Phoned in Spielberg and John Williams

Rating: 7/10 (21 December 2011)

Like a Saturday morning cartoon, The Adventures of Tintin is brisk entertainment that is easily digestible, with plenty of excitement and laughs. Director Steven Spielberg crafts a children's film about a young intrepid reporter, named Tintin, and his uber-smart dog, Snowy, working to unravel a mystery involving sunken treasure. Simple enough concept, and Spielberg rarely strays from it to delve deeper into the emotions of the characters and add anything beyond standard stock characters -- in particular Tintin and the villain, Sakharine. However, The Adventures of Tintin flies by at a nice pace, with just enough missing pieces to the mystery -- and some highly imaginative action sequences every few minutes -- to keep the audience from zonking out. Spielberg deserves huge props on the masterful staging of a sequence where two construction cranes battle, smashing into one another. They cross in midair like large sword blades, one piloted by Sakharine, and the other by Captain Haddock, Tintin's sidekick. The imagination on display here and the near flawless animation and motion capture work from WETA, make The Adventures of Tintin an enjoyable thrill ride. Even if there is a lack of suspense cause we are never given enough time to delve deeper into characters and develop any real emotional connection, The Adventures of Tintin is a theme park ride. Short and enjoyable, but the thrills will most likely be forgotten a short while later.
I give The Adventures of Tintin a 7 out of 10!