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| Steven Spielberg's, Tintin, 'save motion-capture animation', wallpaper, poster, start, release |
When Disney's
Mars Needs Moms brought in just $6.9 million in its opening weekend earlier this year, commentators
suggested the $175-million flop would sound the death knell of
motion-capture animation. The technique, in which the movements of real
actors filmed on a blank set are turned into computer animation, has
delivered a number of disappointments from
Beowulf to
Polar Express; the
consensus is that audiences don't connect with the characters' creepy,
near-lifelike appearance. Turning that thesis on its head is Steven
Spielberg's motion-capture
The Adventures of Tintin, based on
the immensely popular European comics about a young Belgian reporter and
his dog. (Watch the trailer below.) The film, which hits the U.S. in
December, opened abroad to a whopping $55.8 million over the weekend.
Could Spielberg and
Tintin "save motion-capture animation"?
Yes. Tintin proves that motion-capture can work: The film's "promising start" suggests audiences will embrace motion capture when it's done right, says Joshua L. Weinstein at
The Wrap. In France, for instance,
Tintin
scored "the biggest opening ever for an original, non-sequel Hollywood
film." This "spectacular" visual feat really draws audiences in, Rory
Bruer, of film distributor Sony, tells
The Wrap in the same article. "You couldn't ask for a film that's more immersive and incredible to look at than
Tintin."
"Can Steven Spielberg's
Tintin save motion-capture animation?"
No. Our brains were wired to hate this style: Though better than ever,
Tintin's motion-capture animation
is still not "good enough," says Steve Rose at Britain's
Guardian.
"It's a paradox of animation that you can put arms and a face on a
spoon… and it looks cute," but if a character is too lifelike, "the
brain no longer reads it as good animation," but as reality gone awry.
Video game designers have long struggled with this problem. Maybe one
day we'll find a solution "where we can't tell the difference between
what's animated and what's real." Though that idea is "potentially more
terrifying than all the zombies, Chuckies and glazed-over
Tintin characters put together."
"
Tintin and the Uncanny Valley: When CGI gets too real"
Tintin deserved better: "The motion-capture animation [in
Tintin] makes all the characters look like… marionettes," says Peter Bradshaw at the
Hindustan Times. It has neither "the charm, clarity and style" of the
Tintin
books' illustrations, nor "the immediacy and panache of flesh-and-blood
human beings." You can't help but imagine how much better the movie
would be if it were hand drawn or live action. Instead, we get a
disappointing
Tintin that's "flat and robotic and a little bit aimless."
