On paper it seems like a winning combination; two of the greatest directors working together to bring to life a franchise that has sold over 350 million books worldwide and been translated into 80 languages. With Peter Jackson’s eye for detail and Steven Spielberg’s heart the film should have been an instant classic. However, there is something about the film that lacks the necessary sparkle. Like this season’s X Factor, David Cameron or a night in Park End, the film promises much, but delivers so little.
The story of The Adventures of Tintin combines three of the original comics together: The Crab With The Golden Claw (1941), The Secret of the Unicorn (1943) and Red Racham’s Treasure (1944). Doing this meant that there was a lot of material to work with, and although the stories seem to merge together almost seamlessly, the sheer volume of original source material has a negative effect. In trying to fit as much as they can into the 107 minutes the writers have included a few too many chase scenes at the expense of really exploring the motives or drive of Tintin. The only explanation given for why he goes on this adventure is that he is a reporter, which is a bit of a lazy excuse. I don’t imagine Jan Moir will go on any adventures just because she is a reporter. The story also ends up becoming predictable, so much so that the girl sat behind me guessed each twist before it happened.
Although the story might have faults, the visuals are stunning. Each frame looks as if it could have come straight out of the comics themselves. The decision to make Tintin an animated film was the right one as it has allowed the film to be full of the fantastic colour palette that was seen in the comics. What allowed the film to pull off this great animation is the use of the same performance capture technology that was used in Avatar. Because of this technology the film has a stronger sense of realism than it would have using more conventional animation methods. The voice acting behind the characters was excellent, with Andy Serkis demonstrating why he is still the number one actor for animated films. The rest of the cast, which include names such as Jamie Bell, Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, also bring their characters to life. However the cast member that stole the show was, of course, Snowy. Like every other animated film, the cute animal always wins (just look at Shrek).
Although the film may look stunning to movie-goers it unfortunately lacks the sparkle that is often found in a Spielberg film. Like its CGI star the film looks beautiful, but is dead behind the eyes.
2 1/2 stars
