High on heart, low on story

Rating: 6/10 (1 November 2011)

Young and confident investigative journalist Tintin (Jamie Bell) purchases a model boat of the Unicorn, a three-masted sailing ship, from a market, only to be approached by the sinister looking Ivanovich Sakharine (Daniel Craig) who offers him triple the amount he paid for it. He refuses and, along with his trusty dog Snowy, takes the ship home, only to unwittingly coming across a cryptic note that was preserved with the model that mentions a secret involving the mysterious ship and a family line called the Haddocks. Tintin is kidnapped and taken aboard the ship of Sakharine where he finds the drunken Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis), locked in a room with only whisky for company. The two must combine their wits and unravel the mystery of the messages which may lead to them to secret treasure.
The original comic books by Belgian artist Herge, and eventual cartoon series that came from it, have a huge dedicate and passionate fan base that were both eagerly awaiting and dreading Steven Spielberg's re- imagining. Not being a fan myself, I would imagine the fans would be happy with this effort, as although the look of Tintin is certainly very different, the old-school feel of the original works is certainly there. The film combines three old Tintin stories - The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure. This is possibly the film's biggest floor, as although it certainly looks amazing, and the film has a definite nostalgia-tainted, labour-of-love feel, the story just isn't up to scratch.
The performance-capture animation is without doubt the most close-to- life I've ever come across. It captures every facial movement and the subtle expressions that allow the actors performance to come through the CGI. Jamie Bell injects a likability into a hero that might have come across as an annoying know-it-all. But the film really belongs to Serkis. Now a veteran of the whole motion-capture malarkey, his Captain Haddock allows him to show what he can do as an actor. He gets all the best lines and is involved in the more memorable scenes, notably when he's had a drink or two.
Thank God for the performances then as the plot has a lot to answer for. Combining the blockbuster minds of Spielberg, Peter Jackson, and long- time Spielberg collaborator Kathleen Kennedy, it's quite shocking that this is the best they can come up with. These are the people responsible for some of the best works in the mega-bucks department - E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (1982), Jurassic Park (1993), the Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - which all combined great storytelling, genuine passion, film-making know-how, and some old fashioned cinematic magic. Where Tintin certainly has the passion, the story just seems wafer-thing and very un-movie like, so to speak.
Understandably, they wanted to keep the adaptation close to Herge's original vision, but I just felt like I was watching an extended episode of the cartoon series that happened to have some very expensive animation. There is one notable set-piece, which involves Tintin, Haddock and Snowy fighting Sakharine at high speed for the last clue that may lead them to the Unicorn treasure, that would have been near- impossible if filmed in live-action. This scene, if anything, promotes the use of motion capture to take film-making to new levels, but it also happens to be amazingly choreographed and executed. But apart from that scene, the film never give me the shiver down the spine or got my pulse racing like the aforementioned films certainly did.
There is a lot to like about the film, however. The most annoying thing about the original cartoons were the Thompson and Thomson twins (here played by newly-appointed Spielberg bum-chums Simon Pegg and Nick Frost), and here they are given little more than extended cameo roles, and it's clear that they're best enjoyed in small doses. Craig is fun as the villain, although his character is rather one-dimensional and thinly-written. It's also fun to spot the little winks and homages to the originals, that includes a truly brilliant introduction to Tintin. Hopefully when the inevitable sequel comes along, Spielberg can take the passion from this and put it into a better story. But this is satisfying enough for the time being.
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