“Great snakes! “- The Adventures of Tintin
I’ll admit it. When I first heard the name “Tintin”, my mind automatically went to the dog with the almost exact same name. After going to google, as I usually do when I don’t know what something is, I learned that Tintin is a comic strip character. Another comic book movie? Let me in. I've got a movie to see.
The Adventures of Tintin! This is a film directed by Speilberg and produced by Peter Jackson. When you’ve got a combination like that, plus the inclusion of people like Edgar Wright, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, and Simon Pegg, you’re pretty much guaranteed an excellent movie. Did it do its job? Well, if you were aiming for a heart-pounding, full-blown adventure movie that rivals (if not surpasses) Indiana Jones or the Uncharted games, than dammit, I think you’ve achieved your goal. The Adventures of Tintin was incredible.
The movie is about a redheaded reporter named Tintin, who in the first ten minutes of the film must solve a mystery about a sunken ship called “The Unicorn” before the villainous Rackham (who bears an uncanny resemblance to Speilberg). With him, is his dog Snowy and Captain Haddock, a somewhat loveable drunk who’s pretty much the cause of Tintin’s troubles throughout the course of the film. That’s one of the best things about this movie: You care about everyone. You got Tintin, the level-headed leader, Snowy, the dog who sometimes does a better job of solving a mystery better than his master, Haddock, the dude who’s always getting into trouble, and Rackham, who’s just a complete douche bag. You want to follow each and every one of these awesome characters because they’re all so unique and awesome in their own right.
I’ll say it here and now, I’m a huge fan of this “uncanny valley” concept of animation. Seriously, all the characters and things in this movie look all too real. That just makes the film even more enjoyable to follow. With Andy Serkis, you know that chimp from Rise of the Apes last year? Golum? Yeah, he did a phenomenal performance as Haddock. His stuff is always incredible, and this movie is no exception. I will say, however that the 3D probably wasn’t needed, but it wasn’t distracting either. Pay the extra cash at your own risk.
What didn’t work for me was the pacing. The first half of the movie paced incredibly fast. Then, from the middle to about ¾’s of the way through, the pacing almost comes to a screeching halt. This part wasn’t particularly interesting, as nothing much is going on, and everyone in the theater was just itching to get back in for more action. Needless to say, we got it by the end of the movie, but there was no need for that stop in the middle.
As much as that speed bump in the pacing hurt it a little, The Adventures of Tintin was fantastic. The characters were extraordinary, the animation was breathtaking, and the performances were spectacular. With an ending like that, there just has to be room for a sequel or a whole line of films from this comic strip character. If Spielberg, Jackson, Serkis, and everyone else who was involved with this movie were to return for another film, not seeing it wouldn’t even be an option. I loved this film, and I’ll give it a 9 out of 10. Go see this movie immediately.
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