Just got back from a preview screening.
As soon as I first heard that Spielberg was going to be using the perf-cap system and simulation camera from Avatar I was immediately hyped beyond belief for this movie. The possibility of somebody like Spielberg who - in my opinion is unmatched when it comes to orchestrating action within the frame getting to play around in a system that offers limitless possibilities was a dream come true. So as a precursor to seeing this, let us just say that my expectations were impossibly high with the prospects of what this film COULD be.
Spielberg met and exceeded my best hopes. GODDAMN!
Tintin is exciting, hilarious, imaginative and fucking beautiful. It is the best argument against people like our good friend Snowman who snub their noses at the possibility that Spielberg should be named a great artist - proclaiming rather carefully that he is instead 'technically proficient'.
In Tintin, Spielberg is like a coked-up painter trying to extract every thought from his head with the intuitive finesse that could only come from a master artist. This is the same verve you see driving Spielberg in Raiders, only with three decades of experience and polish.
The film is so goddamn busy with visual gags, that if you blink you're sure to miss one. And that is where much of the film's humor comes from. It is concentrated Spielberg. I have no idea how Peter Jackson can manage to live up to this. I have a feeling that the sequel will be a very, very different movie - because the entire thing is bound together by Spielberg's sensibilities.
Williams' score was excellent. It wasn't memorable like many of his thematic compositions, but it was extremely playful, moody and exactly like I suspected from hearing snippets earlier - very much comparable to his score for Catch Me If You Can.
Speaking of Catch Me If You Can. The opening title sequence of Tintin is very much in that vein - only its much, much better. It was like Catch Me's opening credits sequence crossed with Casino Royale's. Very good use of 3D.
All the main players were great. Serkis definitely stole the show, but I was actually very impressed with Jamie Bell. I thought he captured the character of Tintin brilliantly. I haven't seen any praise of Craig's Rackham, which is a shame as he also did a great job. Pegg and Frost were great fits for Thompson and Thomson - they really disappeared into those characters imo.
The locales are fucking gorgeous. I won't say which ones for fear of spoiling, but damn. Lighting was especially impressive in certain scenes. It really worked well with the 3D to be honest. The simplest example was one of the most impressive: Tintin's torch lighting up dust motes before the audience. Really impressive stuff.
Also - DAT ONE TAKE. Holy shit.
Everybody applauded after the film finished and there was a ridiculous amount of laughter throughout.
I was so worried about this film after how disappointed I was with War Horse, but Spielberg knocked it out of the goddamn park.
My favourite film I've seen all year, which is similarly comforting after how much hype I had going in.
Will be seeing it again when it opens here.
