Sunday, January 15, 2012

"GREAT SNAKES!!": a review of "The Adventures Of Tintin"


“THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN”
Based upon the comic book series written and illustrated by Herge
Screenplay Written by Steven Moffat and Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish
Directed by Steven Spielberg
*** ½ (three and a half stars)

It was akin to discovering an archaeological find.

I first discovered Herge’s Tintin comic book series when I was going through the difficult transitions of trying to find my way at a new school during the third grade in 1977. Down the hallway from my classroom, there was a small bookstore. If memory serves me correctly, the store operated for a few days each week and encouraged sales through a reading/rewards program. Between third and fifth grade, I raced through a variety of Judy Blume titles, Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer and a five novel sword and sorcery series by Lloyd Alexander and even J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Hobbit. Yet before I even began to think about tackling The Lord Of The Rings, I found myself drawn to a collection of comic books, the likes of which I had not previously seen.

With all due respect to the heroes and stories from DC comics and my beloved Marvel comics and despite having a youthful protagonist as the leading hero, Herge’s Tintin series felt to be something of a more sophisticated taste and challenge to my sensibilities. I had never seen nor heard of the books before spotting them inside of this bookstore and their foreign nature attracted and perplexed me. The non-contemporary stories, while containing more than a fair share of sweeping action and adventure, told stories of international intrigue and all manner of treasure hunts, mysteries and political thrillers with refined artistic flair and elevated wordplay. No superpowers, costumes or capes were on display at any point, seemingly creating a world that was not necessarily designed for children’s entertainment. Against any feelings of trepidation I may have held, the books beckoned to me with their size, scope and sheer uniqueness that I soon took the bait. I tried one book and then another and another and over a spell, I purchased seven titles out of the published twenty four titles, voraciously reading and re-reading them over and again.

“The Adventures Of Tintin,” Director Steven Spielberg’s second film during the winter 2011 season and his first collaboration with filmmaker Peter Jackson for a proposed trilogy, is a film that simply and joyously took me back. The adventures of our intrepid young journalist, his trusty dog Snowy and the blustery, drunken Captain Haddock are superbly mounted in a splendid blend of motion capture techniques and computer animation that never once sacrifices the soul of Herge’s globetrotting escapades. After having seen a collection of darker, more serious adult fare over the last few weeks, I felt the need for a bit of unabashed fun and “The Adventures Of Tintin” did not disappoint in the least.

Our story begins inauspiciously as Tintin (engagingly portrayed by Jamie Bell) and Snowy stroll through an outdoor European market and happens upon a model-sized boat for sale called "The Unicorn." Tintin purchases the model and is immediately accosted by the insidious Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine (Daniel Craig) who unsuccessfully attempts to purchase the boat from Tintin. This seemingly innocuous act sets forth a wild adventure involving a set of three model boats that contain three secret interlocking scrolls, a massive lost treasure, kidnapping, death defying traps, captures and escapes, pirate ships, desert dehydrations, crashing seaplanes, and even the involvement of the good hearted yet bumbling detectives Thomson and Thompson (played by Nick Frost and Simon Pegg). And at the core, is the meeting and budding friendship and alliance of Tintin and the stout hearted yet perpetually alcoholic Captain Haddock (the amazing Andy Serkis) as they join forces to stop Sakharine’s pursuits at all costs.

“The Adventures Of Tintin” is as first rate and top of the line as anything you would expect from a film directed by Steven Spielberg, a fact made even more impressive as he is clearly undaunted and excitedly invigorated by his debut with helming an animated feature. He has always been a master of visual storytelling but utilizing the world of animation seemed to have freed his creative spirit even more as if he just received the greatest set of new crayons in the world to draw with. From the film’s start, every sequence after another is staged and executed with meticulously and highly playful precision and breakneck velocity. The beautiful camerawork in particular is as effortless and feels as naturally fluid as flowing liquid.

As I ruminate over the movie, I am thinking of the sequence set during a pirate ship battle flashback interwoven with Captain Haddock’s returning flush of once lost memories. I am also recalling the movements and motion presented through a dangerous flight inside of a lightning storm. Most spectacularly, there is the astonishing motorcycle chase through Baghdad that was so wonderful and thrilling that it was here when I realized that Spielberg is having a blast with this material as well as the forward thinking animation format. It feels as if “The Adventures Of Tintin “ is the most fun Spielberg has had behind the camera in many years and symbiotically, this is the most fun I have had at a Spielberg film in many years. And truth be told, I even think that it is more entertaining and stands considerably taller than the light footed and light hearted “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (1989) and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” (2008).

Aside from all of the action sequences, every image contained in “The Adventures Of Tintin” is a sight to behold. Every detail, no matter how minuscule, has obviously been slaved over and the effort shows glowingly on the screen. I was amazed with the sharp sights of reflections within glass and glasses, the layers of grime and dirt upon clothing, the beads of dripping sweat upon character’s faces. Everything looked so photo realistic and convincingly lived in while also clearly functioning as a cartoon and the dual effect was stellar. In fact, I found myself marveling at the sights in the same way I did when I first saw Pixar’s original “Toy Story” (1995) and especially when Pixar raised their own bar with “Finding Nemo” (2003). But, like Dreamworks Animation Studios' glorious “How To Train Your Dragon” (2010), Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s special effects and animation team have created a work that should force the wizards of Pixar to look over their shoulders once again, perhaps snapping themselves out of the easy road of sequels they have been traveling for their last couple of pictures. Just imagine the high quality of American animated works that we could see and enjoy for generations with a bit of healthy artistic competition.

But all of the visual splendor would mean nothing at all if not for the performances which ground the film and present us with a collective of characters to root for and against. Jamie Bell and the peerless Andy Serkis make for an excellent team, vividly bringing Herge’s illustrations and characterizations to richly developed life. Even the antics and heroics of Snowy the wonder dog are so vibrantly rendered that he could even give the real life canine from Mike Mills’ “Beginners” and even Michel Hazanavicius’ “The Artist” a run for their money!

I do have to admit that while the sights of “The Adventures Of Tintin” had me from the beginning, the actual storyline did not. While the overall plot is quite simple, it is the intricacies of the plot that are complex and that results in a healthy amount of exposition that has to occur during the film’s first third to get itself going. After a time, I could not help but to wonder if “The Adventures Of Tintin” would ultimately be a terrific exercise in style and not much substance to truly make me care about what I was witnessing. But once all of those various parts clicked together, the film took off like a rocket and never slowed down.

At its very best, “The Adventures Of Tintin” raises the bar for what exactly a computer animated film can actually be. As I stated in my reviews for Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo,” Cameron Crowe’s “We Bought A Zoo” and James Bobin’s “The Muppets,” Steven Spielberg has shown so terrifically, that films aimed for children need not lack intelligence or artistry. They can be sophisticated works to be awed by and even grow up into adulthood with. I urge those of you with children to give this film a try and to please not let the unfamiliarity of the characters stop you as I am certain your children will enjoy the heroics of Tintin, Captain Haddock and Snowy as much as I did when I first read the comics.

Before I bring this review to a close, I have to share this little tidbit with you, dear readers. Over the holiday season during my visit to my parent’s home, I discovered my old Tintin books housed away upon a barely regarded shelf in an upstairs study. Beyond feeling as if I had been reunited with an old friend, this too felt to be akin to unearthing an archaeological find but this time, it was one from my past, awaiting for me to lose myself inside of it once again.

With thanks to Steven Spielberg, the masterful storyteller he is, “The Adventures Of Tintin” is a bright, bold, brisk experience where I can re-visit those old friends in an excitingly fresh new way.

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