The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Tintin (2011)

Tintin, in America, is almost a niche thing. You have to have accidentally been introduced to it in order to know what it is. In 3rd grade, my classmates began reading the comics in class, and I became so intrigued that I acquired the comics for myself from the library. Out of the 21 official volumes, I have read 19 (somehow never made it to two of them), but Tintin has been something that I have long since forgotten about.

Now here comes Spielberg, making a movie I would have desired 12 years ago, and one that I was skeptical about. Tintin came to Spielberg's attention in the 80s, when his Indiana Jones was compared to the intrepid reporter from Brussels. I'm thankful he didn't make the film then, even though he received Hergé's (Tintin's author) blessing to adapt it. But he didn't need to do another Indiana Jones then.

The formula of Tintin is almost Hitchcockian as he accidentally stumbles across trouble and then it gets worse from there (although unlike Hithcock's ombudsmen, he is a very resourceful and intelligent reporter). Tintin (Jamie Bell) himself is a one-dimensional character with no flaws, in both comic book and celluloid form. This is a bit unfortunate, but I guess I'm happy the screenwriters didn't try and saddle him with some made up backstory. Fans of the series will forgive this, but I'm not so sure newcomers will be as quick to accept the character.

Of course, this is why Tintin has a fairly strong array of supporting members, most notably the drunk, alliterative curser (though his vocabulary doesn't include anything that would make the film PG-13) Captain Archibald Haddock (Andy Serkis). Captain Haddock is a nice, dark contrast to the always optimistic, never-do-wrong Tintin, and his incompetence can be a bit predictable, but he shines at the right moment. There are also Interpol cops Thompson and Thomson (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost) and Tintin's dog Snowy.

I guess I should back up and give a brief summary of the story. Tintin purchases a beautiful ship model in a market, and is immediately harassed for it by two interested buyers (one is the villain, Sakharine (Daniel Craig)). He soon discovers a scroll hidden within the ship which contains a riddle, and sets out on a globe trotting quest to solve the Mystery of the Unicorn (the name of the ship the model is based on).

Probably one of the largest concerns with the film comes down to the use of Motion Capture, rather then just letting animators freely create the movements. It's a controversial format that has only been successful in James Cameron's Avatar (2009), and even that blended the Mo-Cap with live actors (and the mo-cap aliens had big eyes, so it was easy to erase the dead eye effect). Tintin is so far the best use of Mo-Cap I've seen (full use), and actually seems to address a lot of the dead eye effect issues. I still think the format needs some tweaking, and I still believe letting animators create the movements is the best way, but it still works really well in this film. Andy Serkis gives the best performance, and is a master of the art form, having portrayed Gollum, King Kong, and most recently Caesar in the last Planet of the Apes movie. His performance adds a lot.

But what it comes down to, besides story, besides character, is how much fun the film is, and I haven't been this exhilarated by a film in a long time. It takes its time getting going as Tintin gets a lot of scenes where he just speaks out loud to no one in particular (except his faithful dog Snowy) about the mysteries he is pondering, but once Haddock is introduced, the film takes off. From a thrilling sea plane ride through a thunderstorm, to an unbelievable 5 minute unbroken shot detailing a chase through Morocco, to a final battle involving shipping cranes. Spielberg takes the form of animation and uses it freely, and the result is pure...awesome.

At that's really the best justification for it: Spielberg does things in this film that could not have been achieved in Live Action without a significant amount of CGI, which would have made it look like a cartoon. The Moroccan sequence is particularly spectacular, but throughout the whole film Spielberg's camera moves freely, as if he's a child delighted by a new toy he's discovered. Granted all this movement might become a little sickening in 3D, but in 2D it is perfectly amazing (though I would like to see this on IMAX).

The film opens with a sweet scene where a man modeled after Hergé's visage (the creator of Tintin), sketches a portrait of the young lad that is exactly like the comic book drawings. We are then introduced to the "real" Tintin, and this is a memorable introduction for longtime fans of the books. But how this film will do in America is beyond me. It received an end-of-October release date across Europe and won't hit our cinemas until Christmas (in case you're wondering, I was in Europe when it came out, so I saw it then). The producers are hoping that it will do well enough in Europe that it will generate some interest in America, and if the film does well enough Peter Jackson will helm the sequel (once he's done with The Hobbit).

I highly recommend you all see it. It's a good family film as well, though some families may take the lampooning of Haddock's alcoholism as something that isn't appropriate for children (though I think they can handle it). It may not be perfect, but it's a damn good time at the cinemas. It's what Indiana Jones IV should have been.

Super 8 (2011)

*This review contains spoilers*

J.J. Abrams, the writer and director of the new summer blockbuster Super 8, should be praised for putting what is likely to be the only original movie this summer (meaning there is no prior existing source material or it is not a sequel). How disappointing, then, that this movie lacks the inspiration that audiences need in this day and age to remind them that good, original filmmaking is worth fighting for. That there can be a heart to a film, not just loud explosions throughout.

