The Tintin teaser trailer was big on the mysterious atmosphere and revealed little about either the plot of the film or its characters, brought to life via the magic of motion-capture technology. Now there’s a new international Adventures of Tintin trailer that offers more insight into both story and characters (for better or for worse).
Adventures of Tintin, which is internationally titled The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, follows the titular crusading journalist (played by Jamie Bell) and his loyal white terrier, Snowy, as they set out to find the legendary ship known as the Unicorn -- before the evil Red Rackham (Daniel Craig) can get his mittens on it.
Joining Tintin and Snowy on their adventure is one Captain Haddock, brought to life by mo-cap expert Andy Serkis . This new international trailer for Spielberg’s film offers a much better look at Serkis’ bearded captain character, which begs the question: Does the mo-cap tech serve The Adventures of Tintin as well as it does the upcoming Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which also stars Serkis?
Here is the link for the new internation 'Tin Tin' trailer, enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hDmKOk37Uo&feature=player_embedded
In terms of story and action, Adventures of Tintin looks to deliver on both counts. Based on this early footage, Spielberg has crafted yet another fun period adventure that boasts plenty of thrilling chases scenes over sea, across the desert, and under the cover of night. That Spielberg recruited great writing talents like Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead), Steven Moffat (Doctor Who), and Joe Cornish (Attack the Block) to script the plot and dialogue should only help matters.
However, the mo-cap in Tintin comes off as more of a potential hindrance than a necessary move. Its effect on the cinematography of the film is especially noticeable, since it doesn’t allow for the traditional (read: seamless) editing style. As a result, there are times this Adventures of Tintin footage looks more like a video game rather than a film, in terms of how it’s shot.
As is always the case with mo-cap, though, the bigger issue is the expressiveness of the human characters (or lack thereof). While in this case they are actually meant to be more cartoonish and caricature-like in comparison to their surroundings (an imitation of the ligne claire drawing method pioneered by Hergé in his original Tintin comic books), their movement and mannerisms still look noticeably off. It’s an improvement on the animation in this past spring’s Mars Needs Moms, but not enough to avoid being a distraction.
One of the biggest film franchises of all time hits its ‘beginning of the end’ on Friday, as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 storms into theater screens, many of which are already sold out. Box office records will be broken and some tears will be shed as the 10-year journey through Hogwarts reaches its conclusion. For Warner Bros. however, the end of J.K. Rowling’s books creates space for the next big franchise that will become the primary focus for the studio: DC Comics.
Attached to the prints of Harry Potter this weekend will be the very first teaser trailer for what may arguably be the most anticipated film of 2012, The Dark Knight Rises, and also in theaters this weekend you may get to see the first official one-sheet for the film as well.
Released through the official site for The Dark Knight Rises, the black and white teaser poster offers a familiar-styled teaser that we’ve become accustomed to through Christopher Nolan’s work. Like the intense poster for The Dark Knight which saw Christian Bale’s Batman standing in front of a burning building with the Batman logo emblazoned into it this one-sheet offers city-scale destruction to form the iconic logo.
This TDKR poster is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO EPIC!!!!!!! Like Inception meets Batman, with a Matrix feel to it.
ReplyDeleteI watched the Tin Tin trailer. I have never seen or heard of Tin Tin before now. It looks like a mash-up of Sherlock Holmes and James Bond--only the hero seems to lack the experience of either. The animation at times seemed outright choppy, which is something they will have to resolve before this comes to the big screen. I would say that the chances of me seeing that movie are slim. Some movies just seem to lean heavily on nostalgia to fuel enthusiasm for them, but these same movies try to appeal to a broader fan base. The end result can either be glorious like the Iron Man movies and the Star Trek reboot, or disastrous like the latest Superman flick.
ReplyDeleteI think, speaking of Harry Potter, that the last couple of movies have been good because they unapologetically plow ahead into the territory that only a fan would comprehend, at least, according to Roger Ebert, who found HP7:1 "a handsome and sometimes harrowing film, and will be completely unintelligible for anyone coming to the series for the first time."
At the point at which you arrive at the climax of a series, I feel that it's o.k., and quite fitting, to demand an understanding of what has gone before.
Which brings me to The Dark Knight Rises. I think that what differentiates the Dark Knight series from other series like the Green Lantern is the grittiness of the Dark Knight. The Green Lantern was relatively bloodless: light swords cut but never seem to wound. Things don't seem to function in a way that feels really threatening to a character. A real knife seems gritty and threatening more than a light saber ala Star Wars or Green Lantern, at least as depicted in the Dark Knight.
I think that the Harry Potter and Dark Knight/Inception Strategy succeeds better than the Super Man/Green Lantern Strategy. In Harry Potter, the filmmakers try to render the world as being realistic so that the fantasy elements seem really grounded. When Harry, Ron, and Hermione are camped in the woods or fighting dark wizards in a diner in London, the spaces are mundane. Similarly, in the Dark Knight, many of the urban buildings feel familiar. The hotel hallway in Inception looks like a hotel hallway that we might have seen before.
I guess I feel that the Superman idea was more to strip Super Man of what made him super, of what made him a moral paragon as well as of what made him more than human. The Green Lantern exchanged its human villain for an amorphous blob. Not that Parallax wasn't intimidating, but the crazy scientist with super powers was a lot of fun, and really twitchy and quirky. In Harry Potter, Voldemort seems artificial and remote, but his followers--particularly Bellatrix with her insane demeanor--ground his personality by making him seem more fearful if he can gain the admiration and allegiance of disturbing people such as Bellatrix. Anyway, I guess that's all I have to say. I had fun at the Green Lantern because it was escapist action (I could not say I had fun at Superman) and had some elements of what I like in my superhero movies. I am looking forward to The Dark Knight Rising...
Well, I must say that this is quite the comment, almost as long as the post itself.
ReplyDeleteBut Tin Tin has been around for a long time, made famous through the "comic book" adventures about him going around the world with his friends, solving mysteries, finding ancient treasures, foiling the plots of evildoers, and always coming out on top.
I for one am looking forward to the Tin Tin film, because I've been a fan of the books for several years now, and have read and re-read them all. This movie will get him the recognition he needs in the US, because he it just downright awesome.
And I see what you mean about films like the Dark Knight Rises, Harry Potter and Inception grounding the reality, making the fantastic elements seem more fantastic. You have incredible insight into these things and I welcome your comments. Keep them coming good sir!