Nordling here.
I've seen THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN twice - once at a press screening, and once at BNAT. Both times I came away with the idea that Steven Spielberg was slowly immersing himself into new waters, and by the time the film is half-over, he's frolicking in the deep end of that pool. Is TINTIN a slight film? Well, yes. But I think that's intentional - with this new technology I get the idea that Spielberg didn't want to make the CITIZEN KANE of mo-cap movies. But he did want to make something light and enjoyable, and on that count I think he succeeded.
Tintin (Jamie Bell) is a renowned journalist, even though he looks like a 13-year-old kid, and he and his dog Snowy have busted crime syndicates, solved mysteries, and Tintin has written articles exposing corruption. Every new day brings the opportunity for a story, and adventure. While shopping at an outdoor market, Tintin spies a replica of the Unicorn, a ship lost at sea a hundred years ago. It becomes apparent early on that other parties are interested in that boat, especially Sakharine (Daniel Craig), who is trying to find the lost treasure of the Unicorn. That model ship takes Tintin and Snowy on a journey across the globe, and with the help of police officers Thompson and Thompson (Nick Frost and Simon Pegg) Tintin meets up with Haddock (Andy Serkis), the descendant of the captain of that ill-fated ship, now a drunkard pining for lost glory. Tintin needs Haddock to solve the mystery of the Unicorn, and he's running out of time - Sakharine will not stop until he has his hands on that treasure.
There's nothing deep about THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN - it's simply a film to be marveled at and enjoyed. Spielberg (with a script by Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright, and Joe Cornish) is simply making an adventure film, and those expecting something weightier from the Master might be disappointed. For those people WAR HORSE and next year's LINCOLN will fit that bill, but with TINTIN, Spielberg is simply playing in Hergé's world. You feel Spielberg grow more confident as the film goes on, with action setpieces that astound, culminating in a 6 minute editless chase scene that equals the truck chase in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK in sheer audacity and fun. Sure, it's all CGI, but unlike the terrible use of it in INDIANA JONES AND THE CRYSTAL SKULL, by this point in the film the audience is invested. The sight gags and sheer joy that Spielberg seems to present in that sequence are worth seeing alone.
It’s quite something to watch Pegg anf Frost riff off each other, and at times their voices sound so similar that it’s difficult to tell who is who. Jamie Bell does good work as Tintin, but again, Andy Serkis steps up and creates yet another terrific mo-cap character in Captain Haddock. He’s a sloppy drunk, but you can see the noble man inside. Daniel Craig is suitably villainous as Sakharine, and I couldn’t help but notice that both Sakharine and Haddock look an awful lot like two certain directors. That makes it especially funny when they duel – as if they’re fighting for the hearts and minds of the moviegoing audience. But Spielberg and Jackson are like chocolate and peanut butter for me as a moviegoer. You can see both of them in the finished work (there’s even a DEAD ALIVE reference!) and the result is a lot of fun, and if there isn’t much more to it than the surface level, I think it’s because both Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are making a film that doesn’t require the audience to bring much to it, especially American audiences who won’t be familiar with the character of Tintin.
Plus, for many audiences who see TINTIN in 3D, they get THE HOBBIT trailer, which if you haven’t seen it by now, is simply wonderful. But the movie is fun as well, and I hope that this series continues past this first one. I’d also like to see Steven Spielberg play with this film technology more, because he seems quite good at it, designing action sequences that really show off what CGI animation can do. THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN, when looked at the grand scheme of Spielberg’s filmography, is definitely no RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, but it’s still fun and enjoyable, and coming from him, that makes it better than 99% of action movies today.
Nordling, out.
