Doesn't Live Up to Potential

Rating: 5/10 (26 December 2011)

Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson teamed up to produce what was supposed to be the greatest adventure tale since "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Instead they have produced a 130 million dollar albatross that will likely hang around their necks for years to come.
Perhaps I'm exaggerating. Perhaps I'm too sensitive to the fact that a childhood hero like Spielberg is capable of churning out such mediocre fare. Perhaps its just sour grapes that talented scribes like Joe Cornish, Steven Moffat and Edgar Wright fumbled on a comic book adaptation that can write itself with the amount of mythology embedded in it. Perhaps I'm overreacting to the fact that the directors of "Schindler's List" and "Lord of the Rings" produced a bloated spectacle in Zemeckis-vision whose plot can be surmised in four words (those words are 'Tintin searches for treasure' by the way).
The story intertwines the lives of a dull protagonist (Jamie Bell), his intelligent dog a drunken sea captain (Andy Serkis) and an evil ne'er-do-well with a 150 year old family grudge (Daniel Craig), all looking for hidden treasure in a paint-by-numbers adventure. The cast then participate in a series of increasingly elaborate and admittedly dazzling action set-pieces to find their elusive macguffin. That's basically it. There's no B-story, moral or point. After a ten minute setup, the film is essentially one big long car chase only with boats, planes, and motorcycles in addition to cars.
This is not to say it isn't exciting. If that's all you're looking for in a film "Tintin" is a perfect holiday treat. I would even recommend seeing it in 3D since Spielberg technical talents are on full display. But for those of us craving a little more meat on the bone, this film will bring out your inner cynic, right down to last few sequel-baiting minutes.
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