Cinema Review: The Adventures of Tintin - The Secret of the Unicorn (2011)

It’s easy to forget the simple joys of a well-made opening credits sequence. Steven Spielberg’s first film for three years begins by resurrecting this quickly evaporating cinema staple. Refusing to copy the current trend of jumping straight into the action without even so much as a title card, Tintin opens with a carefully crafted sequence, where stylised 2D figures act out a sort of Greatest Hits of Tintin’s adventures. There are hints of the legendary Saul Bass, as well as Spielberg’s own Catch Me If You Can. This is Spielberg indicating he has more faith in modern attention spans than some of the newer breed of directors, content to let the credits gently ease you into the world and atmosphere of the film. Maestro John Williams – also working for the first time since the director’s last effort, the fourth Indiana Jones - may not provide the sort of rousing, instantly memorable march the likes of which made him famous, but he does leave his indelible musical stamp, unmistakable amidst the sea of Hans Zimmer clones who score everything else these days.

Indeed, the term ‘old-fashioned’ comes to mind a lot while watching Tintin, which is slightly paradoxical in that Spielberg is using the most modern and cutting edge of filming techniques to tell his story – namely, 3D performance capture. But it’s old-fashioned in an entirely complimentary sense – as in, it takes you back to when action adventure films were fun and driven by relentless optimism and pure joie de vivre rather than world-weary cynicism. In short, Spielberg’s 1980s output. The Beard himself is on the sort of crowd-pleasing, family friendly form the likes of which haven’t been seen since 1993 when a bunch of digital dinosaurs revolutionised the Hollywood blockbuster. It’s also old-fashioned in its approach to storytelling, concentrating on a slow build to a memorable payoff rather than the constant assault of, say, Michael Bay.

Many of Tintin’s most euphoric highs are anything but old-fashioned, though. Building on, and exceeding, his contemporary Robert Zemeckis’ dalliances with the technology, Spielberg makes at times utterly inspired use of the immense freedom afforded by the new toys. Two sequences in particular are absolute gems. One, a massive Man o’ War battle on the high seas, provides more piratical thrills in ten minutes than the whole of Jack Sparrow’s most recent adventure. The director keeps the camera fluid, transitioning seamlessly from the past to the (film’s) present via numerous creative means that could not have been achieved in live action. The second highlight is the film’s main action showpiece, a jaw-dropping helter-skelter chase through a North African town, which is filmed in one single, continuous take. It’s a genuine stand-up-and-applaud moment.

Aside from the action scenes, though, what any film needs is compelling characters, and it’s only in this department where Tintin struggles slightly. Despite Jamie Bell’s earnest efforts, Tintin himself is bland – perhaps intentionally so, in order for him to function as an audience proxy – which makes the quieter moments, and the times when he’s alone, more of a lull than they should be. Fortunately he’s not alone all that often, as he usually has the colourful Captain Haddock with him, entertainingly performed by motion capture stalwart Andy Serkis. (That’s not to mention Snowy, his faithful dog, who has as much character as any of the humans.) Even the larger performances, though, tend to feel a little too restrained, which may be a side effect of utilising motion capture as opposed to more exaggerated and expressive, but less strictly realistic, animation. As a result some of the comic relief falls a bit flat, particularly the physical, slapstick stuff. On the plus side, the CGI itself is top-drawer - dead eyes are not a problem here.

The fact that a Peter Jackson-directed sequel has already been given a preliminary start date points to the film’s other flaw, its climax, or rather lack thereof. It goes for a more open ended approach which teeters on unsatisfying. In hindsight, the film does have a good final showdown, but it doesn’t feel like the finale because it follows straight on the heels of the end of the second act, with a more low-key final few minutes afterwards that seem to be setting up for another action beat that never arrives. The film thrives on atmosphere, though, be it the unspecified European (Brussels? Paris?) city where Tintin lives, a grimy cargo ship, or the Sahara Desert, and this distinctive character is maintained right to the end. You can’t help but be swept along.



Summary
This is Spielberg having more fun than he has in years, which translates into a supremely enjoyable, precisely crafted boy’s own adventure yarn. It’s refreshing and invigorating, if not vintage.