Review of The Adventures of Tintin (2011) by Walter M — 14 Apr 2013

Even with the threat of occasional pickpocketing in the area, Tintin(Jamie Bell) still takes the time to enjoy himself in the city square with his dog, Snowy. While there, he purchases a particularly impressive looking ship model which almost instantly gets two competing offers which he turns down. But then in quick succession, the model is broken and then stolen. Tintin dicovers a clue that leads him to Sakharine(Daniel Craig) who had previously made one of the offers which is strange considering he already has a complete model of the ship in his possession. A dying man on Tintin's doorstep sends his investigation in a completely different direction, albeit involuntarily, as Tintin rues the fact that MacGyver will not air on television for another fifty years...

On the one hand, "The Adventures of Tintin" can be a lot of fun at times. On the other hand, Steven Spielberg forgets the first two rules of basic filmmaking - never let the best part of the movie be the opening credits and never let a dog upstage his human co-stars. In point of fact, Tintin is also upstaged by Captain Haddock(Andy Serkis), along with the Thom(p)son Twins(Simon Pegg & Nick Frost) who also have an unnecessary scene to themselves.(Wait, so that's where that band got their name!) Since I am unfamiliar with the source material, I don't know if Tintin being a bland hero is par for the course, but he is very intelligent and a crack shot, so perhaps not. Maybe it's all in the service of Spielberg recreating another past world in attempting a return to his glory days, but this just seems like his rote version of his greatest hits, including his affinity for propellers. In any case, I am amazed at how far motion capture technology has come which can also never be a substitution for the real thing.