Rip-Roaring Animated Adventure Of Classic Belgian Comic-Book Hero

Rating: 7/10 (18 November 2011)

Tintin is an intrepid young newspaper reporter. When he accidentally comes into possession of one third of a treasure map, he and his trusty dog Snowy are thrown into a crazy adventure with a mad drunken sea-dog called Captain Haddock, in search of a legendary lost galleon ...
Spielberg's big-screen adaptation of the classic Belgian comic-books by Hergé/Georges Remi is a fabulous, visually dazzling, good old-fashioned family adventure story, which is both a terrific action film and a beautifully loving tribute to the comics which inspired it. Shot with live-action actors doing mo-cap and then completely CG reanimated (like Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf), it has all the stylish artistry of a comic, complete with bent noses, beady eyes and goofy clothes, but super-smooth animation through the frame. The movie is also masterfully edited by Spielberg's longtime cutter Michael Kahn - rather than chopping all the action scenes up, they are gloriously free form as our heroes rush across traffic-filled streets and the camera swoops and pans all around them. There is a sequence with Tintin on a motorbike chasing the villains through an Arabic town which is one of the most dazzling and dynamic scenes I've ever come across, and makes incredible use of the state-of-the-art animation technology. It's also a story with great values - I have two sons under the age of ten and the tone of this movie is perfect for them - full of action, mystery and comedy, but never gratuitous or offensive. The scene where Tintin and Snowy try to retrieve the keys from the bunkhouse is one of many hilarious highlights, and there are oodles of great fights, notably the flashback sea-battle with the pirates. Heroes are honest and true, villains are devious and scheming, and no time is wasted moralising or being sentimental. The cast are great, the key player being Serkis' crazy broad-brogued sot Haddock, who lurches from scene to scene permanently furious, self-pitying, gung-ho and sozzled, often all at the same time. Bell is terrific in the straight-ahead lead, never slipping into a tongue-in-cheek caricature, and also the only actor who actually looks like his on-screen character. Craig enjoys himself as the snarling villain Sakharine, as do comic partners Pegg and Frost (Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz, Paul) as the goofy Thomson and Thompson. I love the child-like quality of much of Spielberg's work - he has somehow never lost the giddy thrill of excitement he felt when he first discovered these stories and has transplanted that sense into this expertly crafted film. Written by Steven Moffatt, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish, based on three original Hergé stories, and produced by Peter Jackson. Cracking fun all round.