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RE: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

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RE: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn - 14/11/2011 5:02:12 PM   
FoximusPrime

 

Posts: 215
Joined: 11/12/2005
quote:

ORIGINAL: Herr Schnitzel

Do you really think "photo-realism" is what animation is all about ? There are a billion design opportunities with animation and then to recreate characters that look and move like actors strikes me as thoroughly pointless. The "photo-reral" animation as you call it isn't actually animation. It's performance capture which I regard as the lazy approach, by cutting out the skills the animators bring to animation films. Instead you have Andy Serkis overacting like mad to look like a cartoon. Stupid really.

Unlike the Pixar films which take a more stylised approach this will date badly, just like previous performance capture films.


I've never seen the point of photorealism previously - for example, I liked Beowulf but would've liked it better with a more stylised approach (like How to Train Your Dragon, maybe...that would've been interesting to watch!) or live action (which I suppose we later got with the more enjoyable Outlander). However, I think Spielberg managed to bridge the gap with Tintin - it was sort of photo-real (which, again, I really couldn't understand why leading up to the release), but at the same time they've managed to give it a bit of visual flourish to make it something more cartoony. And it somehow worked.

As to whether or not "photo-realism"  is animation - of course it is, it's just a different means of animation. It might not be an animation style that I would normally like but it's animation nonetheless. Is it the photo-real art style you don't like or the performance capture as they're surely different issues? Or both? Didn't Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves use some kind of rotoscoping technique for Snow White's movement (Disclaimer: may be entirely in my mind)? Is that still animation?

It still requires someone to paint the characters and make them part of a whole, moving image, even though a lot of the donkey work is taken up by powerful computers now. As I understand it even cartoons like Family Guy are animated on computers now - are they still animated, since there isn't someone painting it cell-by-cell and each movement is the result of calculations by the computer?

And to bring it back to Tintin, I think this film is actually a perfect combination of performance and technology. It's down to the execution - I don't want to watch a boring, washed out performance capture that strives for mundane realism and will avoid photo-real animation as a rule, but this hyper-realism worked and I'm glad I watched it.



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Post #: 151
RE: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn - 16/11/2011 5:18:16 AM   
Paul2j

 

Posts: 107
Joined: 30/9/2005
The animation I thought was insanely good, no dead eyes here. Good story on the whole, but did feel a bit slow in places. 7/10

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Post #: 152
RE: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn - 16/11/2011 9:38:10 PM   
white mage

 

Posts: 180
Joined: 29/11/2007
From: Hollow Bastion
 Saw this yesterday, really enjoyed it, the animation was amazing and the humour was top notch

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Post #: 153
Just a Wonderful Movie ! - 18/11/2011 9:55:24 PM   
soulfood

 

Posts: 54
Joined: 6/10/2005
I Love this Movie, Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig . Are very good.

Also i love THE music in this movie by John Williams & seeing this movie.
In 3 D was good as well one of best movie of 2011 .

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Post #: 154
Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn - 28/11/2011 1:55:02 PM   
P3RCY

 

Posts: 3
Joined: 18/8/2010
Brilliant film! Herge' knew that the only way his books could be portrayed within a motion picture would be through the vision of Steven Speilberg! Loved the CGI and the film as a whole...but I did think the film ended too soon! Looking forward to the next installment though!

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Post #: 155
Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn - 28/11/2011 1:55:04 PM   
P3RCY

 

Posts: 3
Joined: 18/8/2010
Brilliant film! Herge' knew that the only way his books could be portrayed within a motion picture would be through the vision of Steven Speilberg! Loved the CGI and the film as a whole...but I did think the film ended too soon! Looking forward to the next installment though!

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Post #: 156
RE: Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn - 5/12/2011 5:25:03 AM   
threshold


Posts: 319
Joined: 26/10/2010
From: Sydney, Austraiia
 Most of the pre-release complaints have been about the Motion-Capture performances. When you finish watching this movie, you cannot think of another way they could’ve filmed this in. It completly captures the use of colour and set pieces that Herge used in his comics.
Speaking of set-pieces, I think you cannot find a set piece more exciting than “The pursuit of the Falcon”. It is all one continuous shot that is used brilliantly, and I got tingles. Performances all round are excellent, with a particular Andy Serkis (Mo-Cap King) stealing every scene he’s in as the drunken, kind-hearted Captain Haddock and the Boo-Hiss villian Sakerhin (A very disguised Daniel Craig) being extremly evil.
Just so you guys know, they’ve fully acknowledged it’s a kid’s film, so there’s a lot of use of a very cute Snowy, and there is even a burp scene but it never feels forced.
Screenwriters Stephen Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish have taken liberties with the story of The Secret of the Unicorn, but I really doubt any die hard fans could get angry at this treatment of their beloved Tintin. The Adventures of Tintin really is an introduction to the Tintin series for the American audience as Speilberg has often said in interviews, and it couldn’t be more of a perfect introduction. Not only to Tintin, but to motion-capture. Sure Avatar (The most popular Mo-cap movie) used motion capture very well, but they would always fall back on ‘real’ characters just so the audience doesn’t get potentially alienated. And attempts such as A Christmas Carol, and The Polar Express have been, well, less than realistic with their dead eyes and downright lifeless acting. This movie proves, if anything else, that Motion Capture can be used properly, and not just that, appropriately. I was not aware that I was watching a Motion Capture performance, which is really a positive remark, as other movies (A Christmas Carol) were so blatantly obvious that they were digital, and rubbed it in my face to the point where I looked around the cinema, and got distracted.

