The Adventures of Tintin

Plot synopsis:
Follows the unquenchably curious young reporter Tintin and his fiercely loyal dog Snowy as they discover a model ship carrying an explosive secret. Drawn into a centuries-old mystery, Tintin finds himself in the sightlines of Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine, a diabolical villain who believes Tintin has stolen a priceless treasure tied to dastardly pirate named Red Rackham. But with the help of his dog Snowy, the salty, cantankerous Captain Haddock and the bumbling detectives Thompson & Thomson, Tintin will travel half the world, outwitting and outrunning his enemies in a breathless chase to find the final resting place of The Unicorn, a shipwreck that may hold the key to vast fortune - and an ancient curse.From the high seas to the sands of North African deserts, every new twist and turn sweeps Tintin and his friends to escalating levels of thrills and peril, proving that when you dare to risk everything, there's no limit to what you can do.__ Synopsis __After having a caricature drawn of himself by a local artist, Tintin (Jamie Bell) wanders through the town square. As he does so, he sees a miniature ship in a glass case, being sold by a local merchant. The miniature ship is called The Unicorn, and the merchant tells Tintin it was procured from an old sailor's estate sale.Tintin buys the ship for a pound, but just as he takes possession of it, a large man with an American accent appears, wanting to buy the boat. He offers to pay Tintin double what he paid for it, but Tintin refuses. The man appears shaken, and rushes off, telling Tintin to 'get out while you still can.'Just as he leaves, a thin man with a pointed beard shows up, and also attempts to purchase the miniature ship. He tells Tintin that the ship was purchased from the nearby Marlinspike Hall, which he has come into acquiring, and wishes to purchase the ship to return it to its former home. Even though he tells Tintin to "name his price," the young man again refuses, and walks off. As he leaves, the thin man asks the merchant if he knows who the young man is. "Everyone knows who he is," says the merchant. "That's Tintin."Returning to his apartment, Tintin's curiosity around the miniature ship is piqued, and he attempts to find a magnifying glass to examine it. However, a siamese cat enters the apartment, causing his dog Snowy to chase it around the room. During the chase, Snowy accidentally knocks the ship onto the floor, breaking its masts. As Tintin picks it up, he doesn't see a small metal cylinder fall out of the mast hole, and roll under the nearby table.Wanting more information, the two visit a maritime museum, where Tintin learns that the ship sank at sea, carrying rum and tobacco, but it was assumed that the ship (captained by Sir Francis Haddock), may have had a secret cargo aboard. It also makes note that after the loss of his ship, the captain believed that his family bloodline was now cursed.Returning to his apartment, Tintin is shocked to find that the model ship is gone! Assuming that it may have been taken by the thin man at the town square, Tintin sneaks into Marlinspike Hall. In a glass case, he finds a ship, but is knocked unconscious. When he comes to, he finds the thin man, and a butler. Tintin requests the return of his property, but is soon surprised to find that though the miniature ship is of The Unicorn, it is a different model, unbroken like his ship.As he is escorted out, the butler tells Tintin that he should make sure to check for 'all the pieces' of the ship he had.Returning to his apartment, Tintin is further shocked to find his place ransacked! Searching near the dresser where he placed the ship, he finds the metal cylinder underneath. He soon finds that it contains a scroll, with a message, and strange markings.As he puts the strange paper in his wallet, he hears his landlady Mrs Finch downstairs, arguing with a man who wants to come inside. Tintin comes downstairs, and through the chained front door, he finds that it was the American who wanted to buy the ship earlier in the day. The man seems more nervous than before, claiming that someone is killing others for information. When Tintin asks who, bullets rip through the door, and the man falls into the foyer, bleeding. Tintin rushes out into the street, just in time to see a blue sedan speeding away.Returning to the foyer, he finds the man unmoving, but a newspaper nearby has bloody fingerprints highlighting various letters.The next day, Tintin talks with the investigators of the murder, Thompson and Thomson. They claim the man is named Barnaby Dawes, and was working for the FBI. Tintin also tells of