209. The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
Great snakes!
Title: The Adventures of Tintin
Date Watched: 4/6/2013
Original Ranking Out of 10: 8
Revised Ranking Out of 10: 8
Synopsis: A young journalist goes on an Indiana Jones-esque adventure.
The Good: The joy of being in the hands of a born filmmaker who's having the time of his life. One tracking shot goes on FOREVER and it's AMAZING.
The Bad: Feels long, even though there's always something happening. The CGI is fantastic, but we're still stuck in the uncanny valley.
Why Do I Own This Movie?: Amazon Black Friday.
Should I Still Own This Movie?: Yes.
What Did I Notice That I Didn't Notice Before?: There's no way that the plane would get enough height to have more than a few fractions of a second of free fall. I know: it's only a movie. Also, one of policemen has a very Nick Frost expression on his face (I assume it's the one played by Nick Frost).
Other Impressions: At its best, The Adventures of Tintin equals Raiders of the Lost Ark. At its worst, it's a little draggy, but still pretty cool. I'm on a big Spielberg kick right now and, perhaps more than any other filmmaker, one senses a giddy childlike thrill when he's behind the camera. Even in dramas like Lincoln or Saving Private Ryan, I feel like there's a little boy in charge, excited to come up with fresh solutions to old problems.
And that fascinates me. Good film-making is good film-making and, though we may like different genres, the same elements that make a compelling thriller also make a compelling historical drama or romantic comedy. Like music, there may be conventions that we classify different ways, but we're all working from the same language.
And just like we aren't going to hear new notes or new chords (or, for that matter, new chord progressions) when we listen to a new album we downloaded, the building blocks don't change much. There's nothing new in Tintin, content-wise, and the CGI makes it seem like a feature length video game, but it's such a thrill from beginning to end that it's hard to care. I know nothing about the source material (was it a comic strip, comic book, or cartoon?) and I have no intention of becoming familiar. All I know is that, from frame one, I felt like I was a five year old at the Saturday morning matinee.
The List
Title: The Adventures of Tintin
Date Watched: 4/6/2013
Original Ranking Out of 10: 8
Revised Ranking Out of 10: 8
Synopsis: A young journalist goes on an Indiana Jones-esque adventure.
The Good: The joy of being in the hands of a born filmmaker who's having the time of his life. One tracking shot goes on FOREVER and it's AMAZING.
The Bad: Feels long, even though there's always something happening. The CGI is fantastic, but we're still stuck in the uncanny valley.
Why Do I Own This Movie?: Amazon Black Friday.
Should I Still Own This Movie?: Yes.
What Did I Notice That I Didn't Notice Before?: There's no way that the plane would get enough height to have more than a few fractions of a second of free fall. I know: it's only a movie. Also, one of policemen has a very Nick Frost expression on his face (I assume it's the one played by Nick Frost).
Other Impressions: At its best, The Adventures of Tintin equals Raiders of the Lost Ark. At its worst, it's a little draggy, but still pretty cool. I'm on a big Spielberg kick right now and, perhaps more than any other filmmaker, one senses a giddy childlike thrill when he's behind the camera. Even in dramas like Lincoln or Saving Private Ryan, I feel like there's a little boy in charge, excited to come up with fresh solutions to old problems.
And that fascinates me. Good film-making is good film-making and, though we may like different genres, the same elements that make a compelling thriller also make a compelling historical drama or romantic comedy. Like music, there may be conventions that we classify different ways, but we're all working from the same language.
And just like we aren't going to hear new notes or new chords (or, for that matter, new chord progressions) when we listen to a new album we downloaded, the building blocks don't change much. There's nothing new in Tintin, content-wise, and the CGI makes it seem like a feature length video game, but it's such a thrill from beginning to end that it's hard to care. I know nothing about the source material (was it a comic strip, comic book, or cartoon?) and I have no intention of becoming familiar. All I know is that, from frame one, I felt like I was a five year old at the Saturday morning matinee.
The List