The Adventures of Tintin (2011)

February 13, 2023 9:28 AM

[TRAILER} While shopping at an outdoor market, young reporter Tintin (Jamie Bell), accompanied by his faithful dog, Snowy, buys a model of an old ship called the Unicorn. A shady character named Sakharine (Daniel Craig) and later an American named Barnaby (Joe Starr) try to buy the model from him, but Tintin refuses. The lad discovers that the ship contains a clue about a hidden treasure, but before he can locate it, Tintin is kidnapped and given over to the custody of drunken Capt. Haddock (Andy Serkis).

Also starring Carl Elwes, Tony Curran, Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, Toby Jones, Gad Elmaleh, Mackenzie Crook, Daniel Mays.

Directed by Steven Spielberg. Screenplay by Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish. Based on The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé. Produced by Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, Kathleen Kennedy. Cinematography by Janusz Kamiński. Edited by Michael Kahn. Music by John Williams.

74% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Currently streaming in the US on HBO Max. JustWatch listing.

posted by DirtyOldTown (10 comments total)

This is one I regret not seeing in the theater because I don't feel like I was able to give it a fair shake. It was uncanny valley all the way on the small screen.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:51 AM on February 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

I cannot remember if I finished this or not. With the talent involved, I'll probably give it another go, but not jumping to do so at the moment. I do think the animation style was a bit of a turn off, as for DOT. It's interesting because there's a chase scene in the film that a lot of film folks hold out as one of the best directed/visualized scenes in recent years. It is Spielberg with ultimate control, and many of his favorite team members, after all.

I do think if a sequel was going to be made, it would have happened by now. Peter Jackson chose to restore WW1 film and make Mortal Engines, rather than pursue this project. Perhaps it was the lack of overwhelming success (it appears to have been a modest hit) in the US, or perhaps its failure to launch a Tin Tin franchise revival in the US (books, comics, etc...). Who knows. I occasionally hear some of John Williams' music from the film, which is standard Williams and lovely, and then I think, "Perhaps I should give it a go." And then it's followed by, "perhaps just the score, instead."
posted by Atreides at 10:58 AM on February 13, 2023 [2 favorites]

I’m a fan of the “adventure” genre. Of which this film is a fine example. I don’t have much else to say, so take from that what you will.
posted by m@f at 12:59 PM on February 13, 2023

It doesn't seem fair that I watched Hugo and not this; I found Hugo very tedious and Tintin very enjoyable! Anyway, I finally gave it a try last month while on a Spielberg kick, and got excited enough to try it when I saw the writers. And it turns out...so many movies look so bad now that plasticky digital animation doesn't really register as a problem to me anymore. The only negative was how painfully obvious it was that the framing bits which were included to jazz up the 3D version, but I watched it with my niblings (who were born after the last big 3D craze) and they didn't notice anything, so maybe that's a niche criticism.
posted by grandiloquiet at 1:14 PM on February 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

Aw, see, I actually liked this, and the "uncanny valley" feeling of it was good because it reminded me that the film was intended to be a cartoon and not naturalistic.
posted by wenestvedt at 1:28 PM on February 13, 2023 [3 favorites]

Went to see this with a family member who shall remain nameless, and she didn't know or realise it was CGI. Thought the actors were marvellous, but that the dog was... off, and was it CGI??
posted by IncognitoErgoSum at 6:24 AM on February 14, 2023 [3 favorites]

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, despite the Lifeless Eyes of Robert Zemeckis _TM

I know, I know, it's Spielberg, but the lifeless eyes thing is a defining feature of Zemeckis's animated work.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 7:34 AM on February 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

That we got multiple films from Zemeckis' Dead Eye studio remains one of the baffling stories of our time.
posted by Atreides at 10:42 AM on February 14, 2023 [3 favorites]

I remember enjoying this but yeah, Uncanny Valley. I think I'd rather see the Tintin stories hand-animated.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 2:13 PM on February 15, 2023 [2 favorites]

I saw this in theaters when it came out -- my whole family are huge Tintin fans; when we went on a Loire Valley tour we specifically picked Cheverny as it was the inspiration for Marlinspike Hall (and yes, they lean into the Tintin associations, because why would you not?)

Sadly, the whole thing just fell into the uncanny valley and never managed to climb out. Herge's drawings are so memorable because of their ligne claire style, and you lose that with the semi-realistic-but-actually-disturbing CGI.

Luckily the hand-drawn 1990s Adventures of Tintin series is available on YouTube.
posted by basalganglia at 4:23 PM on February 19, 2023 [1 favorite]