the newspaper he found, and that the letters highlighted seem to spell out "Karaboudjan."As the two investigators take leave, they caution Tintin about a pickpocket that's been going around, and after they take leave of Tintin's apartment, they have a small run-in with the pickpocket. He also bumps into Tintin, and the young man panics when he realizes that the strange paper he had is now gone! Thompson and Thomson vow to get his wallet back.Returning to his apartment, several large men are waiting for Tintin, and shove him in a crate. Snowy follows his master aboard a large cargo ship, named the Karaboudjan.Tintin is searched for the paper, and encounters the thin man, who reveals his name to be Sakharine. Sakharine claims he is looking for the paper Tintin had, and reveals that he has another just like it. Tintin claims he doesn't have the paper, and he and Snowy are locked up, as Sakharine and his men decide what to do next.Eventually, Tintin manages to escape through an exterior porthole on the ship, to another room. There, he encounters Captain Archibald Haddock (Andy Serkis). The Captain appears to be in a drunken yet angry stupor over the mutiny of his crew to Sakharine. Tintin agrees to help the Captain escape, and is surprised to find that he is related to the Haddocks of Marlinspike hall.Tintin tells Haddock about the scroll he found, and the rumor that only a Haddock can unlock the secrets of the Unicorn. Haddock claims his father told him a story on his deathbed, but has since forgotten it. When Tintin inquires about other relatives, Haddock claims that of three brothers, he is the last of the family members. This sticks in Tintin's mind as they escape the ship.On their way off, Tintin passes by the radio room, and overhears talk of 'The Milanese Nightingale,' and get coordinates to the ship's next location: Bagghar.Making their escape in a lifeboat, Sakharine sends two of his men in a seaplane to find them. Tintin manages to shoot the plane, damaging its engine, causing them to land. The two pilots are then trussed up, and Tintin is able to repair the plane, before he, Haddock, and Snowy pilot the plane towards Bagghar. However, a storm over a desert area causes the plane to crash, and the three find themselves walking across the desert.In the last throes of his alcoholic stupor, Haddock begins to hallucinate, and the buried memory of his father's story comes to life.Haddock then begins to relate the story of his ancestor, Sir Francis Haddock, Captain of the Unicorn. The ship was overtaken by pirates, led by a red-scarfed captin known as Red Rackham. Though the Unicorn was said to be carrying standard cargo, Rackham is sure there is more to the ship.Sir Francis allowed Rackham into the secret hold which contained treasure, but was incensed when Rackham went back on his word, and allowed the crew to be devoured by sharks. Sir Francis then blew up the Unicorn to prevent Rackham from getting the treasure. Escaping the wreck, Sir Francis was cursed by Rackham, who claimed they'd meet again, 'in another time, in another place.' It is now, that Haddock realizes that Sakharine is related to Red Rackham.At their last gasp in the desert, they are stumbled upon and rescued by patrolling soldiers who take them back to their desert fortress of Afghar. There they recover and after drinking a bit more alcohol, Haddock recalls the final bit of the story.After hearing this story, the three finally make it to Bagghar, where they are surprised to encounter Thompson and Thomson, who have recovered Tintin's wallet, along with the special paper.and enter the palace of Omar Ben Salaad, who is said to have a miniature of the Unicorn. Also on hand, is a performance by Bianca Castafiore, aka 'The Milanese Nightingale.' As her operatic voice fills the air, the special glass case the Unicorn model is in fractures, and Sakharine reacts, sending a falcon in to break open the ship's mast, and steal the last of the scrolls.A high-speed chase through the city follows, with Tintin eventually giving in to Sakharine's demands to give him the scrolls to avoid him drowning Haddock and Snowy.After the incident, Sakharine and his men leave on the Karaboudjan. Tintin is just about to give up, when he realizes that being in the ship's messaging room, he knows its signal, and they can report it to interpol, helping them track where it is going.The ship eventually enters port back where the adventure started. It is here (through the use of another seaplane), Tintin, Haddock, Snowy, and Thompson and Thomson are waiting to arrest Sakharine.However, Sakharine pulls a gun on the group, before getting into a nearby dock crane, and fighting Haddock