MOVIE REVIEWS | INTERVIEWS | YOUTUBE |  NEWS |  EDITORIALS | EVENTS | AUDIO | ESSAYS | ARCHIVES | CONTACT |
 PHOTOS | COMING SOON| EXAMINER.COM FILM ARTICLES ||HOME

                                                       
Saturday, December 31, 2011

MOVIE REVIEW
The Adventures Of Tintin
Dashing Or Strolling To The Rescue, Poetry In Motion Capture


A scene from Steven Spielberg's "The Adventures Of Tintin", based on Hergé's comic book journalist adventurer.  Paramount Pictures
  
by Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com        FOLLOW                                            TWEET
Saturday, December 31, 2011

Effortless, light and consistently entertaining, "The Adventures Of Tintin", Steven Spielberg's animated Indiana Jones-type adventure based on Hergé's classic comic books on the intrepid journalist Tintin, shines and captures the spirit of adventure, farce and humor the young reporter's journeys unearth.  Hergé's creation is kept alive and preserved on the big screen wonderfully by Mr. Spielberg, who delights in paying homage to the creator early on, through credits reminiscent of Saul Bass's titles for the director's "Catch Me If You Can", and through an initial scene which inspires laughs.

Tintin buys a model ship early on and realizes that it contains a mystery surrounding a unicorn on its stern and a secret past: treasure, kept by an ancestor to Captain Haddock, whose ship has been mutinied.  The search to reclaim the ship and all inside it is on, and Tintin and Haddock find themselves forced together through circumstance in a race against dastardly forces that present themselves in circus-like and sinister fashion.

Whether in 3D, which I embarrassingly admit I didn't stay awake long enough in the theatre to watch, or in conventional 2D, "Tintin" plays so convincingly in its motion capture format you forget that what you are watching are not real humans.  After the first five creepy minutes of getting used to the motion capture animation, you settle in comfortably to a world of improvisation, nimble comedy and great voice performances by Jamie Bell in the lead role, and, ever in his element, the masterful Andy Serkis as the Captain Haddock, mutinied by bad guy extraordinaire Red Rackham (Daniel Craig).  Mr. Craig is better here than he has been in the on-camera roles he had this year ("Cowboys And Aliens", "Dream House", "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo".)

John Williams makes a return to scoring film and does so well, evoking the Indiana Jones music he's done.  "Tintin" plays like "Raiders Of The Lost Ark", though more comedic and less perilous.  Still, as a film I got carried away into an exciting mission without feeling that the settings and sequences were too elaborate or enormously scaled to be enjoyed or believed.  Tintin uses his mind and improvises situations to get to the truth of a situation.  He's got little time for romance; Tintin loves his faithful companion, his dog Snowy, who is as quick and resourceful as can be.

"The Adventures Of Tintin" is an absorbing ride, and while for the more short-attention smart-alecs in the audience it won't move as quickly as "Raiders" or any typical action-animation story, this European-origin story picks up the pace in its second half.  "Tintin" is a bright, bouyant film for people of all ages, and adults will enjoy it more, I dare say, than kids under ten. 

Mr. Spielberg's sense of adventure and wonderment merges with Herge's creation, and the two are a perfect match.  The film hints strongly at sequel material, though I wonder where Tintin could go adventure-wise on a cinematic level that would sustain or justify a second feature film, as Mr. Spielberg and the film's producer Peter Jackson, aided by screenwriters Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright and "Attack The Block" director Joe Cornish, go for the heights, distance and in-betweens, hitting them all in this ambitious thrill-ride.

With the voices of: Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, Toby Jones, Mackenzie Crook, Daniel Mays, Gad Elmaleh, Cary Elwes.

"The Adventures Of Tintin" is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association Of America for adventure action violence, some drunkenness and brief smoking.  The film's duration is one hour and 47 minutes.

COPYRIGHT 2011.  POPCORNREEL.COM.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.                 FOLLOW

MOVIE REVIEWS | INTERVIEWS | YOUTUBE |  NEWS |  EDITORIALS | EVENTS | AUDIO | ESSAYS | ARCHIVES | CONTACT | PHOTOS | COMING SOON| EXAMINER.COM FILM ARTICLES ||HOME