War Horse

 

"Please sir. He's my horse."

Watching War Horse was a fantastic experience. The movie looked great & was presented as an epic film all about a horse. 

The film, based on the Michael Morpurgo book, is about a horse raised on a farm sold for use in World War 1 and goes on a journey of new land, owners & experiences, all to reunite with the young biy who raised him on the english farm. 

The horse looked beautiful on screen and did a splendid job. Fascinating creature. The acting was done well, if a little exaggerated. The scenery looked fantastic, both the farmland and the warzone. Steven Spielberg did a fantastc directing job. It isn't his best but I would rank it up alongside E.T. & Duel. 

The story is an emotional drama all the way and it really connects the audience with the poeple & the horse. I'll admit I got a little emotional when the horse reunites with its owner. Not often does that happen & it further shows how powerful this movie is. 

There are some great sequences as this is also a war film. The scene of No Man's Land remindeed me of the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan. The scene of the horse running through NML was also an awesome sight. also when an English soldier & German soldier worked together to rescue the horse from barbed-wire wasreally powerful as two enemies put their differences aside in the midst of a war. 

War Horse is a really powerful & moving film which is a pleasure to watch. Not only does Spielberg manage to surpass himself in creating a fantastic movie about a horse but I'm further surprised that Spielberg wasn't nominated the Oscar for Best Director. This is one of the best films I've ever seen for its epicness, great scenery, score, scenes & of course, the horse!

★★★★☆

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

"How's your thirst for adventure, Captain?"

One the the greatest things I've ever seen. I used to read the books& watch the cartoons when i was younger but then lost interest when other things came up. But when Steven Spielberg & Peter Jackson were anno0unced to make a Tintin movie, I got back to reading the books and watching the cartoons again in preperation to watching thie film. And i was not dissapointed 

The film is based on three Tintin books, The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn & Red Rackham's Treasure. For those not familiar with these stories, Tintin buys a replica model of the Unicorn, an ancient ship captained by Sir Francis Haddock. A man called Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine attempts to buy it off him, but Tintin refuses as the model interests him. The ship gets stolen & Tintin ends up on an adventure to find out what the secret of the Unicorn is, with the help of Francis' descendant Captain Haddock & The Tompson Twins & his trusty dog, Snowy. 

The film was done with Motion Capture CGI, which was smart as the film really captures the style of a Tintin book. The characters have been slightly updated from their book appearnaces by been given a more realistic look as humans. Jamie bell portrays Tintin and does a good job. Simon Pegg & Nick Frost were great as the Tompson Twins and Andy Serkis (Master of Motion Capture) is awesome as Captain Haddock. Daniel Craig is the villain Sakharine and is really good too. There are cool cameos by two Tintin characters Alan (Captain Haddock's ex-first shipmate, & Bianca Castafiore, opera singer). 

Combining three stories is a good idea as the books were made into a cartoon and a better story can be made. The film stays true to all major points made in the book, especially Secret of the Unicorn as that is the main story. There are some references to other Tintin stories (Cigar of the Pharohs, The Black Island) which were neat. 

There are some comedic times during this film which stayed true to the books as The Tompson Twins & Haddock delivered the comedy just like they did in the books. During the film, there is a death which is quite extreme for a film based on a character children enjoy reading about. But it's a tame one so no one should find it offensive. There is gunfire, common in Tintin books & something I'm glad wasn't changed. 

The best aspect of the movie has to be the visual presentation. It looks like what a Tintin movie should look like. It could not have been done well enough. The visuals of the boats at sea, the action scenes (in real-time and flashbacks) and a great chase scene, one of my favourite scenes. Another favourite is the opening sequence, which looked fantastic & showed that animation still hasn't reached it's full potential. 

Another thing i liked is how there is still a demand for Tintin, considering the character is over 70 years old. I looked around the cinema and I saw old people, there to relive there childhood, and i saw young children, who can witness Tintin for the first time in some cases after hearing about it. 

In conclusion, Tintin is one of the most enjoyabe films ever. It's an action packed, adventure similar to Indiana Jones. Reading & watching Tintin from my early days, I was really emotionally atatched to the film as I was watching it because it was absolutely beautiful to watch. It's great to see a vintage fictional series converted into a fantastic movie after several fails like Garfield & Asterix. Steven Spielberg & Peter Jackson did Tintin faithfully to Herge's books & I'm sure Tintin fans, longtime & new, and Herge himself would be proud of this pasterpiece.

Fantastic performances, amazing visuals, exhilarating action and all-around entertaining, The Adventures of Tintin is one of the most fun movies I've ever seen.

★★★★★