[Movie Review] The Adventures of Tintin (IMAX 3D)

After watching some ordinary 3D movies this summer in the so-called multiplexes, I swore to myself that all my future 3D movie viewing would be only at IMAX. Staying true to my word, I IMAXed for The Adventures of Tintin : The Secret of the Unicorn, the movie I was most looking forward to in this year, behind HP7 - Part 2.

I'm not going to dwell into my childhood memories with Tintin. It is already an established fact that Tintin is in my list of 5 favorite fictional characters.

My expectations from the movie were titanic! This is the first movie to be made on Tintin on a big budget and that too by the one of the greatest entertainer of our times - Steven Spielberg. And Peter Jackson producing it was just raising the expectations to monumental levels. I wouldn't have been satisfied unless the movie was nothing short of extraordinary brilliance. And?
  
It is BRILLIANT!
(You can stop reading the review now and go and watch the movie. If you need details, go ahead.)

The movie borrows the plot from three books - The Secret of the Unicorn, Red Rackhams's Treasure and in infinitesimal quantities from The Crab with the Golden Claws. For hardcore fans, it would be a bit of shock for significant aberration from the original plot, but as a movie buff I was impressed the way it was written for the movie (even Hergé would have been happy).

The first 5 minutes of the movie is a masterpiece! Tintin couldn't have been introduced in a better way. A tribute to Hergé and all Tintin fans! Thanks Spielberg! Through out the movie, there are small little things that only a true Tintin fan would be able to appreciate such as the scene where earlier books on Tintin are shown as news paper cuttings, or the birds flying around a man after he bumps into the lamp post.  Even when people are shot, there is no blood shown (just as the book)!

The visuals are just phenomenal-gorgeous-pleasing-i'm-running-short-of-adjectives. You can't seem to get enough in each frame of the movie. The timelessness of the original comic has been captured beautifully and is enhanced by 3D. The action scenes are smooth and that chase scene in Bagghar is just mind-blowing! I felt as though I was in a roller coaster.

I find it hard to evaluate the performance of actors when motion capture is used. However, Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock stands out (not surprised are we!) and so does Daniel Craig as the villain. Tintin is good too, but could have been better. Thom(p)sons were decent and it was a poetic touch that Simon 'P'egg was credited with Thom'p'son and not Nick Frost. Bianca Castafiore was a disappointment. Her face lacked the liveliness.

You may always wonder why take a animation movie of a comic? All other comic books are made into movies with real people? But frankly, I can't imagine seeing Tintin in the real world. It always has to be animation and that's what makes it a timeless masterpiece.

You might not see many overwhelmingly positive reviews for the film out there, mostly because the critics might not be able to get over their favorite childhood character in his 2D comic form.  Also Tintin is not about having those poignant moments as you normally see in Pixar's creations. Tintin is all about adventure and kick-ass fun! Move over people, Tintin in his new avatar is here to stay!

And I can't wait for the Seven Crystal Balls and the Prisoner of Sun.