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secondlinaSo, after a whole day of selling comics in the frenzy of the holidays, I decide to join some friends to watch the recent movie based on the Adventures of Tintin, a rather known comic book hero worldwide that started in Belgium in the thirties.
Now, before I start the review, i'd like to point out that I have never actually read the Adventures of Tintin. Nope. Never. I can hear the audience gasping. Yeah, I know, I speak French and read about 20 comics per week. How can I not have read Tintin? Well, as a 12 year-old, I tried. I really did. I found it really, really boring. In the comic's defense, it's still a really good comic. Hergé, the creator, researched his subjects, created cool adventures and loved his characters. But as a young kid, I was already tired of older comics, especially those that were basically void of female characters, or worse - featured female characters as busty airheads. So when I tried to read Tintin, I could not be any further of the target market then I already was. To me, it seemed outdated, sexist and racist. I didn't have time for that crap, Buffy was on. But that was the humble opinion of the 12 year-old me. It doesn't mean Tintin is bad. It just means it wasn't my thing. I'm still glad it exists, since it founded the whole "ligne-claire" comic movement.
So, when seeing the movie, everything was new to me. I had no idea where the story was going, and had no attachment to the characters. So this is going to be a very objective review.
So, first point : I like Tintin and is dog, Snowy (or Milou in French). then again, from the little I saw of the comics, I liked him there too. He's a cool, motivated guy. He's a big nerd too. I mean, the whole story starts because he wants to keep a neat looking model ship for himself. That's nerdy Tintin. Also, his first response to a problem was to do library research to find a solution. Way to nerd it up, Tintin. You're adorable. I liked that we saw him doing journalist work. It was fun.
As much as I like Tintin, I kinda remember seeing in the comics that most of the other characters are dysfunctional, adult-children that goof around a lot. And Tintin kinda babysits everyone. Makes me wonder why he never tells everyone off (though he sorta does a few times in the movie, which made him seem normal. Normal people would get frustrated).
I kinda liked movie-Haddock. He's an interesting shade of depressed. and when he gets motivated, he's pretty badass. I liked the villain too. And his damn hawk. That is one efficient hawk. Snowy was pretty damn efficient too. Seriously, if Tintin teamed up with the hawk and the dog, he could just go around the world fighting crime, reporting and being awesome.
The movie itself had an interesting mix of realism and goofiness, inspired by the comic. A lot of the action requires a certain amount of disbelief in gravity and complete refusal of Murphy's law. Kinda like in Kung Fu Panda. But it's still really fluid and intriguing action. The pace of the movie is a bit fast. you never get any time to breathe. It seems Tintin would have collapsed of exhaustion by the time the end got there. Then again, he gets knocked out a few times. Those count as naps, right?
Generally, I think the movie was good. It wasn't great though. It was good enough to watch once and like. But I doubt i'll buy it on DVD. I think the people who find it great are people who have a lot of nostalgia for Tintin. The feel of nostalgia was really there. I didn't even KNOW Tintin and I felt like I was suppose to feel like my childhood was being injected with awesome. They put a lot of references to the comics everywhere (I noticed stuff resembling elements from the covers all around). Though I wasn't able to appreciate them much, I though it was a nice touch.
So, to make it short : Tintin is good, probably more actual then the comics, and mostly made for fans. And it's good some interesting action scenes. The 3D is a bit odd though, but it's a style.
Now back to reading Walking Dead.
- Isa
Now, before I start the review, i'd like to point out that I have never actually read the Adventures of Tintin. Nope. Never. I can hear the audience gasping. Yeah, I know, I speak French and read about 20 comics per week. How can I not have read Tintin? Well, as a 12 year-old, I tried. I really did. I found it really, really boring. In the comic's defense, it's still a really good comic. Hergé, the creator, researched his subjects, created cool adventures and loved his characters. But as a young kid, I was already tired of older comics, especially those that were basically void of female characters, or worse - featured female characters as busty airheads. So when I tried to read Tintin, I could not be any further of the target market then I already was. To me, it seemed outdated, sexist and racist. I didn't have time for that crap, Buffy was on. But that was the humble opinion of the 12 year-old me. It doesn't mean Tintin is bad. It just means it wasn't my thing. I'm still glad it exists, since it founded the whole "ligne-claire" comic movement.
So, when seeing the movie, everything was new to me. I had no idea where the story was going, and had no attachment to the characters. So this is going to be a very objective review.
So, first point : I like Tintin and is dog, Snowy (or Milou in French). then again, from the little I saw of the comics, I liked him there too. He's a cool, motivated guy. He's a big nerd too. I mean, the whole story starts because he wants to keep a neat looking model ship for himself. That's nerdy Tintin. Also, his first response to a problem was to do library research to find a solution. Way to nerd it up, Tintin. You're adorable. I liked that we saw him doing journalist work. It was fun.
As much as I like Tintin, I kinda remember seeing in the comics that most of the other characters are dysfunctional, adult-children that goof around a lot. And Tintin kinda babysits everyone. Makes me wonder why he never tells everyone off (though he sorta does a few times in the movie, which made him seem normal. Normal people would get frustrated).
