Ladies and Gentlemen it’s been a while but Steven Spielberg is finally back on form. Yes after directing turkeys like War of the Worlds, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull and producing turds like the Transformers movies, Spielberg has finally lived up to at least some of his reputation with his latest movie: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.
Obviously based on the comic strips by the Belgian artist Georges Remi (Hergé), Tintin is done quite proud here in this movie. It’s fun, energetic, suspenseful, and thoroughly entertaining stuff! And yes that is a colon you see in the film title. Inevitable sequels ahoy!
The whole thing is motion capture animation which as a method of storytelling is slowly but surely getting there. Tintin is probably the best mo-cap movie out there to date, probably because Spielberg is at the helm.
It’s actually a very good movie, one of the best of the year, which is pleasantly surprising as I wasn’t really expecting a whole lot from it because well, it’s mo-cap, which I think takes a lot out of actor’s performances, and it’s directed by Spielberg who’s been completely lost in the wilderness before this movie hit the screens.
But for some reason mo-cap and Spielberg have combined to create a really good movie filled with drama, suspense, comedy and a dog called Snowy. In fact I actually prefer that it is in filmed using mo-cap! I wouldn’t change it! That’s how much I like this movie!
The reason for that is the way it’s filmed. Some of the all-in-one camera shots would simply be impossible for a real life camera to achieve. Whether it be following Snowy from the streets into the apartment all in one go, or the thrilling chase scenes that revolve around our hero effortlessly.
As for the characters themselves they’re done well enough. Jamie Bell plays Tintin well, very British in his demeanour, but it’s the animation that brings out the most of his character. The slightly rosy cheeks, the inquisitive eyes, the iconic flick of hair creating wonderful shadows throughout; all of it is stunning. Another reason why mo-cap has beaten conventional filming for once.
Captain Haddock is done well too played by Mr mo-cap himself, Andy Serkis. Haddock is the funniest character by a long way. Thompson and Thompson, played by Pegg and Frost, raise the odd smile but it’s Haddock who hogs the comedy in this movie. From his alcoholic antics to his banter with Tintin, he really is the funniest character on the screen by far.
One of the most memorable scenes, is where Tintin must retrieve a key from a sleeping crewman amongst all the other sleeping deckhands. Haddock proclaims he shouldn’t wake them but in reality they’re such heavy sleepers they end up being tossed around all over the place due to the boat rocking, and they never even being become slightly disturbed. It’s genius.
It’s not a perfect movie though, there are some negatives.
Firstly some of the action scenes are unbelievable at times. One scene has Tintin chasing a hawk around the city weaving in and out of buildings, zip-lining across ropes and all the while I’m thinking: why doesn’t the bird just fly upwards where Tintin can’t reach him instead of conveniently flying along a rope where he can follow. GAME OVER TINTIN.
It’d also have been nice to see some more political satire in there. It was a big thing in the comic books and it would’ve been good to see it transfer to the big screen. Professor Calculus is also missing, which is a shame, I’d expect to find him in the sequel.
Of course those issues are a great example of my knit-picking skills, but the one major gripe that I think is a real issue was the ending. It’s a bit rubbish. I won’t spoil it but the way it ends is just so anti-climactic and only really serves as a set-up to the sequel. I much prefer movies to stand on their own two feet as their own separate entities, not just become part of an obvious trilogy.
That being said though, I really did enjoy the movie and I think quite a lot of people would appreciate it. Even if you don’t like motion capture you should give this a go. You never know it might turn you.
Final Verdict: 4 Stars. A great movie elevating Spielberg back to where he belongs.
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