in another, like two men wielding cutlasses. In the end, Sakharine gains the upper hand, and attempts to burn the three scrolls, before Tintin manages to recover them.As the sun rises over the docks, Tintin and Haddock line up the scrolls, and see that they contain coordinates. Following them, they end up at Marlinspike hall. There, Haddock mentions a certain cellar he used to remember when he was a little boy. They end up finding that the cellar was walled over by Sir Francis Haddock when he lost the house. They ram through the house's fake cellar and enter the second cellar.They find a statue of St.John the Evangelist, and Tintin remembers a line from the poem - "And then shines forth the eagle's cross". He deduces that St.John, in addition to being represented with an eagle, is also called the Eagle of Patmos, and so he IS the eagle.Near the statue, they find a globe, whereupon Haddock looks at it and remarks that it contains an extra island and that it must have been a mistake. Tintin says that it was no mistake, and that Sir Francis banked upon his descendant, a man who could look at a globe and could find if even one tiny island was out of place; a man who knew the seas like the back of his hand, could understand the clue.Haddock presses the tiny island on the globe, and it comes apart, revealing Red Rackham's treasure in it, along with Sir Francis' hat. As the captain wears the hat and says it's all over, Tintin finds another clue at the bottom of the hollow globe, with a clue to where the remaining treasure is located. Thus, Tintin and Haddock prepare for their next great adventure.

Tags: good versus evil, action, murder, storytelling, flashback

Review:
Spielberg and Jackson and all the team behind the adaptation obviously gave the original material the love and respect it deserved, while making it their own.To clarify the origins of the story itself, you have to know that it isn't the adaptation of one, but three Tintin comics.
Before his passing in 1983, Hergé said that if any filmmaker was to adapt his collection of timeless tales following the adventures of a Belgian reporter to the big screen, Steven Spielberg was the only man for the job, and after two decades of trial and error, the cinematic version of Tintin has finally reached our screens with the desired director at its helm.
Unlike Robert Zemeckis' motion-capture entries (The Polar Express [2004] and A Christmas Carol [2009]); The Adventures of Tintin is an entirely different bunch of blistering blue barnacles – every frame enforces impeccable detail and naturalism, and like the best animated pictures, viewers will forget they are watching digitalised representations in no time.
Whether the visuals are mind-blowing as in the all-important action sequences – or brilliantly subtle – like the red, sweat-streaked cheeks and brows of Tintin and Haddock as they trek through a desert – this film is a clear example of just how magnificent technology is in this day and age.Without a shadow of a doubt this is the year's finest animated entry – expect an Oscar nomination and a deserved win.
In fact, although The Adventures of Tintin is action-packed, its PG certificate is justified; I cannot recall anything remotely damaging or frightening for young eyes, so parents have nothing to fear with this one when deciding on their half-term picture.The film also sees the much needed return of composer John Williams who provides yet another dazzling and effective score.
Plus Snowy is absolutely wonderful.There is no doubt that Spielberg's adaptation will be top of the box office upon release and hopefully those new to Tintin will be influenced to re-visit the books and television shows of yesteryear and become more involved with one of the century's most beloved and important literary creations.Verdict:  'The Adventures of Tintin' is quintessentially the perfect family film and has plenty to offer audiences of all ages.
-There's literally a STORM of brain-waves (and here comes the Spielberg's touch); especially, in the connection phases between one scene and the other the director totally expresses his genius, turning the open ocean into a pond, making two shaking hands become dunes in the desert and so on (you'll understand what I mean when you'll watch the movie) -The 'camera's movements' literally pull you into the movie and you can't help feeling excited or scared according to the situation.You can tell it's a Spielberg's movie even just looking at these things.Although all the things I have listed until now are enough to candidate the movie as the best movie of the year (in my opinion) there's still something I must remember: The quality of animation.