I kinda liked movie-Haddock. He's an interesting shade of depressed. and when he gets motivated, he's pretty badass. I liked the villain too. And his damn hawk. That is one efficient hawk. Snowy was pretty damn efficient too. Seriously, if Tintin teamed up with the hawk and the dog, he could just go around the world fighting crime, reporting and being awesome.
The movie itself had an interesting mix of realism and goofiness, inspired by the comic. A lot of the action requires a certain amount of disbelief in gravity and complete refusal of Murphy's law. Kinda like in Kung Fu Panda. But it's still really fluid and intriguing action. The pace of the movie is a bit fast. you never get any time to breathe. It seems Tintin would have collapsed of exhaustion by the time the end got there. Then again, he gets knocked out a few times. Those count as naps, right?
Generally, I think the movie was good. It wasn't great though. It was good enough to watch once and like. But I doubt i'll buy it on DVD. I think the people who find it great are people who have a lot of nostalgia for Tintin. The feel of nostalgia was really there. I didn't even KNOW Tintin and I felt like I was suppose to feel like my childhood was being injected with awesome. They put a lot of references to the comics everywhere (I noticed stuff resembling elements from the covers all around). Though I wasn't able to appreciate them much, I though it was a nice touch.
So, to make it short : Tintin is good, probably more actual then the comics, and mostly made for fans. And it's good some interesting action scenes. The 3D is a bit odd though, but it's a style.
Now back to reading Walking Dead.
- Isa
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no subject
Date: 2011-12-19 04:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-19 06:59 am (UTC)Still, I'd like to see the new movie for Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. x)
Speaking of Neil Patrick Harris...you know he's in the Smurfs movie?
no subject
Date: 2011-12-19 10:44 am (UTC)P.S. Extra cool points for you for watching Buffy! I loved that show and Angel, do you read the comic?
no subject
Date: 2011-12-19 12:20 pm (UTC)Just curious, did the characters have the Polar Express CGI dead eyes? That's the big thing scaring me away from this movie right now.
Back in high school, my french textbooks had Tintin and Asterix comics. Tintin didn't appeal to me that much either. It just struck me as dull and not all that memorable (I remember a lot about the Asterix stories; but the only thing I remember about Tintin was the cute dog).
no subject
Date: 2011-12-19 01:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-19 02:48 pm (UTC)Anywho, I was skeptical of the movie because well it's cg (and it looks like an awkward cg from the one trailer I saw) and I don't know if I can trust Spielberg to handle Tintin right, but I was rather surprised that it was quite good. Not amazing, but it accomplished what it set out to do. Maybe nostalgia is blinding me, but it that's the case I'm not wanting to take it away. Tintin has been an inspiration to me like many other things and I shall keep that with me forever. Haha. Also, my father was willing to watch it with me and there is no way I'm going to turn that down. Haha.
Your doodles are super adorable though. I also find your viewpoint rather interesting. I am rather curious why you decided to invest in seeing the movie since it didn't pique your interest as a child and knowing very well why it didn't?
no subject
Date: 2011-12-20 04:42 am (UTC)But I love how you punctuated your review with little drawings! Ha! If I had any artistic talent, that's what I'd do when I do my movie reviews.
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Date: 2011-12-21 05:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-21 05:51 pm (UTC)I kinda dropped the Buffy comic. It went a bit too much up and then down for my taste. I'm difficult :P
no subject
Date: 2011-12-21 05:51 pm (UTC)Asterix is pretty amazing.
no subject
Date: 2011-12-21 05:56 pm (UTC)The male-to-female ratio doesn't prevent me from reading a comic (if it did, i'd be far, far away from manga) but the way the female character, when there is one, is treated is something that might make me drop a series. Some stories can be full of dudes, and even be sexist, and still be good, but the point is that I forgive that in older comics more then in newer ones. I can forgive Tintin for it. Because it's from the 30's. But as a kid, I really wanted female role models. And Tintin does have great adventure and mysteries.
I guess I was curious. I figured if I was ever going to like Tintin, it was probably going to be in a movie format like this one. Also, a friend had a two-for-one deal.
no subject
Date: 2011-12-21 05:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-21 06:49 pm (UTC)Dragging the Smurfs into New York was just a cheap/lazy move to save the producers the trouble of building a medieval setting. Plus, they're probably worried that "hip and modern" kids would prefer to see an urban setting full of pop culture references instead of anything that even vaguely resembles the cartoon!
....excuse me for a sec. I just had flashbacks to the Rocky&Bullwinkle movie. >_<
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Date: 2011-12-21 06:51 pm (UTC)On goof-off days, our teacher used to put on the animated movies. French spoken with a super-heavy British accent is hilarious! XD
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Date: 2011-12-21 09:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-22 06:33 am (UTC)I remember the Rocky & Bullwinkle movie! And George of the Jungle which I really loved. >.> Dudley Do-Right...not so much. ><;
no subject
Date: 2011-12-22 02:58 pm (UTC)