The adventures of tintin ii series#

The variations on well-worn gags - Tintin faking his way through piloting a plane with вЂњI interviewed a pilot, once.вЂќ - are sure to make you grin. The bursts of drunken ineptitude from Captain Haddock and action beats that remind one of everything from вЂњPirates of the CaribbeanвЂќ to Indiana JonesвЂ™s greatest hits donвЂ™t obscure what is, at its heart, a ripping good adventure yarn. The gunplay may be plentiful, but the oaths are goofy and mild (вЂњGreat SNAKES!вЂќ). Finch,вЂќ Tintin informs his landlady, вЂњa manвЂ™s been shot on our doorstep!вЂќД¬o-writer Edgar вЂњShaun of the DeadвЂќ WrightвЂ™s biggest contribution may have been landing his pals Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as the voices of matching INTERPOL inspectors who help Tintin in his quest. The trio of Brits who scripted this ensure that the Belgian HergeвЂ™s character becomes much more British and flippant. Daring escapes from a freighter, a seaplane, stranding in a desert and a chase by tank will conjure up fond memories of вЂњRaiders of the Lost Ark.вЂќ And the funny way the dog is used brings to mind Wallace and Gromit. And before Tintin can figure out why, bullets are flying and he and the dog and a sea captain (Andy Serkis) with a serious weakness for drink are on the run, off on the search for clues. Not being able to to talk, Snowy has to wait for Tintin (voiced by Jamie Bell) to figure out that the model sailing ship he bought from a street vendor has a hidden clue in it, a clue to the lost treasure of that very ship - the Unicorn.ДЄ pushy American wants the model, and a conniving professor type (Daniel Craig). One of the great conceits of the Herge comic book this is based on is that Snowy, a white Wire Fox Terrier, is usually a couple of clues ahead of his master. And being modestly famous doesnвЂ™t keep them out of danger. In this world, datable to the mid-1950s thanks to the presence of a Jeep, a World War II vintage tank and a Triumph TR3, the freelance journalist and his intrepid dog Snowy are well-known figures with an eye for trouble. have adapted the legendary comic book character Tintin in a way that avoids all that worry about killing stuntmen and all that fuss about obeying the laws of physics. A rollicking, breezy motion-capture animated romp, Spielberg & Co. Maybe itвЂ™s SerkisвЂ™ familiarity with acting in a motion-capture suit (in addition to Caesar the ape, heвЂ™s also played Gollum and King Kong), but Haddock, for all his cartoonish bluster, feels more like a living presence than anyone else onscreen.вЂњThe Adventures of TintinвЂќ is the вЂњRaiders of the Lost ArkвЂќ sequel Steven Spielberg might have made if he hadnвЂ™t felt the need to keep Shia LaBeouf on the payroll. ThereвЂ™s no hip remove between him and the character, no sense of condescension to the role. ItвЂ™s a strange, dark role-so dark it nearly takes the PG-rated Tintin into not-fit-for-children territory-and Serkis plays it as big and broad as a barn-a very sincere barn. Still, itвЂ™s worth noting that Serkis, as the drunken, self-pitying Scotsman Haddock, is a standout. IвЂ™m inclined to say there isnвЂ™t an actor in Tintin who gives a less than terrific вЂњperformance,вЂќ but given how many other artists it required to create each character, it seems somehow wrong to give all the credit (or blame) to an individual performer. Rather than just lending their voices, the likes of Bell and Craig literally embody their character, providing, in essence, a moving skeleton thatвЂ™s then вЂњcladвЂќ in digital flesh. вЂњPerformanceвЂќ is another word thatвЂ™s thrown into question by new animation technologies.

The adventures of tintin ii series#

The problem lessened as the series progressed and CGI got more sophisticated, but it was early evidence that animals and inanimate objects were better suited to digital re-creation than human beings.) Why does Tintin alone teeter on the brink of that dreaded valley, while the other characters clear the bar of acceptability? My viewing companion and I both guessed that itвЂ™s because realistically proportioned, conventionally вЂњattractiveвЂќ characters tend to come off worse in digital animation than their more exaggerated comic sidekicks (This is a variant of the Toy Story rule-think about the human characters in the early Toy Story movies, who came off as a bit creepy and fake next to the vibrant, googly-eyed toys. With the possible exception of the title character, the animated cast of Tintin narrowly escapes entrapment in the so-called вЂњ uncanny valley,вЂќ a name coined by cognitive psychologists and robotics experts for the disturbing effect created by realistic human facsimiles that are almost, but not quite, convincing.