seen the movie.
 
nickytea said:
I think what he means about the Brecht comparison is in the nature of its heightened, representative reality, rather than as a self-reflecting fourth-wall reminder. (Which, if it were the case, would have no need to be limited to one section of the movie, as he mentions.)

Again, it's hard for me to say, not having yet seen the movie.
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Yeah, you're right of course, I was just teasing.
Easier for Spielberg to cut off his arm than to put philosophical content over emotion and action. He's talknig about the look of the thing.
This idea of giving positive direction to the young, seems to be his paternal offering in both this and Super8. He's just trying to give kids the right take on life.
 
I was very apprehensive when I saw the first trailer, that became curiosity with the second trailer.
but after 5 mins into the movie I was sold, I think this is the best movie / animation adaptation of the Tin Tin character.
and the best way it could possibly have been done, to turn comic book characters into life like CGI characters is very difficult, but to me very well done, but it does takes a few minutes to get used to.
for me , I am a long time fan, and recognized all of them very easily

I was glad to see they paid attention to detail of the original look, feel and humor of the comics.
the opening sequence with the original Tin Tin typeface is very well done.

having to change the story a little, is something I don't mind, I think it was necessary to make it into a fun and watchable movie.
if they had copied the story 1:1 into a movie, it probably would not have worked (and probably is why older the animations failed).

did some action scenes remind of the Indiana Jones movies ?, a little yes
does Haddock remind me of Harrison Ford ?, yes :)
but for me it adds so much to the fun I had watching the movie.

this is a great movie, and can recommend to see it, even if you never have read the original comics
I really hope they will make more sequels.
 
The Tintin movie got released across India today on Friday 11-11-11. I went to a early Thursday screening last night.

There was no doubt that the Tintin movie was going to be a non-stop fun ride. Stories from the 3 books have been combined to have a natural progressive story and omitting some of the other story arcs resulted with me being surprised at some of the story and action outcome in the second half of the movie. They did a good job with the script and chose the right amount of elements from the books. The 3D aspect of the film was really worth it.

Thanks to the amazing visual effects work by Weta there is no uncanny valley in the movie as they are not emulating realistic humans but rather going for a realistic cartoon. The environment and surroundings had some of the best photo realism seen in an animated film. Herge's artwork is brought to life in the most realistic way possible, where as a live action movie wouldn't have been able to pull off the look and feel of the characters. Spielberg hit all the right spots with the key character traits and kept the momentum going, including many laugh out loud moments. I really hope they green light a sequel soon.

There is a 2 or 3 minutes long chase sequence in the second half of the movie which is brilliantly choreographed and executed as a smooth single shot by Spielberg. I will probably be watching the movie at the theatre for the 2nd time for that scene alone.

Though most of the characters were played out through performance capture and not "animated" in the traditional sense, the overall movie still falls in the realms of animation. So the movie has to be nominated for an Oscar in the Best Animated Movie category and it will hopefully win.
 
Colin Droidmilk said:
Haddock's big-hearted heroism is always tempered by his sarcasm, his childishness, his impatience, his impetuousness, his quick temper (it's the aggregate total of these traits finely expounded over 15 books or so that begins to give him a literary quality). He's a scruffy big kid, not an inner truth-seeking self-improvement guru!
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Those characteristics were portrayed to a fair degree in the movie as well.

Colin Droidmilk said:
To make Haddock too wholesomely positive by giving him some core from which he speaks of personal inner truth etc. is absolutely against the spirit of Herge.
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Haddock's positive small talk to Tintin didn't feel like a major departure from the comic character to me nor felt he was too positive in the film.


Colin Droidmilk said:
Apparently, Haddock does some self-empowerment speech about the evils of drinking at one point. If this is so, then they're really pissing about with the character.
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How can you be mad about that, when that is what happened in the comics? Yes it concludes with a comical ending, but his unsuccessful attempts at being sober and more positive were sprinkled across the comics. Of course this speech was not shown in the movie though.

Tintin_Crab_Golden_Claws_page62_Haddock_speech.png


Colin, I forgot to ask..have you watched the movie already? That Guardian review you posted is overly critical with its comparisons to the comic. Certain liberties have to be taken while adapting materials, especially with longer storylines which sometimes needs to be condensed, also more visual action will be added for a cinematic experience.

From that negative review
"Only a true Haddock can understand", "Be true to yourself", "Listen to your inner truth": lines such as these are repeated manically, as though we have wandered into a self-empowerment seminar – a seminar on monetisation through self-empowerment, to be precise."

The first quote is uttered about 2 or 3 times in the movie, with a good reason. The other two quotes are uttered only once. Can't believe the writer is actually complaining about all this and comparing it to a self-empowerment seminar.
 
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The thing is I'm so cash-strapped I can't afford to do anything other than act on sources I'd normally trust - like the Guardian - before shelling out for a ticket. Since I've been let down by just about every single thing I've seen in the cinema over the last ten years - with the sole exception of Moon - this is only wise, I think. I'm a hard bugger to please, and what will bug a Guardian reviewer in a Tintin flick will probably bug me! Still, it does sound like The Guardian and others have been over-critical in this case, at least of the story. Sadly, though, I do dislike the visual characterizations intensely, so will still be giving it a miss....for me the film was killed in pre-production - the moment Spielberg signed off on 'realistic' eyes instead of dots.

Just watched the trailer again, and there's something else that bugs ten thousand thundering types of crap out of me, and which The Guardian didn't even mention, and that's the voices. The voices of actors. The mere presence of the voices of actors applied to the world of Tintin drives me nuts...

Plus all the usual phony cgi camera swoops, the overdone action, the constant visual hyperbole etc. no, no... it's nauseating, sorry...I just can't stand the look of it....I guess I just hate modern cinema too much...

Look.... it's like this....Herge's Tintin has something of the... the... the visual poetry of a Japanese print, you know? I'm supposed to trade that for this VULGAR NOISE??!!!
 
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With the high ticket prices everywhere your situation is understandable, including the additional 3D charges for many movies which don't need to be 3D in the first place.

I usually avoid reading detailed reviews before watching movies to avoid pre-judging them, else they end up influencing my enjoyment early on. But yeah it is wise to be selective about which movies are worth watching at the theatre, so I do end-up reading non-spoiler bits of some of my favourite movie writers' reviews, mainly the early gist of the review.

When I first read that the Tintin movie was going to be animated, I was really disappointed. Then I read the interview where Spielberg explained how Peter Jackson convinced him to go with the animation route. Peter mentioned that it would be the right thing to do, as they would be able to preserve the distinct look and charm of Herge's characters, which would otherwise be lost in a live action movie. I was convinced then and later by the trailers.

Hopefully you will come around to give it a shot during home viewing someday.
 
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I saw it a week or so ago at Paramount. I loved it. You can tell Spielberg was having fun during the making of it, it's great. It's very Indiana Jonesy, with lots of great action sequences. The one-continuous-shot-chase sequence was mind-blowing, and worth the price of admission alone! The mo-cap work is top notch, and, once again, Andy Serkis steals the show. They've come a long way since Polar Express.

Check it out!
The Adventures of Tintin: Official International Site
 
My birthday was last month, but received this today as a surprise belated birthday gift from a friend. It was intended to be late as the book came out only in November coinciding with the movie's release.



Many covers digitally recreated by Weta artists, this cover is one of my favourites. Thanks to Greg Broadmore for this gorgeous and true to comic art.



So many great concept art and comic panel recreations in this book. I like these comparison shots between comic art, performance capture and the final 3D animated product.

 
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