This is the most exciting movie this year, and certainly the best Children’s film of this year (Cars 2 and Kung Fu Panda 2 didn’t put up much of a fight) but don’t get scared away by the term “Children’s movie” this is really a non-restrictive Adventure film.

4.5/5
Why the .5? Well sadly the last action scene went far too long and almost, ALMOST got me bored, but it did not destroy the near-perfect experience that is Tintin.

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Post #: 157
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn Review - 20/1/2012 6:48:57 PM   
the film man

 

Posts: 598
Joined: 13/10/2010
Drawing deep from the classic Raiders of the Lost Ark playbook, Steven Spielberg has crafted another spirited, thrilling adventure in the form of Tintin.

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Post #: 158
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn Review - 11/3/2012 2:09:48 PM   
DaleLawson


Posts: 21
Joined: 19/12/2011
From: Exmouth
 To summarise this film, although it doesn’t meet all expectations, it is still very much a Tintin movie. We get the enjoyable relationship of the two protagonists (and snowy), as well as the slapstick, comedic breaks of Thompson and Thomson, and the villainous Sakharine. The film feels like a children’s Indiana Jones movie, as one would expect and it is only let down by an unfulfilling soundtrack and a slightly predictable plot. All in all The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn is well worth a watch, if not just for the nostalgia.

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Post #: 159
RE: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn - 21/3/2012 7:29:08 PM   
S. C. Lee


Posts: 356
Joined: 1/12/2011
I’m probably in the minority here but I thought Tintin was quite poor. The animation was amazing, the dog was great but the story was weak. I wouldn't watch it again, thank God for LoveFilm.

< Message edited by S. C. Lee -- 21/3/2012 7:30:05 PM >

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Post #: 160
RE: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn - 21/3/2012 11:50:22 PM   
S. C. Lee


Posts: 356
Joined: 1/12/2011

quote:

ORIGINAL: demoncleaner

Just back from it.  I honestly thought it was an absolute joy and couldn't pick a fault substantial enough to give it less than five stars.

5/5


What about the captain setting the boat on fire? And then the plane missing them with a machine gun! For a start...

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Post #: 161
RE: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn - 22/3/2012 10:58:58 AM   
shool


Posts: 9612
Joined: 24/3/2006
From: In The Pipe, Five by Five.
 I loved Tintin. 4 or 5 star film for me.

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Post #: 162
RE: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn - 22/3/2012 11:36:28 AM   
adambatman82

 

Posts: 11156
Joined: 15/12/2005
From: Sheffield
quote:

ORIGINAL: S. C. Lee

What about the captain setting the boat on fire?


What was wrong with that? The captain was delusional and set the boat on fire. Within the context of the film I don't think thats particularly unbelievable.

quote:

ORIGINAL: S. C. Lee

And then the plane missing them with a machine gun! For a start...



I'm fairly sure that every single film that has ever featured its protagonists being shot at by a machine gun atop a plane has had the same sort of outcome tho. Indiana Jones is the obvious example. Again, I don't think its particularly unusual for the world that the film is presenting (one of burp-run engines no less), nor is it particularly fair to criticise a film for something that its very open about being.

< Message edited by adambatman82 -- 22/3/2012 11:56:36 AM >

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Post #: 163
RE: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn - 22/3/2012 1:53:48 PM   
S. C. Lee


Posts: 356
Joined: 1/12/2011
They should make films (like this) more believable. As Tintin himself says, "I'm a realist" I don't usually feel like cartoons are specifically for kids but that's the impression I got watching this.

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost were wasted, like the captain - the old detectives were super annoying. Only the dog and the animation saved the day. Tintin 2 - pass.

From looking at the customer reviews on Amazon, it would seem like it's fifty fifty between those that liked it, and those that didn't.



