Spielberg's apology for Kingdom of Crystal Skulls

Rating: 9/10 (10 December 2011)

Tintin is one of my favourite cartoon characters. Hergé's 23 Tintin books all have charm, humour and excitement, and it really did seem like that charm only worked on the printed page. Why? Because pretty much any attempt at a film adaptation has ended in utter disaster. That is, until I found out Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson decided to have a go at it. When I found out they were making a film of my three personal favourite Tintin stories, I was more hyped that I was for the last Harry Potter movie. It's one of the best directors of all time, a great choice of producer, a talented bunch of writers including Doctor Who's Steven Moffat and Hot Fuzz's Edgar Wright, all working on a film of one of my favourite comic book series of all time. How could I not be hyped?
But I've got to admit, when I watched the trailer I was slightly let down. It looked like the film would revolve purely around epic action. There was nothing subtle about it, the film didn't look like it would have any of the light humour that the original series was known for. It almost looked like just a money-grubbing blockbuster, similar to the Lost in Space or G.I. Joe films. My expectations hadn't been completely let down; the trailer had good things in it and the poster looked cool, but it just looked like too much. I heard that this was all to "spice it up a bit for the mainstream audience", but this was pushing it.
So I went to watch it with my brother at my local cinema and we both just cleared our minds of expectations. I knew there was never a chance it'd be completely bad considering all the talent involved.
So the movie started. The first 20 minutes were... okay. Nothing awful, but I did feel it was more going through the motions of the book more than anything. The 2D title sequence was great and there was a clever little moment involving Tintin getting a caricature of himself done, with the result actually looking like one of Hergé's original Tintin drawings, but other than that nothing really stood out. It got things started and introduced all the characters I know and love, but I never really felt an air of tension and excitement.
Then, almost out of nowhere, things immediately picked up. I'll try not to give anything away, but it's got something to do with a ferry. From then on, the film really starts, and we are given a truly exciting adventure without a single second of boredom. The film plays out like Spielberg's Indiana Jones films. In fact, I'm willing to say that if you replaced Tintin with Indiana Jones, this would have been the real comeback people wanted. It's got that epic feel that I feared from the trailer, but somehow it manages to carry the charm of the original books all the way too. As it turned out it didn't really spice things up at all; the exciting atmosphere came purely from the original books.
The story is evenly paced and well put together. Fitting three comic books into a runtime of 100 minutes is no easy task, but the filmmakers do it beautifully, actually mixing the stories together to create one. The voice acting is also pretty good too. Andy Serkis was awesome and seeing Nick Frost and Simon Pegg as the series' comedic double act Thomson and Thompson was a pleasant and clever idea.
The animation is amazing. The mix of motion capture and fully computerised animation is used to its full advantage. Robert Zemeckis would be proud. The shot is also never still; the camera always seems to want to move. This can be a bit irritating at times, and a few of the shots are a bit exaggerated, but there are still great moments. In particular, there's an electrifying shot during a chase scene which you can see in the trailer. It's awesome.
Overall, Tintin is a great film which manages to capture that exciting Hollywood feel of Spielberg's Indiana Jones films, while also capturing the good humour and charm of Hergé's original stories. It's definitely worth a watch.