Directed By - Steven Spielberg
Cast - Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, Daniel Craig
Considering the fact that for nearly 3 decades Spielberg has been 'acing' the adventure genre with his Indiana Jones franchise, it would not have been too much of a surprise if his latest Tintin flick would be fantastic. But what surprises after the roughly 110 minute film is that he delivers a 'strictly one time watch'.
Spielberg merges three Tintin comics - The crab with the golden claws, The secret of the unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure - which is a smart thing to do because then all the famous Tintin characters can be accommodated. The film starts with Tintin buying a model of an old ship known as Unicorn and in no time the bad guys, headed by Shakharine (Craig), are after him and the ship . Few gags later he finds out that there are multiple such models (3 to be precise) which together hold different scrolls hidden in its mast which in turn are a pointer to one of the 'greatest lost treasures'. En route to solving the mystery he gets kidnapped and teams up with Captain Haddock, an eternally drunk ' master of the seas', who happens to be the Grandson of the captain of the sunken Unicorn. More gags and more action later it is found out that Shakharine not only wants the treasure but holds a personal grudge against the Haddocks because his grandfather lost a battle to Haddock Sr (!). In the end the mystery is solved and very conveniently a little plot gap is left for the sequel.In the middle of all this a little subplot involving a kleptomaniac who steals wallets and Thompson and Thomson is also incorporated.
To start with the good parts - this film is made using the increasingly popular performance-capture technology , that integrates live action performances by actors into an animated universe.Doing the film in animation allows the characters and landscapes to look exactly like the comic strips, which explains the stunning texture of the film. The gags are genuinely funny my favorite ones being on the ship (which include the famous 'whisky' incidents by Haddock). Spielberg uses some smart tactics to exploit the 3D aspect.From throwing items right at your face, ferocious dogs running at you to using simple things like character overlap. Tintin is a treat for 3D lovers.
But that's where most of the brilliance lies. Story wise Spielberg tries to incorporate too many things into one. While most nondescript characters are given meaty roles, the more important ones (like Thompson and Thomson) are neglected. There are a lot of liberties taken by the makers which might annoy Tintin purists.
Tintin is about the adventure but Spielberg's version is more about the breathtaking action which although brilliantly shot is an overkill. The storyline is perfectly serviceable but the execution seems very languid and stodgy like its stumbling along from one eye catching setpiece to another.
Of the cast Jamie Bell as Tintin does fairly well as the baby-faced detective. Snowy is cuter than ever. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost infuse life into the famous cop pair but are sadly given very less screen time. The disappointment of the film is Andy Serkis as Captain Archibald Haddock. Haddock can, quite easily, be considered the most enjoyable character of the series but Serkis fails at times to bring to life this legendary character. At the start though he is very good and delivers the gags but as the end film races towards the end you are dissatisfied with his performance. The best performance is delivered by Daniel Craig as Shakharine. He brings the perfect dose of calm and evil which is so famous with most Tintin villains.
Tintin entertains sporadically and the feel of adventure seems lost. In all the film works due to some spectacular set pieces and brilliant use of performance capture technology.
Spielberg has had his share of brilliant, spectacular films ( Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Munich, The Terminal, The Color Purple etc) and his share of pathetic ones ( War of the Worlds, Minority Report, AI etc)
This one does not feature in any of these extremes but is sadly stuck somewhere in the average region.
Rating - 7.2/10
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