Joe Cornish (2)Critiques

A modern-day kid is given Excalibur to defend Britain against Morgana.

2/4 (Indifferent).

It had some potential - both Merlins are good - but it's at least a half hour too long. And it spends a lot of time trying to teach morals, although I could not say what morals it was trying to teach. Something about uniting the British against the non-British, maybe? Not good stuff.

(Apr. 2022)½

Although the Tintin comics were published in the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, they were popular around my house when my kids were growing up in the 1990s. My youngest son in particularly loved them and we bought him all the books. We all went to see the animated The Adventures of Tintin the other morning.

For those of you that don't know the story, Tintin is a young Belgian reporter (as is the original artist, Herge) who, with the help of his fox terrier, Snowy, is always after a story. The movie is a combination of two of the Tintin books, The Secret of the Unicorn and it's sequel, Red Rackham's Treasure.

First, the technical stuff. The movie is in 3D animation with heavy use of motion capture. The results are just stunning. You won't be fooled into thinking you're seeing a live action movie, and I don't think director Spielberg meant you to be, but there is so much detail that every scene just pops off the screen. We saw in in flat screen because none of us really likes 3D movies which explains why we were at the theater at 10:15 in the morning. Every other showing was in 3D.

The story concerns the long-ago sinking of ship The Unicorn by pirates. The captain of The Unicorn and the captain of the pirate ship, Red Rackham, survive and the fight for the treasure sunk with the ship is now rejoined by their decedents. The movie is full of action (not all of it believable but it's a cartoon after all), exotic locales and humor. It sounds like IM: Ghost Protocol, except it's more believable and funnier. My kids tell me that it's full of references to other Tintin books. There is also a lot of stuff going on in the background, usually involving Snowy, that is funny.

Take the kids. If they are familiar with the Tintin books they (and you) will love this movie. If they are not familiar with Tintin, this will expose them to some of the best comic book writing of the 20th century.

Positively stuffed with charming little moments and memorable characters, but the plot feels a bit by the numbers, and several of the action sequences are much too long.½

Alex (Louis Serkis) es un niño británico de doce años cuyos problemas diarios pasan a un segundo plano cuando descubre la mítica espada Excalibur. Ahora, con la espada más poderosa de la historia en manos del estudiante más desvalido de Inglaterra, una aventura épica comienza toda vez que Alex y sus amigos tendrán que contener a una villana medieval de nombre Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson), quien está empecinada en destruir el mundo. (FILMAFFINITY)

Tras abandonar la cárcel, el ladrón y estafador Scott Lang recibe la llamada del misterioso Dr. Hank Pym para realizar un trabajo especial. El científico suministra al joven un traje especial, que le otorgar la capacidad de reducir su tamaño al de un insecto, al tiempo que aumenta considerablemente su fuerza. Con esta nueva arma en su poder, capaz de comunicarse con los insectos, Lang deberá abrazar su héroe interior, olvidar su pasado de delincuente y tratar de salvar al mundo de una terrible amenaza.

Tintín, un joven periodista dotado de una curiosidad insaciable, y su leal perro Milú descubren que la maqueta de un barco contiene un enigmático y secular secreto que deben investigar. A partir de ese momento, Tintín se verá acosado por Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine, un diabólico villano que cree que el joven ha robado un valioso tesoro vinculado a un cruel pirata llamado Rackham el Rojo. Pero, con la ayuda de Milú, del cascarrabias capitán Haddock y de los torpes detectives Hernández y Fernández, viajará por medio mundo, sirviéndose de su proverbial astucia para burlar a sus perseguidores y encontrar antes que ellos El Unicornio, un navío hundido que puede proporcionar la clave de una fabulosa fortuna y de una antigua maldición.

Family values schmaltz with some fun bits. In a way, the various appearances of the The Falcon were the most fun part.½

This film had passed me by as part of the Avengers franchise. So I didn't know what to expect. But I really enjoyed it. It's fun and it doesn't have the endless, fake special effects battles. I'll never look at an ant the same way again!

London teenagers pick a fight with space monsters.

Non-stop fun. Also hip, and nice to look at. And so much fun.

Concept: A
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: C
Pacing: A
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: A
Acting: C
Music: B

Enjoyment: A

GPA: 3.1/4

(Oct. 2011)½

Goodguys and badguys race to find a secret treasure.

I didn't have much fun. The action scenes are a mess. The awful animation is like watching cardboard cutouts. Beautifully painted cardboard cutouts, but still cutouts.

Concept: D
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: D
Pacing: D
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: F
Music: B

Enjoyment: C

GPA: 1.6/4½

An ex con is recruited to stop a super-villain with a shrinking suit.

Forgettable fun. The action doesn't drag on as badly as the typical Marvel movie (thanks to the heist formula being a change of pace from the usual Cartoons Punching Each Other). The sense of humor is enough to keep the movie entertaining, but never enough to get a laugh. They spend a lot of time with character development (so, good for them for at least trying, I guess?) You can definitely tell it was written by committee, but it's still a lot better than, say, a Thor movie.

Concept: D
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: C

Enjoyment: C plus

GPA: 2.1/4

Substance: A pretty standard action-adventure-mystery plot, with a message of "do or do not, there is no try" embedded in a rather muddled treasure-and-revenge story. AT one point, Tintin asks himself, "How could I be so stupid?" and the viewer echoes that refrain throughout the show. However, it can be great fun if not taken seriously, and I loved the derelict last-of-the-true-sailors Captain Haddock.

Style: Based on the popular Belgian-French comic by Georges Remi (1907–1983), who wrote under the pen name Hergé, so why are all the voice-actors British?
Animated CGI in a "realistic" syle; I think I would have preferred live action, but the cost of the stunts would have been enormous. I assume they wanted to keep the flavor of the graphic comics.
Wikipedia: "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011) was Steven Spielberg's motion capture 3D film based on three Hergé albums: The Crab with the Golden Claws (1941), The Secret of the Unicorn (1943), and Red Rackham's Treasure (1944).[114] Peter Jackson's company Weta Digital provided the animation and special effects. The movie's reception was positive; Jackson will direct and Spielberg will produce a second movie of a planned trilogy."

This film is about a young man solving a mystery about a ship that sunk a long time ago and a descendant to the captain of that ship that is to inherit a treasure. The animation in this film is done in similar style to Polar Express. Not knowing anything about Tintin, I was a bit confused about his age. By his stature, he is young, but he lives by himself and is quite independent. I'm guessing he is somewhere in the range of teenager? I was a bit surprised to see guns used in this animated film. I think all of the cartoon guns I have seen in the past have been the silly ray gun type or the Elmer Fudd type. The plot moved a bit slow in this movie for me. If it moved slow for me, I'm not sure how well it would keep the attention of a younger audience.

Tintín, un joven periodista dotado de una curiosidad insaciable, y su leal perro Milú descubren que la maqueta de un barco contiene un enigmático y secular secreto que deben investigar. A partir de ese momemto, Tintín se verá acosado por Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine, un diabólico villano que cree que el joven ha robado un valioso tesoro vinculado a un cruel pirata llamado Rackham el Rojo. Pero, con la ayuda de Milú, del cascarrabias capitán Haddock y de los torpes detectives Hernández y Fernández, viajará por medio mundo, sirviéndose de su proverbial astucia para burlar a sus perseguidores y encontrar antes que ellos El Unicornio, un navío hundido que puede proporcionar la clave de una fabulosa fortuna y de una antigua maldición. (ressenya de Filmaffinity)