Friday, December 30, 2011

The Case for Belgian Reporters




The Adventures of Tintin in 3D is sold as a visual experience from those masters of movies, Spielberg and Jackson.  And to cut to the quick, it pretty much is.


The animation is absolutely incredible. The people (besides their faces) all look and move with a realism that indicates that there is new technology besides motion capture at work.  Oddly enough, the brief appearance of the singing Comtessa was the animated highlight, her clothing and gestures so incredibly realised that it almost appeared that a real woman had been filmed and only her head digitally replaced.






And for a change the 3D is really worth it.  I noticed it many times through the swirling camera angles and frenetic action, and was amazed an impressed each time.  


The only down side were bits of the story.  Tintin is a tale from another time, and the bumbling antics of Thomson and Thompson and some of the plot developments creak under the age of the source material.  Captain Haddock's battle with alcoholism is meant to be a source of mirth but, viewed with a packet of ghost chips, doesn't seem as amusing as I am sure it is meant to be.


But overall, the film is a fantastic ride.  The incredible freedom that comes with a completely generated world is put to amazing use, and in the end, I was looking forward to Tintin's next adventure.


Verdict: The Adventures of Tintin was definitely a movie to see in 3D, and most definitely was a film worth seeing. 8 Unicorns out of 10.

3 comments:

missrabbitty said...

i also thought it was great...was there a peter jackson cameo? he always does one. i looked for him but didn't see him. though did like the spielberg cameo.

R said...

I actually didn't notice any cameos at all - I feel like I have to go back and see it again now! Well, I would, except there are lots of other films to see when I get back into the swing of things...

R

Off-Black said...

Saw it today and agree. It is a showpiece of what can be acheived with CGI in skilled hands at the moment. I liked the subtle and not so subtle references to the other books apart from the the two used as source material as well. I thought the joke about animal husbandry was oddly jarring, but otherwise really enjoyed it from a perspective of reading and re-reading all of the source material from a young age. It does creak a bit at times, but they were written in another age for a young audience. I also thought the film perfectly reflected the spirit of the books too; an excellent translation/realisation :)