The Adventures of Tintin MOVIE Discussion thread

[Jay 39,429]

I just read a post on FSM where the poster felt that Haddock's speech after the Falcon chase is very un-Herge like. What do the comic experts here think?

[Demondm810 413]

I haven't read ALL of the comics, but the speech was very Spielbergian to me. (not complaining)

[Brónach 1,306]

I just read a post on FSM where the poster felt that Haddock's speech after the Falcon chase is very un-Herge like. What do the comic experts here think?

I dunno. Hergé wasn't much into rants like that. However I don't find it hard at all to imagine Haddock being like that in a moment of inspiration. He borders on it sometimes.

I remember reading Spielberg said that he liked about Tintin that he didn't give up. Then they purposelly put this into the film. Then it turns out Tintin is only into the idea of abandoning for like 20 seconds.

[Luke Skywalker 1,939]

Does haddock never encourage tintin in any story?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,415]

Very much so. Too moralistic and american.

[BloodBoal 7,541]

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,415]

It works very well in the movie.

[BloodBoal 7,541]

[Quintus 5,449]

It's a good scene and a completely necessary one, but it wasn't enough.

I couldn't give a shit about whether or not it's true to Hergé - it works well for the largely authentic Haddock of the movie.

[Jay 39,429]

Datameister! Did you see it yesterday?

If so: Your thoughts?

[Luke Skywalker 1,939]

Maybe he did not survive the experience...

[publicist 4,647]

Tintin doesn't need to be encouraged. He is not a whining kind-of-guy.

He's only fucking boring as a character. The movie lives and breathes by Haddock.

[Jay 39,429]

Which is why Williams made Haddock's theme the heart of the score

[Brónach 1,306]

He's only fucking boring as a character.

I disagree.

I like that he talks to himself so much, that he's obsessed with getting to the bottom of things even though they have nothing to do with him, that he's so solitary, that he has almost the training of a soldier for unkown reasons, that he usually does the right thing but happily breaks laws to solve the mystery, that he gets angry at a dog that is always ahead of him. I also like the ways he finds to deceive his enemies. There's a profound charisma in the design of this character as well.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

It's a good scene and a completely necessary one, but it wasn't enough.

I couldn't give a shit about whether or not it's true to Hergé - it works well for the largely authentic Haddock of the movie.

Trueness.

[Brónach 1,306]

It was Spielbergian enough to be more than enough in a Tintin film.

Wait. We already had this discussion. Nevermind.

[publicist 4,647]

I like that he talks to himself so much, that he's obsessed with getting to the bottom of things even though they have nothing to do with him,

Yeah, he's a nerd - but a grating one. And he doesn't talk to himself, he talks to Struppi (as the dog is called in german). Which results in half an hour 'Oh Struppi!' calls. I never read the comics but in the movie, i was relieved when Haddock neutralized that.

And yes, Williams' theme for Haddock is more expressive.

[Luke Skywalker 1,939]

yeah he calls the dog alot in the comics. so that is comic-accurate...

[Incanus 5,801]

It's a good scene and a completely necessary one, but it wasn't enough.

I couldn't give a shit about whether or not it's true to Hergé - it works well for the largely authentic Haddock of the movie.

True. It also nicely shows a smidgeon of humanity in Tintin's otherwise polished boy scout facade. He can fail (after inarguably giving his all to the chase for the three scrolls) and he can loose hope momentarily. I found it a good scene where Haddock in his own way does the for Tintin what the young reporter has done for him throughout the film. Pulls him out of defeat and momentary apathy and gives him hope. Tintin, the sleuthing adventurer that he is gets a spark from that little speech and also an idea and further inspiration to continue.

I think it is not a huge deviation for the characters but hey I am no expert of the comic books.

[Brónach 1,306]

I think it is not a huge deviation for the characters but hey I am no expert of the comic books.

I have perspective that's a bit different. Some of the moments that felt most Tintinesque to me were some invented ones, as if the film was appealing to some idealized concept of the books in my head. Or maybe because it's what feels more like a new adventure with the same characters.

[Datameister 2,279]

Datameister! Did you see it yesterday?

If so: Your thoughts?

I ended up seeing it today instead. I really liked the film, a lot more than I thought I would! From a technical standpoint, it was easily the best mocap CG film I've ever seen. No uncanny valley here...just convincing performances rendered photorealistically onto appropriately stylized character designs. And I do mean "photorealistically"...oddly enough, the images looked even better in motion than they did as promotional stills, and I found it quite easy to lose myself in the world the artists created. I also appreciated how Spielbergian the whole thing felt felt, despite not being a live action film...his style was definitely detectable in the directing and cinematography and everything. On that level, it felt unusually live-action-like. Yet at the same time, there are those huge, complex, physically impossible camera moves that the CG medium allows, and they worked surprisingly well in this context. As for the 3D...it wasn't stunning, but it was rarely distracting, at least, which is better than can be said for some films.

