REVIEW: The Adventures of Tintin (2011)

As one of the relatively few Americans raised on The Adventures of Tintin and one of the many Americans raised on Indiana Jones, I was enticed by the prospect of a Spielberg adaptation since at least the Clinton administration. Tintin remained a cult following here in the states, but over in Europe, he's an absolute icon. Penned by an artist and writer named Hergé, The Adventures of Tintin were a series of Belgian graphic novels in which a young reporter of indeterminate age traveled the world, getting tangled in webs of intrigue that involved pirate treasure, drug smugglers, priceless artifacts, ancient curses, and so on. It's easy to see why Spielberg was drawn to the material, and shortly before he died, Hergé and his estate signed off on Spielberg as the right director for the job. 25 years of "development hell" later, Tintin arrived in multiplexes and now on DVD with A-list trimmings.

There's certainly no shortage of talent involved. In addition to Spielberg, Peter Jackson was on board as producer, and as if to ward off fears that Tintin would be Americanized, a lot of the principle cast and crew are drawn from abroad. The script was by Stephen Moffat ("Sherlock", "Doctor Who"), Joe Cornish (Attack the Block), and Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), to ensure a dash of British wit. Wright's frequent collaborators Nick Frost and Simon Pegg add comic relief. Daniel Craig (the closest the film goes to a Hollywood celebrity) gets to growl as the villain. WETA Digital did the effects, and because its all motion-capture, Andy Serkis played a main role. And of course, it gets a John Williams score.

And yet, something has happened since Spielberg's blockbuster heyday. It's not something that Spielberg caused—more likely a broader shift in cultural taste—but he (and George Lucas) have been implicated in it as much as anyone. And the issue is that plots have sped up to an awkward rhythm.

Gone are the days when Spielberg could tease us with glimpses of the shark, or take half an hour to set everything up before the dinosaurs broke loose. In his latest blockbuster films (War of the Worlds, Crystal Skull, and now Tintin), we bound from set piece to set piece, plot point to plot point, without enough attention paid to how they flow or how relevant everything is when taken as a whole. It's the sort of movie where no one can give an expositional speech unless they're also being chased. And the result is that, even if the pieces by themselves are solid, their placement feels haphazard, the emphasis on action for its own sake rather than purpose. Part of this may be because they tried to combine at least two graphic novels into one story—generally a risky move, prone to muddying structure—but watching the film always feels vaguely like walking into the middle of it.

This is not to come down too hard on the film, or to be slave to nostalgia. Spielberg is very knowingly mixing past and present, adapting a graphic novel from 50 years ago using the latest cutting-edge technology—not just motion capture, but 3D, for those who saw it in theaters. There are moments (the opening title sequence, a fond in-joke near the beginning, a ring of canaries that escape from a pet store to circle a dazed man's head) that capture the mixture of innocent cartoon adventure and light-hearted slapstick of the source material as well as any moving image could. And there is at least one sequence—a climactic chase done in a single take—that belongs in the Spielberg Hall of Fame. Two, if you count the flashback to the pirate ship. But the ultimate verdict ends up being like so many tentpoles over the last decade: see it, but don't get your hopes up. Which is a shame, since when it comes to tentpoles, getting your hopes up is part of the fun.

3 out of 5 stars.

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The Adventures of Tintin is out this week on DVD from Paramount.