The Adventures of Tintin: The Premiere Screening

Although my blog is full of food reviews and random shiznits, I personally consider myself a semi-movie buff. Back in 2008 when I was in my first year college, I'd be in SM Cinemas every week, or even twice or thrice a week just to catch the latest movies. Occasionally, I'd even make short (and poorly written) movie reviews back on my old Multiply webhome. But even though I have watched a lot of movies this year, I wasn't so interested in reviewing them. Not until now.

Getting free invites for a premiere screening was a good way to induce me to finally writing a movie review. Thank you so much to Pinoy Exchange for the tickets. (No, they didn't just give them to me. I won 2 tickets through an online contest at PEx.)

Honestly though, I never knew so much about Tintin and his adventures. He's a familiar comics character for me, but I wasn't able to read this Hergén masterpiece nor watch the numerous film renditions since I was probably too young (or even unborn) back then. But since the premiere screening for The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, is not only free but will also be shown in an IMAX theater.. I was sold!

I didn't research anything about Tintin, nor at least read the movie's synopsis. As my date suggested, better not have any expectation at all so I can see for myself if I'll like the movie for what it is. So come Monday evening, after a hearty lunch at Corniche, we headed to SM North to grace the short-but-still-red carpet in front of the IMAX theater.

We entered the IMAX cocktail area after a few photo ops, and headed to the buffet table. (Three cheers for free food and drinks!)

The caterers were really friendly, and the one serving the macaroni and cheese even insisted on putting more of the food on my plate. There were fish fillet with tartar sauce, creamed chicken dish, and s'more brownies to go along with the carbs. We also had a choice of Coke products or iced tea for beverage.

(This shouldn't be a food review, so I won't nitpick on the food anymore. They're quite good for free food anyway.)

And of course, since we were there not for the food but for the show, we ate everything in a hurry. I even dropped a brownie onto the floor. (Shhhhh...) We entered the IMAX theater a quarter before 8PM, and was anxious that the movie might have already started. Good thing though we live in the Philippines, so the movie actually started a few minutes before 8:30PM.

After GMA 7's cinematic version of Lupang Hinirang.. The 3D wonder started.

Directed by the world-renowned Steven Spielberg, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn's intro was nothing short of awesome. Deviating from the usual animated starters, the movie opened with a silhouette re-enactment paying homage to the graphic novels. It was simple, yet entertaining.

What followed suit was more eye captivating.

Tintin (Jamie Bell), a courageous young journalist, as well as his witty but cute and furry sidekick Snowy, delved into a mysterious adventure upon buying "The Unicorn," a model ship which housed a very well-kept secret. Along his journey to find answers, he meets Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis) who is actually the key to solve the mystery. All three of them embarks on an adventure, even made more thrilling by a persuasive antagonist, Sakharine (Daniel Craig).

Photo from MovieZit.com

The whole movie was action-packed, yet filled with witty humor. It never had an ignorable portion, especially with the captivating visuals which was completely CGI animated. The animation technology in this film was superb, making use of motion-capture performances by the actors themselves. Every movement of the characters, even Snowy, was believable and almost too realistic. The textures, landscape, and even the smallest details were also done in a very intricately convincing manner. There were parts where I was even fooled by believing the characters were real!

Photo from OnlineMovieShut.com

Another key feature to this film's grandeur is Spielberg's camera angles. Throughout the movie, the framing was unconventional, bold, ambitious.. But it is the reason why viewers would definitely feel every thrilling second of this movie until its very end.

After almost 2 hours of mystery-solving adventure, I became a fan. A fan of Spielberg. A fan of Peter Jackson. A fan of the screenplay writers -- Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright, and Joe Cornish. A fan of Hergé. A fan of Tintin. And a fan of the great Snowy.

Overall, my night at the premiere screening of The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn was nothing less than awesome. Good movie, good cinema, good experience. Now, I can't wait to see this film's sequel.