What begins as a fun, nimble little mystery in the first act soon kicks into comedy-action-adventure high gear when junior reporter Tintin, with his brave dog Snowy, stumbles upon boozy Captain Haddock (an excellent Andy Serkis), whose family legacy may prove pivotal in a race to uncover the secret of the Unicorn.From that point on, it's more or less non-stop comedy—some fizzles, most of it works—with gags ranging from jaw-dropping blockbuster chase antics to throwaway background humour.
The plot is a by the numbers mystery/adventure/treasure hunt, complete with bumbling detectives (so-so comic support from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost), exciting sea plane action and hidden clues, but it's brought to life in gorgeous visual style.
So I am assuming that these were aim at the adults watching.The characters the film makers can't chance much from the original Hergé comics, but Tintin I did find too goody goody, the captain is great character, who is drunk loser, but has a kind heart and wants to do the right thing.
The Adventures of Tintin thrives on its comic roots (as opposed to being hindered by them), and the seamless transition viewers are treated to finds our not- so-innocent hero—he is carrying a pistol, after all—globe-trotting between some truly spectacular action sequences that are directly reminiscent of Spielberg's actioners of old.The story we're presented with is a nifty little mixture of what I can only label a Holmes-esque detective story and a whip-crackin' adventure tale that—as many other critics have noted—takes some of its cues directly from Raiders of the Lost Ark. There are times where some of the action is a little too slapstick for my liking, but there's no getting around the fact that Spielberg once again showcases his bravado as a creator of ingenious thrill rides (the sort that, in my humble opinion, are often conspicuously absent in recent Hollywood fare).Where the movie stumbles is in its decision to have the rosy-cheeked Tintin dole out lessons on alcoholism to a blissfully out-of-touch sea captain who exists for little more than comic relief.
Even if you've never heard of the Tintin character, let alone read the classic Herge comics, this movie of his adventures is terrific from start to finish, complete with invigorating characters, dazzling effects (special and otherwise), exotic settings, and unabashed, wall-to-wall exhilaration and excitement.
As a fan of Hergé's comic book series, Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg and Andy Serkis, this film was a must see for me.
It was fun, action packed, enjoyable, well made and had a great score by John Williams.The story's basically a bunch of Tintin comics merged in one epic adventure, but it's mostly based on 'The Secret of the Unicorn' (and possibly the sequel will be 'The Treasure of Red Rackham!) and it has some great little treats for the fan-boys.
The motion capture technology really delivered, the characters looked amazing, halfway into the movie I even forgot I was watching animation.Andy Serkis did a really good job, I loved him as Captain Haddock, who was my favorite character in the comics too.
I recommend it to those who are familiar with Hergé's series or are fans of Spielberg and Indiana Jones or just great action-adventure movies in general..
Thats shallow and hysterical.3- The visuals are ugly, OK the sets are cool, but the problem is about the character who are really boring and unbearable.4- The music has no personality, its sad to see such a great guy as John Williams doing something so impersonal.Big disappointment made to please American audience, and sacrificing the original spirit of tintin.Even the little Belgium cartoon made on tintin which has not been made with thousands millions of dollars in early 90's is better, cooler, funnier, and more smart:.
There are some shots that stood out as looking spectacular in 3D, in particular a long corridor shot on the ship really impressed me.The direction is also great, throughout the many set-pieces in the film, Spielberg's hand guides us through these scenes with flair, and you can tell he's taken advantage of the format with some wonderfully creative shots.On to the negative, and in my opinion they outweigh the positive.The film feels jumbled and at times I felt like I was dragged kicking and screaming into the next bombastic and usually unnecessary set-piece.
While those who have read and loved Tintin would immensely enjoy every frame of the movie, those who are being introduced to the Character the first time around are likely to miss a few things here and there.Yes, Tintin is brilliantly swashbuckling, and Haddock amazingly entertaining, but the story seems a trifle hurried while the pacing in some sequences in patchy.What deserves a 10 on 10 however is the way Red Rackham's tale is woven into the story and how it was so evocatively presented, along with reference to a few characters which paved the path for any sequels that would be forthcoming.Top marks to Spielberg an Jackson for sticking to the books even while weaving an original story line!
