#2 'TIN TIN' COMES TO LIFE IN
SPIELBERG'S LATEST MASTERPIECE
Steven Spielberg knocks it out of the park - again - yes!
TIN TIN
Director: Steven Spielberg, Writers: Steven Moffat (screenplay), Edgar Wright (screenplay), and Starring: Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis and Daniel Craig
How does he do it over and over again, after he's already directed perfection on numerous occasions [for close to half a century]. In a career that's now spans close to thirty feature films. Most directors hope for consistancy and one big hit, Mr. Spielberg keeps delivering one triumph after the other. One only has to mention 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' or 'Jaws' or his masterpiece 'Schindler's List’ to showcase why he must be considered one of the greatest film directors whose ever lived [and that's without mentioning the films he's produced or helped develope which have also become classics].
Now he has given us the best holiday present one could ever ask for. Not one but two new movies to drool over. 'Tin Tin' and 'Warhorse'. [I haven’t seen ‘Warhorse’ yet, but I’ve already gone weepy watching the previews. I'll review it after I’ve watched it. And tout its many treasures, I hope]. But now onto my review of ‘Tin Tin’. The film’s characters are based on ‘The Adventures of Tintin’ (Les Aventures de Tintin) a series of classic comic books created by Belgian artist Georges Remi (1907–1983), who wrote under the pen name of Hergé. How does he do it over and over again, after he's already directed perfection on numerous occasions [for close to half a century]. In a career that's now spans close to thirty feature films. Most directors hope for consistancy and one big hit, Mr. Spielberg keeps delivering one triumph after the other. One only has to mention 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' or 'Jaws' or his masterpiece 'Schindler's List’ to showcase why he must be considered one of the greatest film directors whose ever lived [and that's without mentioning the films he's produced or helped develope which have also become classics].
Like other attempts at filming classic comic characters, the problems has always been in 'how to take a flat, two dimenional drawing, and transform it for the 3-D world of film. Simply answer: Get Steven Spielberg to direct the project. Simply, Spielberg has literally brought these classic comic characters to life in a way not no other film maker has ever been able to accomplish. A perfect adaptation of it source material. The quality of the animation is so good in fact you can almost qualify it as a live-action flick. That's how real this simply scrumptious looking adventure 'cartoon' is. Tin Tin doesn't feel like an animated film or a cartoon at all, tts feels more like a feature film [shot in CGI digital animation to tell its story]. I can only image what The Fantastic Four or Watchmen films would have been like if they had attempted to film their adaptations as Spielberg did.
The only moments that you’re reminded you're watching a CGI digital wonder are in 'the row boat scenes in the middle of the ocean'. The background looks too much like photography. It'd so real that it showcases the film's’ visually stunning characters are well, animated.
That said, this definitely sets the bar in creating human life-like characters on screen. Now we can have our fantasy's come true. This is how they should film a comic book or Sci-fi movie. Doctor Strange true believers. Justice League anyone. Swamp Thing perhaps.
Unlike the usual adaptations of fictional characters where the actors wear make-up and/or prosthetics to approximate the appearance of the characters [EG: Spawn, Dick Tracy], Spielberg's team of CGI wizards literally bring these characters to life by using the CGI process. The films talented CGI animators are able to adapt the original classic drawings by Hergé and for the first time ever you fully bring them to life.
As for the human actors involved. Simply perfection. They do such a great job and are so well cast that you don't hear the actors voice at all, you only hear the characters voice speaking. And most importantly as with all great motion pictures, the beauty of this great adventure for all ages is it's script. It's for my money the first animated film ever to use a screenplay for a live action motion picture. And it's a damned good script. Worthy of a director of Spielberg’s talent to bring to life. It kept me guessing and entertained all the way till the very end. Without giving the ending away, I’m already panting [I'm sure they're already working on it]. A masterpiece. Spielberg simply does it again. And now in CGI digital animation.
Of note: I saw the film in the 2-D version, I am definitely going to be seeing it again and this time in 3-D. Now its time to go out and see 'Warhorse'
Just one man’s opinion
© Neil Feigeles, Neilizms, Sunday, Dec. 26, 2011
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