Tintin (Bell) is a reporter who purchases a model of the ship, the Unicorn. The ship's mast contains one of three pieces of paper, that when put together lead to treasure. Naturally Tintin does not realize this, but Rackham (Craig) does and wants to get the model ship away from Tintin, so he kidnaps him like any normal person would do. The captain, a drunkard named Haddock (Serkis) knows all the information about the treasure because one of his distant relatives owned the ship that contained it. Haddock just needs to sober up, get really dehydrated in the desert, etc. before he can actually be of any use to Tintin. This eventually leads to an action packed trip to Morocco, where the third piece of of the paper puzzle.
This film was animated using motion capture technology. Basically actors where bodysuits and sensors and a computer picks up the movements. The computer fills in the rest. As many people may know this type of animation used to learning extremely creepy and unrealistic. In people's defense animating people is difficult, but I feel like The Polar Express and similar movies to that to a new level. With Tintin many of the actors actually look realistic, which is a major improvement. Also, the settings, including the desert, the sea, a stormy sky, and the city of Morocco, all look absolutely beautiful, sometimes as if actual scenes were filmed.
A review of a Spielberg movie would not be complete without at least a mention of John Williams' score. This man is proves his brilliance in just about every piece of music he ever composes. Many of his scores are extraordinarily well known, even without the film scene's accompanying them. This includes the likes of Jaws and the Star Wars and Indiana Jones series. With that being said the score in Tintin does not disappoint. The orchestra is constantly adding to the action and adventure that is being depicted on the screen. Without Williams' score Tintin most likely would have simply been not as much fun. He seems to know exactly what a Spielberg movie needs in that department.
I've mentioned the action, at times reminiscent of Indiana Jones (I actually read about this comparison on Rotten Tomatoes before I saw the movie myself. I wish I could have made the connection on my own, but upon watching the movie, it is absolutely true). There is also lot's a comic relief to be had. This includes Haddock's drunken antics as well as a pair of inept policemen (Pegg and Frost) who are trying to catch a pickpocket, who I failed to mentioned in the above synopsis. All in all it is just fun for the whole family. Although there is a lot of alcohol references and gunfire/violence for a family animated film.
Tintin is based off a bunch of comic books that I have never read or even heard of before this movie. Therefore, I cannot comment on how well it follows the source the material.
I enjoyed this film immensely. Is was action packed, funny, had a great score, and was just an amusing couple hours in the theater. Judging from the ending there will be tons of sequels, or at least that is what Steven Spielberg and producer Peter Jackson are obviously hoping for. Honestly, I'm just glad this family movie did not get be furiously angry at how ridiculous and unnecessary it was, like I would have reacted to Alvin and the Chipmunks or any of it's numerous sequels.
3 out 4 stars
-Joseph Sbrilli
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