In a word, the original work's spirit is completely lost here: Tintin is about mystery, reality (I stress on this: Tintin is one of the few comic book characters that feels real) and humanity, but Spielberg's interpretation is all about some stupid and unreal action and some annoying 3D techniques, plus, a camera that moves and moves and rotates around the characters over and over!
This Motion-capture action movie of the popular "Tintin" comic-book magazine brilliantly captures the outrageous adventures, tongue-in-cheek, satire, comedy , roller-coaster action taking the characters and some elements from original stories .
It is like an animated cartoon, but with hideous graphics/characters (Gollum was a good idea in LOTR but you can't seriously make a movie with full Gollum style...well Tintin made it) and no fun (if you laugh for nothing you might find haddock funny though), so I really wonder what's the point.
I have been a tintin fan since I was six years old but this movie destroyed the story elements completely.Steven Spielberg decided to mix and match two different stories into one and for someone who has not seen any Tintin it might work well.But for me who have seen the animated series and read the comics I was furious.So much was changed storywise and I could not understand why and way to much slapstick humor that just hurt to watch, some funny elements but mostly it felt forced.But despite this I have to say the production value was great fantastic animation, that is going to have pixar feeling more than a little shaken.I just wished they stayed true to Herge's story.
So I had a keen interest in the movie when it was announced, especially after knowing that it was being directed by one Steven Spielberg.The Secret Of The Unicorn is about Tintin (Jamie Bell), the brave young journalist always on the lookout for a story.
Purchasing a model of a ship propels him into an epic adventure across the world, assisted by the drunk Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis), and thwarted by the evil Sakharine (Daniel Craig).Since it released in the cinema, I've seen this movie about four times, and I always enjoy it.
The screenplay by Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish combines elements of 'The Crab and the Golden Claws' (1943), 'The Secret of the Unicorn' and 'Red Rackham's Treasure' (both published in 1945), and reunites KING KONG costars Jamie Bell and Andy Serkis – as Tintin and Captain Haddock, respectively – for an around-the-world adventure for a lost family treasure.
In a massively successful career that spans 4 decades, it's his very first foray into the medium of animation & also marks his first stint with digital filmmaking.Based on the immensely popular comic book series by Hergé, the story of The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn follows the fearless journalist Tintin, his pet dog Snowy & the permanently drunk Captain Haddock who together set off on an adventure to unearth the secret of a ship that sank 300 years ago & was once commanded by one of Haddock's ancestors.Co-written by Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish, produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Steven Spielberg, The Adventures of Tintin opens with a brilliantly composed opening credits sequence that wonderfully pays its homage to its source material but after that, it feels like an inconsistent mash-up of Hergé's Tintin & Spielberg's Indiana Jones that isn't as rewarding as expected.Spielberg's direction is still worthy of mention for he shows a great comfort in what is a new filmmaking experience for him & is never hesitant to try a few experiments with the camera, for animation makes possible a number of sequences that would be too difficult to capture in a live-action scenario.
The editing however is a mixed bag for it fails to provide a tighter plot & a brisker pace would've sufficed a lot.The animation is gorgeous for the rendering captures the authentic ambiance of the comics, every frame is richly detailed, characters aren't entirely computer-generated as is the case in most animated features but make use of motion-capture to bring the real performances of the actors behind the voices, and the ever dependable John Williams once again chips in with an adventurous, mesmerising & light-hearted score.The cast consists of Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Nick Frost, Simon Pegg & others and all of them chip in with fairly good performances.
The characters look exactly like their comic book drawings, the voice acting as well as the motion-capture performance by all is commendable, Tintin's beloved dog Snowy is a great comic relief & whether it's humour or entertainment, the film has a few cheering moments for everyone.On an overall scale, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn is underwhelming as far as what was expected from it but it still makes up for a good ride, if not a great one.
Spielberg and Peter Jackson clearly wanted to play in the digital sandbox but needed a film to demonstrate what they could do.Tintin is perhaps a suitable choice, realistically he would not work with real actors and creating the action inside the computer, allows literally anything to be shown on the big screen.Crash landing airplanes in the desert, intricate chases set in a bazaar with impossible stunts, fifty gun galleon's firing broadsides in monstrous seas, Spielberg directs like a kid let loose in a chocolate factory.Jamie Bell fleshes out the eponymous Tintin with bad guy duties falling to Daniel Craig as Sakharine.
