It was always going to be difficult to adapt onto screen a comic series with a fan base spread across continents, but, the Oscar-winning duo director Steven Spielberg and producer Peter Jackson do not disappoint with “The Adventures of Tintin”.
This performance-capture 3D film movie seamlessly integrates plot elements from three stories, The Crab with the Golden Claws , Secret of the Unicorn and to an extent, Red Rackham's Treasure .
With its imaginative sequences and picturesquely choreographed action sequences, “…Tintin” makes for a racy plot.
Dizzy adventures
For those who came in late, Tintin, an intrepid reporter with his faithful dog, Snowy, purchases a model of a ship and are then thrown headlong into a series of adventures having to dodge bullets, reform a drunk captain, get marooned on a desert, go treasure hunting and as in everything else, nab the bad guy.
And for all the die-hard Tintin fans, I apologise for giving such a crude overview of what is an exhilarating and dizzyingly wrought adaptation. For, Tintin is like a dream come true to all of us who have been dying for a movie to come out on the world's most famous journalist.
Sticking to the original is what most movies adapted from comics fail to do but “…Tintin” does not go wrong in this and ensures that the characters and the storytelling are exactly as they should be. A sense of nostalgia washes over us as Tintin craftily dissuades Captain Haddock from drinking in the middle of his narrative, for these were the very same words which Herge used all those years ago in the highly detailed and colourful comics which found its way into the shelves of millions of kids and adults worldwide.
Successful deviations
Despite all things said and done about sticking true to the roots, what makes the movie different are the ingenious non-book moments from the highly creative team behind the movie. Scenes like Sakharine utilising Bianca Castafiore's voice to break the unbreakable glass or one of the best sequenced car chases in recent times as Tintin tries to recover the treasure-indicating-parchments from Sakharine and Co makes for a fresh, visually stunning spectacle.
Bottomline: “…Tintin”, is a must watch for fans and non-fans alike and is one of the best movies to come out this year. And one of the few movies, which despite lacking a cute female lead, still manage to make for impressive viewing.
SHRIRAM K.S., III Year, EEE, SASTRA University
