Spielberg Sundays: The Adventures of Tintin (2011)

       Based on the classic Belgian comic book adventure series by Herge, The Adventures of Tintin is a very unusual movie for Spielberg in a number of ways. It’s his first and thus far only animated film (yeah, it’s motion capture, but it’s still animated). Technically it’s his first comic book movie as well. And it’s also his first real collaboration with another director other than George Lucas. Peter Jackson was the producer of the film and was arguably just as involved in its production as Spielberg with the idea being that Spielberg would direct this film while Jackson would direct its sequel; a sequel which according to Jackson and Spielberg is still in the works, with Jackson confirming so as recently as last month. 

       And with a script written by, at various stages, Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright, and Joe Cornish, this had the makings of a film unlike any other. What happens when the people behind Indiana Jones, The Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who, Hot Fuzz, and Attack the Block come together to make a movie? It should be insane, shouldn’t it? Well The Adventures of Tintin is a great many things, but it’s not insane. In fact it’s a relatively conventional adventure movie; fun and interesting, but only in a general sense.

       The intrepid young journalist Tintin (Jamie Bell) buys a model ship called the Unicorn at a market where it also rouses the interest of a mysterious collector called Sakharine (Daniel Craig). After discovering a scroll hidden in the model, Tintin is kidnapped by Sakharine on board a mutinied ship bound for Morocco, where he meets its drunken Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis). Tintin, his loyal dog Snowy, and Haddock escape, endeavouring to learn the truth about the Unicorn, Haddock’s connection to it, and what Sakharine is really after.

       Tintin was one of the last motion capture animated movies before that format was unofficially deemed to have run its course. However this movie is, alongside Robert Zemeckis’ Christmas Carol, one of the more successful exercises in the form, in that for the most part, the animation looks good, the characters expressive, and the energy lifelike -though I’ll come back to that aspect. I think a part of this is due to the movie not really being all that concerned with photorealism, which was what Zemeckis always tried to achieve and never quite got. Tintin, in replicating Herge’s world and characters, is intentionally making it a cartoon. 

       But the problem with making a cartoon animated around real acting is that the style doesn’t always fit the action. Movement is especially slow and constrained in scenes where it should be free and quick. One particular slapstick sequence for example, involving a pickpocket (Toby Jones) and the bumbling twin detectives Thomson and Thompson (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost) should be funny and energetic, but the realistic motions and physicality of the actors aren’t quick enough for the hectic pace the scene requires to be effective. There’s a reason why the best of that kind of humour is purely animated. 

       The action scenes can suffer from this too as they’re never allowed to be quite big enough to fit the exaggerated world, or else they’re forced to become pure CG. Really the only time it’s done quite well is in one long chase sequence near the climax that’s animated in a single shot, is absolutely bonkers and creative, and just consistently visually captivating, even if it does resemble a video game. There’s certainly a feel to the world, characters, animation, and action that gives it an illusion of interactivity -and the action scenes are enough in quantity if maybe not in length to make the especially exposition-heavy parts feel like mere cut-scenes. But the motion-capture technique benefits the character interactions, just not the intended exciting scenes much, despite the boisterous creativity with which they’re executed.

       The expressiveness is impressive, especially on characters with more stylized designs, Haddock most notably. But also Snowy, who is an integral part of the story. They both convey wonderfully realistic subtleties in their facial acting, even with Snowy being entirely animated, and another advantage of the visual aesthetic of Tintin is that it avoids the uncanny valley of something like Beowulf, so the characters are never visually off-putting –okay, maybe Tintin is in a couple scenes.

       Tintin is played by Jamie Bell, who took over the role on Jacksons’ recommendation after the movie lost Thomas Sangster (who would have been ideal for a live-action version). And Bell does a very good job, playing the curious young journalist with an earnest enthusiasm and bravery that fits the character. Tintin is a fairly thin character to begin with though. Haddock is the more interesting of the two and he allowed Andy Serkis to exercise his range within the medium he’s become permanently associated with –even if that range extends to mostly just an occasionally heroic temperamental drunk. Yeah the main characters aren’t especially compelling or unique in this movie, and though they work okay and complement each other decently, they aren’t as memorable as the heroes of other adventure stories. Even with the legacy of Haddock’s family it doesn’t entirely keep your engagement. That being said, the characters don’t necessarily need to be all that refined to resonate with the target audience of this movie.

       Like the comics, the characters and story here are geared towards kids. So the lack of depth and relative flatness of the protagonists to an adult comparing it to the likes of other Spielberg or Jackson films, doesn’t really matter. It doesn’t belittle or talk down to its audience though, incorporating elements of alcoholism and death, the latter of which was usually censored in the comics. And the story is actually really strong. It’s got an intriguing set-up, naturally allows for exotic travel and has a race to the relic element reminiscent of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but not too closely so as in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It’s adapted specifically from three different Tintin books, but you wouldn’t know it given how well they mesh together. 

       And each of the creative forces involved in this movie has at least some of their voice in it. Spielberg of course brings that grand sense of adventure and mostly the same tone of the Indiana Jones movies, just not quite as violent. His three-and-a-half decades worth of experience making thrilling blockbusters is on display too, as is his enthusiastic eye for visual effects (like Red Rackham’s ship rocking over the Unicorn) and his attraction to homage -the early part of the story having a vaguely film noir tone to it. You could even argue for his theme of fatherhood appearing here in that Haddock is a kind of father figure to Tintin, who lets him down with his alcoholism. Peter Jackson also has a flare for big effects, specific experience working with the two leads, and his love of injecting character into his worlds is here as well. Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish contribute Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as well as the better and offbeat moments of humour in the film. And though Steven Moffat only wrote the initial draft before leaving the project for Doctor Who, his touch can be felt in some of the more eccentric bits of dialogue and plot.

       Not much of this comes from the underwhelming climax though, which transports the action back to Europe and takes place entirely on a wharf at night. It’s not very visually stimulating, and though there’s some nice creativity to the Haddock and Sakharine swordfight without swords (including quite a funny anticlimactic finishing blow) it isn’t satisfying. The build-up of the two descendants fighting for the treasure of their ancestors is never compelling enough to really invest in and it takes the story away from Tintin notably in the last act, making it about Haddock instead. That being said, I like how the eighteenth century Sir Francis was a noble seaman with an aggressive drunk of a scion while Red Rackham was a bloodthirsty pirate whose heir is a gentleman.

       The Adventures of Tintin is an odd beast. It’s the product of so many talented people, all of whom seem to love the source material (uncomfortable racism aside). The result is, to my understanding, a generally faithful representation of a comic Herge himself believed only Spielberg was capable of adapting; but it’s not enough to make the movie anything more than that. It’s got a worthy adventurous spirit and manages to intermittently be thrilling, ambitious, and fun, but the scale, stakes, cleverness, and characters never reach the heights they have the potential to. And for that it can easily be disappointing if you’re not a Tintin fan. For all the obvious hard work and dedication put into it, the movie comes across as an above average Indiana Jones movie. But that is better than the last Indiana Jones movie. And if in 2011 Tintin wasn’t your thing, maybe the other Spielberg movie playing in the next theatre over was.

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