Pop Culture

The Adventures of Tintin – My Childhood in 3D

With The Adventures of Tintin, Spielberg didn’t just create a motion picture. What he did was to bring my childhood back, alive, on-screen, in 3D. Like the Metallica concert happening in India, this was one other thing I never though I would see. My childhood best friends alive on-screen. It was not just a treat, it was an experience soaked and dripping of nostalgia that was presented on the screen. After Micheal Bay ripped apart the Transformers, I was beset with the fear of destruction of another set of my childhood icons, and the biggest ones at that, and I would have been heartbroken if that had happened. But Spielberg stayed in the background and just let the characters come to life. I left the theater with my eyes brimming over and my heart full of emotions.

Directed By: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Daniel Craig
Based on: The Adventures of Tintin by
Hergé
Release date: 11 Nov 2011
Running Time: 1 hour, 47 minutes
Produced by: Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy
Budget: $135 million
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Columbia Pictures
WATCH TRAILER

Why you should watch it

  • Spellbinding Animation
  • Perfect story, screenplay, direction
  • Awe inspiring characterization
  • Everything

Why you should not watch it

  • WATCH IT!
  • (I can’t help it if people’s Bollywood watching sensibilities cannot digest that there are no hot chicks as Tintin’s apprentices and absence sing and dance routines in the movie. Those people need to open their eyes and get a life.)

My Verdict and Rating – ♥♥♥♥♥ out of 5

https://twitter.com/#!/vadakkus/status/135732158634528768

Growing up in a village in a neighborhood where there were few kids, my best friends during those wonder years went with the names of Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock, Thomson and Thompson, Professor Calculus, Bianca Castafiore, Nestor, General Alcazar, Chang, Oliveira de Figueria, Emir Ben Kalish Ezab, Jolyon Wagg, Rastapopulous and all the other colorful characters Remi Herge created with his magic drawings. At that small age, I was mesmerized and captivated by all the enchanted places that Tintin and his friends traveled to and all the adventure and mystery the world seemed to offer. I came to know the World through these books, with their incredible, classic detail and myriad colors. Tintin mostly was responsible in shaping me into what I am today and mostly so in terms of wanderlust. And my favorite book is “The Secret of the Unicorn”.

I will not say anything about the movie and it’s story here, except that it is a combination of the stories of three books: The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham’s Treasure. Lots of parts from the books have been discarded, and there are large parts that have been added on, which did not exist in the books. The storyline follows the same as that of the three books overall, and only some incidents have been added on. But there are instances where it seems that comic book pages have sprung to life.  The 3D is highly detailed, graphic and is unlike what I have ever seen. It just stops short of being life-like. That is what created the magic, taking the audiences back and forth never leaving fantasy land but always staying within kissing distance of reality. The show will suck you in and keep you spellbound for 1 hour and 47 minutes. Sadly, that seems to be a tad too short.

Tintin and his friends seem to have jumped on screen from the books. As someone tweeted, Spielberg has decided to stay in the background and gives a stunning tribute to Herge. Which is exactly what he did. The inquisitive, fearless, upright and attention to detail oriented Tintin, the loveable Snowy, the short-tempered, alcoholic, bad-mouthed but good at heart Captain Haddock, the blundering detectives Thomson and Thompson… All the characters appeared on-screen exactly as I had always imagined them to be. Thank you!

I can’t write anything more, as some things are better left unsaid, the best tributes are the silent ones.

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