The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn

Review By Proxy can be as dangerous as Munchausen By Proxy, but here it goes:

The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn is out in Europe this past weekend, but nowhere else.  I can’t review a film I haven’t seen yet, but have already commented about the early released trailers and my personal expectations in a previous blog article.  In fact, there are not very many fan reviews I have been able to turn up at this very early date of the European release, but there are some pro reviews on these links:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/8830386/The-Adventures-Of-Tintin-The-Secret-Of-The-Unicorn-review.html

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/10/the-initial-reviews-for-steven-spielbergs-upcoming-film-the-adventures-of-tintin-the-secret-of-the-unicorn-are-tric.html

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/feinberg-forecast-tintin-triumphs-london-249119

http://www.slashfilm.com/the-adventures-tintin-sample-john-williams-score-positive-review/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/spielberg-adventures-tintin-secret-unicorn-film-249116

http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/steven-spielbergs-the-adventures-of-tintin-the-secret-of-the-unicorn

http://www.lefigaro.fr/cinema/2011/10/12/03002-20111012ARTFIG00467-on-a-vu-tintin-un-grand-ouf-de-soulagement.php

http://cinema.jeuxactu.com/critique-cinema-critique-tintin-de-spielberg-2011-16393.htm

http://bestforfilm.com/film-news/the-adventures-of-tintin-photo-gives-us-the-creeps/

For now, the non-European audiences will have to be content with trailers, many of which can be seen on YouTube and web reviews by film review pros and fan sites until the Tintin movie comes out in the U.S. on December 21^st.  

Robbie Collin of the Telegraphs was somewhat underwhelmed when he stated in his review (see complete review above), “two dots of ink from a Belgian cartoonist’s pen can express more wit and artistry than £82 million of the best 3D special effects Hollywood can conjure”.  The reply to that might be that the Spielberg’s eyes were on packaging a game-like atmosphere for game players, rather than making a film adaptation of books loved by millions for well over half a century. I can only hope for the best.

The reviews are not all bad, those who have never heard of Tintin or read the books, who won’t have anything to compare and therefore enjoy a what some suggest is a Crystal Skulls remake with 3D Polar Express creepy art with a kinda-live action Tintin as the star, will probably label it as “boffo” or something like that.

To be fair, there is always going to be a gap between the written word and a movie adaptation.  That intangible gap, is your imagination.  In a sense, films remove most of the participation you had when you read a book and filling in the details yourself.  In a film, you become more dependent on the genius or failure of the film to carry you on sans your own personal imaginings and at the mercy of another's imagination, for good or bad. 

With Peter Jackson and then Stephen Spielberg as director and written by Stephen Moffat of Dr. Who fame it just can’t be all wrong, it’s just a shame that some Tintin fans might be disappointed.  I’ll see it myself and they will get my hard earned money, good or bad and then I’ll render a personal review, for what little weight it will have in the maelstrom. 

The very few fan reviews in the English language so far: 

http://fanthefiremagazine.com/blog/film/film-review-the-adventures-of-tintin/

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/spideydude/news/?a=48304&t=Review_The_Adventures_of_Tintin_The_Secret_of_The_Unicorn

http://www.nolanfans.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=3129&start=80

Soundtrack information link:

http://www.jwfan.com/?p=446

The Tintin books are available in the U.S. from such sources as Amazon.com and enlightened booksellers.  Read a book, it’s the literate thing to do.            CoastConFan