Did Spielberg Succeed?

Rating: 8/10 (20 April 2012)

In recreating Tintin novels for a movie, Spielberg faced a difficult challenge. Did he succeed?
I think Spielberg made a good try, particularly in the early scenes. The depiction of the story locations the Old Street Market, 26 Labrador Road, Marlinspike Hall, and aboard the "Karaboudjan" ship made me feel I was in a Tintin book in a fair attempt. Snowy's chase of the cat was right on point with one and more actual occurrences in Herge's books.
But recreating Tintin in another medium for more than 100 minutes is a big task. As one other commentator on this board put it, the panels in the Tintin books are uniquely stylized, and this raises two questions. First, can they be recreated on screen, and second, if not, can Spielberg do anything that in its own way equals Herge's stylization -- artwork, dialogue, atmosphere, action, progression -- in terms of magnitude of achievement?
My answer in both cases is no. Except for the first three not-fully-developed (and sometimes silly) Tintin books and the last, with its mediocre story, to me, there is nothing like Herge's accomplishments with Tintin. It is hard to think of anything that will grip a reader more. Tintin books are so fully absorbing, unique, and compelling in storyline, atmosphere, and drawing detail that I do not think they can ever be matched on film, by Spielberg or anyone else. Even if Spielberg literally copied the dialogue, art, and panels, something would be lost with the film continuum as opposed to separate panels in the books. But no one is going to do that anyway, which leaves me to declare only that no one who makes a Tintin film with his own touches is ever going to match Herge. This is different from, say, taking something that was based only on written prose such as The Godfather, the story of Gordon of Khartoum, and the Seven Pillars of Wisdom and putting it on the big screen (incidentally, "Lawrence of Arabia" will always be No. #1 with me on visuals). Yes, you can outdo prose and some drawing in terms of dramatic impact and entertainment (although some will subjectively say, a written format was still better for them).
Having said that, I have a positive comment on the visuals. I went into this movie expecting overfast, confusing, and bloated action scenes because that is the trend of today. It is true of standard movies with regular people, so with a 3-D, motion-capture, computer-animated adventure movie, I certainly expected even more, as the norm. I am happy to say, I did not find anything overdone until the falcon chase scene and the final conflict, starting around 1:20. Otherwise, I found enough breathing room and thought the action scenes were fitting when measured against the action-packed Tintin books themselves. Starting at the very beginning with "Tintin in the Land of the Soviets," we know that the series will have a lot of wild rides, escapes, and chases on land, sea, air, and under water, even in outer space, as well as frequent fighting and combat, plus slapstick.
The portrayal of the characters themselves I consider separately. Herge's Tintin was incorruptible and had character, poise, and heroic qualities. However, it is not an original comment to say he did not have much personality, as compared with, say, his basically equal co-hero Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus, Bianca Castafiore, and others. But should we demand Spielberg deviate from this and give him more personality?
I suggest yes, some embellishment could have been done. There could have been some introspective discussion between Tintin and Haddock, for example, or Tintin could say more and emote more, or some inner thoughts of his could be revealed. He could even express his likes and dislikes for food or products or have hobbies. Perhaps it was decided that with this first film, which also captures the first meeting between Tintin and Haddock, not much would be done, but embellishment of Tintin's personality is a possibility for future films. In any event, I and others would welcome such an effort.
As for the complaint that linking Captain Haddock to the bottle was overemphasized vs. the Captain as a person, I felt this a little on the first watch, but on the subsequent watch, I said not really. For one key thing, he even lectures Tintin on not giving up, reversing roles that were displayed in several different Tintin books (including two cases in which Tintin used the bottle to change the Captain's mind). I also note that the two books this was based on, "The Secret of the Unicorn" and "The Crab with the Golden Claws," were the ones in which the Captain's whiskey and rum-guzzling were most prominent. So I cannot find much fault here, and even in other books, his drinking is always a theme.
I also had no problem with the inclusion of Bianca Castafiore, though she is not in either of the two books on which the film was (mainly) based. Her persona and physical appearance added something, and Spielberg's engineering of a voice for the glass-shattering Milanese Nightingale complemented Herge's genius. Captain Allan, Haddock's ancient rival, could have been given more personality. The absent Professor Calculus? Ready for the sequel. As for Thompson and Thomson, I thought Spielberg, using wit, actually managed to make them even more dense and bumbling in their quest for the pickpocket than in Herge's "Secret of the Unicorn."
All in all, a good effort by Spielberg, but I hope to see improvements in characterization in other Tintin films by him or whomever.