Captain Haddock, who spends the entire film in pursuit of his next whisky bottle is provided via Andy Serkis, no stranger to these new acting techniques.It is interesting to see echos of the actors through their motion capture work, not just in their voices but in their facial actions, the way they move, walk and act.For the uninitiated, Tintin is a "cub" reporter providing newspaper articles on fantastic adventures and scrapes that he often finds himself embroiled in, all set within a largely recognisable 20th century backdrop.
Superb action with fantastic state of the art motion capture and CGI animation techniques.Kids will love the film and there is sufficient depth to keep most parents interested and the send off certainly indicates there is more of Tintin to come.Recommended, especially for big "Snowy" fanshttp://www.julesmoviereviews.blogspot.com/.
Perhaps I'm overreacting to the fact that the directors of "Schindler's List" and "Lord of the Rings" produced a bloated spectacle in Zemeckis-vision whose plot can be surmised in four words (those words are 'Tintin searches for treasure' by the way).The story intertwines the lives of a dull protagonist (Jamie Bell), his intelligent dog a drunken sea captain (Andy Serkis) and an evil ne'er-do-well with a 150 year old family grudge (Daniel Craig), all looking for hidden treasure in a paint-by-numbers adventure.
I loved Steven Spielbergs direction, some incredible action sequences where incredible, the guy who did the Indiana Jones films, who better to direct The Adventures of tintin.Jamie Bell is awesome as Tintin, you just see his likeness in the character.
Still, Andy Serkis spares him the embarrassment of being the worst actor in the thing; I never could work out if Captain Haddock was supposed to be Scottish or Scandinavian, because Serkis is all over the place.The story and characters only vaguely resemble the original comic books by Herge (of which I am a big fan) and most of it boils down to the kind of incessant, entirely routine CGI action that nowadays blights many a Hollywood movie.
Possibly not.From a computer-geek point of view - the 3D is good, but I won't miss it when I buy this on standard Blu-Ray when it comes out and there were times when I forgot I was watching a computer generated scene - the level of detail on skin, hair, clothing is truly staggering.Indeed Spielberg makes good use of the technology to create sweeping camera shots that pass through glass and water that would be impossible had this been a live action film.Finally, for me the most telling tribute to this film, is that I took my ten and four year old daughters, who have no history with Tintin at all, to see it and they absolutely loved it - they giggled and whooped and gasped at all the places I think they were supposed to.If you have no history with Tintin then you should enjoy this as a feel-good, family, rip-roaring adventure and if you're a die-hard Tintin lover, I suggest you leave your baggage at the door otherwise you will disappointed, because how could you be anything else?.
I was therefore more than curious to see what Steven Spielberg would do with the character, with this, the first big-time movie feature of the young Belgian reporter and his faithful dog Snowy.I really appreciated the title sequence with the lettering in the original style of the books but must admit that afterwards I found it difficult to completely accept the motion-capture technique employed.
And seeing characters like Tintin, his dog Snowy, Captain Haddock, and the comic relief detectives of Thompson and Thomson brought a big smile to my face in the way they were depicted.
The Adventures of Tintin, based off the European comics by Herge, is a another action-adventure movie that has an Indiana Jones like feel to it.
This film, despite being animated, has brisk action and some cool adventure scenes as the characters travel across the world.Spielberg's film is about a reporter named Tintin and his dog Snowy and they meet up with Captain Haddock and together, they search for a sunken ship that supposedly has treasure.This film features some good voice-acting.
There were times when I almost forgot that it is an animated feature and not live action.The story plot and pacing is straight out of the TinTin adventure comics.
Director Steven Spielberg and producer Peter Jackson has teamed up to make a film adaptation of the classic comic book series of 'Tintin' by Herge'.
Now, we are left with "The Adventures of Tintin", and I'm surprised that this movie did not get nominated for Best Animated Feature Film this year.