< Message edited by S. C. Lee -- 22/3/2012 2:45:01 PM >

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Post #: 164
RE: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn - 22/3/2012 2:27:46 PM   
tonethestone


Posts: 806
Joined: 27/4/2006
Great film, and looks great on blu-ray 3d

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Post #: 165
RE: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn - 22/3/2012 2:29:03 PM   
tonethestone


Posts: 806
Joined: 27/4/2006
Great film, and looks great on blu-ray 3d

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Nxt up.... The Descendants

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Post #: 166
RE: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn - 29/3/2012 11:55:40 AM   
filmburner30

 

Posts: 1546
Joined: 5/12/2006
From: guildford
 I really enjoyed this Spielberg is in his element here ,and Andy Serkis steals the film as Captain Haddock


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Post #: 167
- 29/3/2012 9:10:40 PM   
alexsimon

 

Posts: 1
Joined: 8/7/2011
Can't say much else apart from the fact that this was a huge disappointment. Haven't been so disappointed at a film for quite some time. The two saving graces about this film were Snowy and the overall animation. The plot was, however, predictable and dull. The characters, snowy apart, were plain and too much of an annoyance. Sadly as much as I love the books, I shall not be watching anymore of the Tintin franchise if it continues.

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Post #: 168
RE: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn - 4/4/2012 7:58:20 AM   
Phubbs


Posts: 660
Joined: 3/4/2012
Directed by Spielberg, produced by Jackson and with the writing talents of Edgar Wright this animated film has some pretty good input and the final product does show it.

The look of this film is extremely well presented with amazing computer animation mixed with motion capture to give all the characters a very realistic feel along with a clear fantasy element. This is by far the best example of a motion capture/cgi film (as you might expect) and includes some lovely imagery from scenery to detailed settings and locations whilst all characters ,including 'Snowy', move wonderfully well yet retaining their classic appearances.

For me personally I never really got on with Tintin, I never really liked the style of art used by Herge, can't say why but it just didn't look right, much like many European cartoons such as 'Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds' or 'Around the World with Willy Fog' the look, feel and style of art and animation was always slightly odd to us British kiddies back in the day, especially the obvious dubbing.

I can't hold that against the film of course as it does look excellent with US 'Hollywood' influence of course which helps a little. You sure can tell its Spielberg film though, the plot is pretty much a blend of typical 'Indy' style adventure with similar visuals and a good old fashioned swashbuckling yarn, thing is I don't think the bigwigs could make up their mind as to which.

The whole film is beautifully done and includes great voice work to match the motion capture, it has done pretty well in Europe so far (mainly the Continent) but I'm still unsure how the US will warm to Tintin and its unique look. Its a fun film but doesn't offer too much you haven't seen before and as said already you will get a strong 'Indy' vibe in many places which does give you the feeling you've seen this all before. A good start and a sequel would be welcome but after that this could get old fast.

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Post #: 169
BINARY BLISS.... - 5/4/2012 2:54:52 PM   
ROTGUT

 

Posts: 291
Joined: 14/7/2008
Spielberg's most anonymous film IMO. Anyone could have directed this...Jackson, Cameron, Zemeckis.....as long as they understood the technology....and that's the whole point. The technology is the real star of this film - the story, the characters and the director are all beside the point. And I thought Tintin was supposed to French or Belgian or something.......sounds like an effeminate wuss in this film. For lovers of binary code and computer games every where......TWO STARS!!!

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Post #: 170
BINARY BLISS.... - 5/4/2012 2:54:53 PM   
ROTGUT

 

Posts: 291
Joined: 14/7/2008
Spielberg's most anonymous film IMO. Anyone could have directed this...Jackson, Cameron, Zemeckis.....as long as they understood the technology....and that's the whole point. The technology is the real star of this film - the story, the characters and the director are all beside the point. And I thought Tintin was supposed to French or Belgian or something.......sounds like an effeminate wuss in this film. For lovers of binary code and computer games every where......TWO STARS!!!

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Post #: 171
RE: BINARY BLISS.... - 6/4/2012 2:53:57 PM   
mackey

 

Posts: 337
Joined: 15/7/2007
Finally got around to watching this on Blu-ray last night. Fantastic looking in places, quite bland in others. I felt it lacked pace and purpose, there was never any real sense of dange. The whole adventure just never really took off for me. I was genuinely blown away by some of the visuals but not when it came to the characters themselves. Ultimately the whole thing felt completely soulless.

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Post #: 172
RE: :) - 7/4/2012 9:51:58 PM   
Dhomnick


Posts: 1
Joined: 7/4/2012
From: British Columbia
 The fact that it is indeed pure Spielberg is what I liked less about the movie. Why couldn't he simply be faithful to the character, instead of trying to pervert it like an Indiana Jones rip-off. Good thing he did not do that with Jaws or Jurassic Park, at least.


