The Adventures of Tin Tin

The Tin Tin series was probably the first comic that I ever read. And I loved ‘em! I read as many of them as our little library had to offer, and I still could not get enough. And so decades later, you can imagine my joy when I first heard that a large scale production of a Tin Tin movie was being planned.

But I was a tiny bit disappointed when I heard that it was CGI (but CGI based off of real actors…) as to me that meant it would be childish. But once I saw past that (what was I thinking? of course it is geared towards children… it always was, and that was the reason that I started reading them to start with!), I was almost ready to enjoy the film…

In today’s times, when Hollywood has run out of ideas and is just re-doing old movies, comics, and any other once-popular story, Hollywood quite often misses the point of these classics altogether by either over-doing the action or rewriting the storyline (i.e. G.I. Joe, Transformers, Dragon Lance, … yes, and even Star Wars!). The Adventures of Tin Tin did neither… it followed the storyline of one of the comics frame-by-frame… The Secret Of The Unicorn

Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson aren’t highly revered in my books these days (due to their over-doing-it mentality towards movies these days… it’s like they forgot that they were once great movie makers and take the easy-out instead of doing what they did in the past, and that their names might as well just be brand-names to sell you on a sub-par product. But I’m rambling now…), but I think they really hit the hammer on the head with this one (ok, they hit the nail, not the hammer. I’m just testing to see if anyone’s actually reading this…)! Yes, they over-do some parts of it (it wouldn’t be Hollywood without it!), but in general, every frame of the comic is represented in the movie.  And as I still have the comic The Secret Of The Unicorn safely at my parents house (for any drooling child to rub their sticky fingers all over… yeesch, I gotta get that comic back!), the story is still fresh in my head and my opinion may slightly be validated (that’s a first!). Not only is The Secret Of The Unicorn one of my favorites (as it introduces Captain Haddock who becomes a constant and comical character (as he’s drunk all the time… which wasn’t as funny on the big screen for some reason. I guess alcoholism was funnier back then!)), but it is also To Be Continued … (Ooops… I may have just ruined the movie for you!)

So if you have ever read the Tin Tin comics, and can get back into the mindset of the child that used to read them, I recommend giving The Adventures of Tin Tin a watch (not a time piece… a viewing). If you lost your childish nature and need to see the most ‘realistic’ explosions and sex and violence and unhealthy relationship that only Hollywood has to offer… maybe save your minimal attention span for this one instead…

… it sure does look like an award winner, doesn’t it?!

by DJ Mikey Bones on Jan.05, 2012