I've never actually read any of the source material (though I'm considering changing that), so I can't comment on how true it is to that, but I did enjoy the story and adventurous tone of the film. In fact, I can say pretty decisively that I enjoyed it more than War Horse, although interestingly, I prefer the score to the latter, at least for the time being. In short, the score to Tintin inspired more of a been-there-done-that feeling than War Horse did, but I haven't listened to the OST yet, so my opinion may (I hope) change. In any case, it certainly wasn't a BAD score or anything. And even if it didn't live up to its potential, it still led to me seeing a very fun film that I probably wouldn't have seen otherwise!

[Luke Skywalker 1,939]

why cant the whole USA think like you??

[Datameister 2,279]

I haven't heard many negative opinions here in the States...the problem is that I haven't heard many opinions at all. The film really seemed to fly under the radar here. Not much in the way of advertisements, not much in the way of word-of-mouth...as I've said, I probably wouldn't have even considered seeing it if not for the music, which is ironic, since I ended up enjoying the film more than the music. That may be a Williams first for me. =/

[John Crichton 4]

Going in with almost zero knowledge of Tintin, I mostly enjoyed the movie. It drug in a few parts but overall was fun. The action scenes were absolute absurdist nonsense, but being an animated film they could get away with it. Andy Serkis steals the show as Haddock. The motion capture was work was very impressive too. Really blurred the line between animation and live action.

And I have to point out one thing I was really impressed with: the transitions. Again taking advantage of it being an animated film, Spielberg cooks up some amazingly unique visuals to move things along from scene to scene. It got to the point that I was anticipating the ends of scenes just to see what transition he had up next.

[indy4 155]

Welcome back, John!

[Matt C 468]

I bought the DVD today. It's the first time I've seen the entire film (I've only seen parts of it previously). It's fun, easy to watch, and solidifies Weta Digital as the next prime visual effects company (they should do more CGI animated films as well as their live-action contributions). The realism and attention to detail is apparent even in SD, with each follicle of Tintin's hair, the dark spots on Haddock's neck, and the incredible realism of the backgrounds in every frame. Unlike War Horse, the score accentuates the lightness and action of the film perfectly, without detracting from itself. A good 4/5 for the movie and the score in context, but 5/5 for the score by itself.

For those who live in the U.S., there's an instant $3 off coupon for the DVD or DVD/Blu-ray combo pack on the outside. It omits the Blu-ray 3D combo pack for some reason.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

I also just watched it at home. It's a shame, really -- this movie really deserves a big screen. It's so whimsical, visually speaking, that a lot of it gets lost on television.

Also, can anyone explain why Sakharine is so obsessed with keeping Haddock alive during the first half of the movie and then spends the second half trying to kill him? As far as I know, he still needs "a true Haddock" to uncover the secret of the Unicorn and at no point during his change of mind does he make any significant progress.

[Incanus 5,801]

I noticed that myself when I was watching the film yesterday. Sakharine actually seems to change his mind (strangely after just saying he wants Haddock alive) when Tintin and Haddock escape from Karaboudjan and he sends the plane to search for them. He says "Find them! Make absolutely sure they never reach Bagghar!" which would imply that he means that they should be killed.

[indy4 155]

I assumed he wanted to keep Haddock alive when he thought Haddock was a harmless prisoner, but as soon as Tintin teamed up with Haddock he realized that they could actively not only prevent him from obtaining the treasure, but get him in trouble the law, so he figured it would be best to kill them.

[Incanus 5,801]

I assumed he wanted to keep Haddock alive when he thought Haddock was a harmless prisoner, but as soon as Tintin teamed up with Haddock he realized that they could actively not only prevent him from obtaining the treasure, but get him in trouble the law, so he figured it would be best to kill them.

Yes I thought Sakharine must have been thinking along those lines plus Tintin did not have the scroll he wanted. I can't fathom where he hoped to find it later since neither he or Tintin knew where it was exactly since it was stolen. Anyway no big deal. Baddies do this kind of stuff all the time. Oversight and odd swings of homicidal tendencies belong to the good old villain attributes. Also he didn't really believe his cronies could kill the pair did he?

Haddock was a bonus in the end, the last of the family Sakharine wanted to crush out of existence as part of his vengeance. The treasure was more important to him I think.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

Your explanation is quite satisfying, Incanus. Not as much as having it spelled out in the movie like every other plot point, but it makes a fair amount of sense.

I had forgotten just how much fun this film is, by the way. It's as easy to watch as it is to forget.

[Jay 39,429]

Is there a deleted scene that explains it?

My girlfriend surprised me with the Blu Ray so I have it but haven't checked it out yet. Looking forward to ripping the audio to make an expanded score though

[Incanus 5,801]

The film does indeed contain a fair amount of interesting unreleased music, well all of it. I just took another listen of it today and I could not be happier the score. It just dances along with such wit and dexterity it makes you smile. And it adds a lot to the charm of the film both when in the background and especially in the foreground. My one particular favourite marriage of sight and sound is the visually stunning sea battle flashback and coupled with Williams' majestic nautical music it is raised to even a higher level.