The Adventures of Tintin

[ross]

Great Snakes! No Tintin thread?

I'm a huge fan of the original stories and while I'm not sure about some of the changes in Spielberg's film (a Scottish Captain Haddock?) I think it works pretty well. Not a classic the way Herge's original work is but a lot of fun.

One area it falls short is the theme music, though maybe that is just because the theme from the 90's cartoon is so perfect.

[ross]

Probably saying a lot this thread didn't get any replies - the film isn't doing so well at the box office.

I guess it really shows how far Herge never cracked the US - Tintin spent five weeks in the top 4 in the UK and Irish box office.

[Sunnyhorse]

Or it could just be that it's not that great. Friend of mine took his daughter and posted the following review on Facebook: "Tintin: Fivefive."

[ross]

Dec 25, 2011 11:22:13 GMT -4 Sunnyhorse said:

Or it could just be that it's not that great. Friend of mine took his daughter and posted the following review on Facebook: "Tintin: Fivefive."

It has a 7.8 on IMDb and it has an A- CinemaScore. I don't think anyone is calling it a classic but most people who have seen it seem to like it, and again it was a big success in Britain and Ireland (and nearly everywhere else that matter - it has already made $239 million worldwide.)

[petitesuite]

I had heard the name Tintin but had no idea what it was about until I saw trailers for the movie and have never read (seen?) the original source material. I do think lack of familiarity with it in the US might be a problem, but maybe I just don't want to consider myself a complete ignoramus.

[ross]

Dec 26, 2011 20:04:40 GMT -4 petitesuite said:

I had heard the name Tintin but had no idea what it was about until I saw trailers for the movie and have never read (seen?) the original source material. I do think lack of familiarity with it in the US might be a problem, but maybe I just don't want to consider myself a complete ignoramus.

The original comics where drawn from 1929 to 1983 and they are all in-print at the moment if you want to check them out.

The Canadians made an animated series in the 90's which can be found on YouTube (hey Ebert mentioned it is on YouTube in his review ).

It is a little dumbed down - a lot of political satire is gone - and of course it doesn't have the sheer awesomeness of Herge's art but it isn't a bad introduction at all.

[MrsCatHead]

We adore the comics and the old animated series. I'm kind of scared to see this...too afraid to be disappointed.

[Deleted]

I think Nickelodeon ran the animated series in the states, I remember watching it periodically as a kid. I haven't decided if I'm going to see this yet. From the trailers, it looks like it hits Uncanny Valley territory hard.

[ross]

Tintin is difficult to do in other mediums because a lot of the visual appeal comes from the linge claire style which doesn't really translate.

For comparative purposes - Tintin & Captain Haddock:

Original

Live action

Motion capture

[sjankis630]

I went to see this the other night and really applaud them for fixing the uncanny "Polar Express" effect from a few years ago.
The movie had its moments but ultimately it didn't hold together as well for me.
I have read a lot of the comics so I knew the story of TinTin, but I think it was the attempt at the slapstick humor that fell flat for me. I almost nodded off a couple of times. It simply was not really funny and I wished that they could have left it just as a pure drama. I know, I know the comic is played as funny, but I never found the comics funny either. I think what drew me to the comics was the artwork and the sense of adventure.
Now on a positive note the sea battle had some incredible special effects and I thought it was particularly well done.