Oh... so is he just respectful of American authors?!?!?

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Post #: 173
RE: :) - 9/4/2012 2:26:04 PM   
Proudfoot


Posts: 319
Joined: 13/4/2009
quote:

ORIGINAL: Dhomnick

The fact that it is indeed pure Spielberg is what I liked less about the movie. Why couldn't he simply be faithful to the character, instead of trying to pervert it like an Indiana Jones rip-off. Good thing he did not do that with Jaws or Jurassic Park, at least.


Oh... so is he just respectful of American authors?!?!?

Why do you feel he wasn't faithful and perverted the material?



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Post #: 174
Great looking but ultimately hollow..... - 13/4/2012 2:37:34 PM   
BRAINDRAIN

 

Posts: 9
Joined: 27/4/2011
As a purely technical exercise, I thought it was quite brilliant. All of
the characters were well rendered and I recognised a few bits and pieces
from the old books. And there was that brief nod at the beginning toward
the original Herge artwork which was quite nicely executed.

But there were quite a few negatives about the whole thing too when I
think about it.

Spielberg's name is plastered all over the posters (and the opening
titles) but surely this is the most anonymous film he's ever directed.
Peter Jackson could have made this film, James Cameron and Robert
Zemeckis too no doubt.....
And if you understood the technology YOU could make this film, I could
make this film - ANYONE could have made this film - and that's the whole
point. The technology is the star - not the story, the characters or the
director.

And there were times when I thought Spielberg was just falling back into
"Raiders" mode which would be fine if we hadn't already seen the
previous film some (30?) years ago. And there was no sense of peril
either. At no point did TinTin or Captain Haddock look or feel as if
they were in any real jeopardy. This point was even more emphasised
during that big motorbike chase sequence near the end. It seemed so over
the top, I didn't really believe in what I was seeing. It was the same
feeling I got when we watched those racing scenes in Speed Racer.
Perhaps it didn't help that Daniel Craig's
Red Rackham seemed more like a pantomime villain. And Jamie Bell's voice
sounded a bit too effeminate to play a hero - or was it just me? And is
TinTin supposed to be English?


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Post #: 175
- 10/7/2012 2:56:10 PM   
TheGodfather


Posts: 5099
Joined: 21/10/2005
From: Sin City
 Watched yesterday:

The Adventures of TinTin: The Secret Of The Unicorn
Saw it last year in cinema but I thought it was even better now. The story, even though it is a mix of three TinTin stories, works well and in a high pace and you don`t even really know that they are three different stories.
The animations and transitions between them are beautiful. The picture quality of the blu-ray is off-the-hook!!! The detail is insane, as is the sharpness. Mouthwatering would be an understatement.
A very fine film, bring on that sequel!

9,0/10

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Post #: 176
A Good Film To Watch With The Family - 24/8/2012 5:29:49 PM   
newmovies0189

 

Posts: 2
Joined: 24/8/2012
From: St Stephens
 i love this film its worth 5 stars there are some bit that were funny like all the bits with snowy i want that dog :) give it a watch :)

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Post #: 177
Pure, undiluted Spielbergian joy - 14/4/2013 6:58:43 PM   
Mr Gittes

 

Posts: 443
Joined: 3/2/2013
If, like myself, you are a Spielberg fan who was disappointed big-time by Indy 4, The Adventures Of Tintin is the perfect antidote; since I left the cinema with a huge grin on my face and with the same warm buzzing in the fingers I'd get from classic Indiana Jones, or just classic Spielberg. But aside from being a resounding and entertaining "Fuck you" to the cynical folks who doubted the big man still had it in him, Tintin stands on its own as an utterly thrilling family adventure movie.

Fans of Spielberg's visual flair will be in absolute heaven here as he uses that digital camera to within an inch of its life and it's no surprise that this may be the most visually stunning animated movie yet made. Simply breathtaking. Kudos to Jackson as well, as he no doubt had a large input here, and is a much more comforting choice for Spielberg's creative partner than Lucas. Frankly, I wish he'd moved on with the second Tintin instead of expanding The Hobbit into a trilogy, but whatever.

And let's not forget the terrific cast, especially the scene-stealing Andy Serkis (one of these days he's gonna win an Oscar) and the perfectly cast Jamie Bell, not to mention Daniel Craig plays our villain Sakharine with wonderful relish.

Needless to say, I highly recommend this movie - especially to fans of Spielberg's lighter adventure movies - and I can't wait for the sequel.

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Post #: 178
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