Review: The Adventures of Tintin
For some reason, in this crowded holiday season, many are overlooking one of the true gems currently playing in multiplexes. They’re getting their fix of actioners, epics, brooding mysteries, chipmunks, and prestige dramas but are missing out on a dazzling adventure in the truest form of the word, The Adventures of Tintin.
If you had told me that of the two Steven Spielberg directed features currently unreeling in theaters the mo-cap animated French comic adaptation would be better than the glorious war drama, I likely wouldn’t have believed you. But after being on the other side of both films, it’s clear who the winner is. The director plays War Horse far too close to the chest, going through many familiar motions and modes of his filmography. Tintin, while yes, reminiscent of Indiana Jones, is a risky gamble on a product not very well known domestically, in a genre that has far from a perfect track record. Thankfully it’s these risks that allow it to excel.
Tintin is a joyful, romp through the imagination. It relishes deeply in its lack of boundaries, as seen in the free wheeling set pieces, clever transitions, and dreamlike scale. Spielberg and Peter Jackson use the freedom of animation to move the camera around in ways that would never be possible in the tangible world. The end result is a beautiful, full-on display. And finally the technology has caught up to rid mocap of its distracting qualities. While Tintin spends time in the desert, the open ocean, and the streets of Paris, it never pays a visit to the uncanny valley.
Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish share screenwriting credits, and though they never go for genre subversion or heady plot twisting, they deliver what needs to be there at pique performance. The adventure is fairly straightforward, with Tintin sometimes explaining out-loud what is happening, which is fine. It’s not trying to be anything but a light hearted, colorful adventure and as far as those go, it’s one of the best. Never does it feel burdensome, too big, or too slow and this has a lot to do with its nimble writers.
Andy Serkis is the king of the mo-cap performance. He may not land an Oscar nod for Rise of the Apes, nor will he for this, but the way he comes through in the film, both in voice and physicality is a modern marvel. Jamie Bell stands firm as the title character but its Serkis’s Haddock that takes it to the next level. (It’s also worth mentioning that again a dog stole the show. Snowy, though not even real, is just as eye-catching as Uggie in The Artist.)
Tintin came out of nowhere for me and delivered a whole package few have been able to do recently. The fact that it’s animated and based on a foreign property may serve as a barrier to entry for some, but they’d only be missing out.