Abrams more or less succeeds at this noble goal in the first hour of the film, in which the only major action set pieces are a ridiculously huge train crash, and a scary gas station attack. It is in this first hour that we are introduced to the child cast, lead by Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) and auteur Charles (Riley Griffith). There are other various stereotypes that make up the group, including a pyromaniac and two anxious nerds. A love interest is introduced in the form of Alice (Elle Fanning), who agrees to act in the super 8 film these kids are making, and tender scenes between her and Joe abound. They really are well done.

But then the monster is introduced, and it is here that the movie unravels. The scenes where the monster attacks are well done and thrilling, but the film takes a complete 180 at the end as it is discovered this beast really just wants to go home. You can tell Abrams wants you to feel sorry for this creature, but after watching an hour of this thing viciously kill dozens of innocent people, the moment Joe and the beast have at the end borders on the ludicrous and as the movie imitates E.T.'s ending, you are filled with tears of disappointment for what this movie could have been.

Abrams effectively establishes his characters but seems to have no idea how to make their character arcs more organic. Both Joe and Alice have daddy issues which are neatly resolved inexplicably by the end. Things come to happy yet unsatisfying conclusion.

And the real problem is that damn monster, a stranded alien from outer space. Spielberg made aliens lovable and friendly with Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and E.T. (1982), and Abrams clearly is modeling his film after both of these. Yet in Close Encounters people are abducted, but no one is harmed and everyone is returned safely at the end. And E.T. is as harmless as can be. I don't mind Abrams wanting to have the alien monster be a savage killer, but the creature needs to be introduced to us as more sympathetic then this movie's lousy excuse. King Kong shepherds Anne around the whole movie, never intending on harming her, and we see his gentle side and feel sympathy when the nasty humans take him. This monster doesn't even have a memorable design.

Abrams is a skilled director, but he's more a craftsman then an artist. Star Trek is essentially a lot of action scenes, and its a well done film, but it lacks heart. Super 8 sows the seeds of Abrams injecting real emotion into a story, but in the end, he's just a kid with a big budget looking to make his monster movie.

End note: stay for the end credits, the Super 8 film shown is better then the movie you just saw.

#9: Minority Report (2002)

This decade saw a huge leap into the Sci-fi genre by mega-director Steven Spielberg, where 3 of the 7 movies he directed fell into that genre. The first was A.I. (2001), a movie he took over after Stanley Kubrick's death, and though it is a fairly decent movie, it suffers from Spielberg's touch. The second, Minority Report (2002), is named here as the ninth best of the decade. And finally was Spielberg's weakest attempt, War of the Worlds (2005).

Minority Report stands head and shoulders above anything else he made this decade (Catch Me if You Can (2002), The Terminal (2004), Munich (2005), and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)) as a great entertainment and a great story. It's one of the few movies that I can continuously pop into the DVD player and be completely mesmerized for, from the opening to the end.

Tom Cruise plays John Anderton, a futuristic cop in the year 2054, where new technology has allowed cops to catch murderers before they actually commit the crime. The movie sets us on the eve of the program, which is only in D.C., being taken national. Colin Farrell plays Danny Witwer, who is investigating the unit, dubbed Pre-Crime, to find any flaws. Of course, a flaw is discovered when Anderton himself is named as a future killer, though the doesn't know the man he is supposed to kill. Much of the rest of the time he is on the run.

The film is a terrific sci-fi parable of our times, and uses technology that scientists actually believe could exist in the future. The film has a desaturated look, and is quite frenetic during some of the crazier scenes. The overall Production Design is outstanding, from cars that run on autopilot to a really awesome sonic boom gun thingy. Everything about is great.

But what really makes the movie work is its mythology. The future is seen by three individuals, known as Pre-Cogs (Samantha Morton is one of them), who are kept in a water tank at all time and isolated from the cops. How they work, why they work, and why Agatha (Morton) got there is all compelling and really makes you want to know more about this world. Tom Cruise's character is given an admittedly somewhat hammy backstory (his son was taken at a public pool), but Spielberg thankfully never gives us any closure on that thread, which makes it more powerful and more true to life.

My roommate Ben brought up on interesting theory about the ending: when Anderton is eventually apprehended, he is put into Tim Blake Nelson's holding cell, and is he lowered into the catacombs, Nelson says, "All your dreams become reality." (something along those lines) After that, everything is in Anderton's head, as the person who set him up kills himself and dramatic improbable things happen.

Whether the ending is in Anderton's head or really happens is irrelevant to me; its still a thrilling conclusion that I love seeing played out again and again. What does matter is that Spielberg crafted one of the greatest entertainments of our time, and a movie I know will hold up for years and years to come.