There are lots of ways in which European culture is more sophisticated than American culture. One of them is that our brethren across the Atlantic figured out that Tintin rules ages ago, and we still haven’t.
Tintin is a reporter, an adventurer, a boy scout, about 15, and an all around class act. He’s followed stories across the globe since his debut in the Belgian newspaper Le Petit Vingtième in 1928. Created by cartoonist Hergé, Tintin helped the artist develop his drawing and storytelling skills in weekly installments. Tintin soon became a hit across the French speaking world, and eventually the entire globe. But Tintin never took root in the United States aside from niche comic corners, (of which I am now a part) and we blew our chance to appreciate the film The Adventures of Tintin.
The Adventures of Tintin is a 2011 film directed by Steven Spielberg, and it doesn’t get talked about enough. It not only is representative of Spielberg’s skills as a filmmaker, it is filled with joyful performances, breathtaking visual effects, a brilliant script that pulls off an impossible act of adaptation that is still able to capture the joyous nature of Hergé’s original work. In my opinion it is the best Motion Capture movie ever filmed.
The film follows Tintin, (Jamie Bell) a boy reporter as he discovers that a model ship he has built, The Unicorn, is worth more than he bargained for. It is sought after not only by the CIA, but by Sakharine, (Daniel Craig) an evil baron who wants to collect three ships of the same model. Tintin investigates with his dog Snowy by his side, and discovers that the model ships will lead to an ancient treasure that’s been lost for 300 years. It’s a race to find the treasure, and Tintin must avoid a pickpocket, (Toby Jones) pirates, and many more dangers. He must befriend two identical police officers named Thompson (Simon Pegg) and Thomson (Nick Frost) as well as Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis) who would be the best sea captain in the world if he wasn’t a miserable drunk. In order to find the treasure they travel across Europe and North Africa, evading capture and swashbuckling the entire way through.
It’s hard to describe how well the story captures the essence of the comics, but it manages to transform a weekly comic strip, (which by its nature is fast paced, action driven and was largely written week to week) into a functional screenplay. It combines plot lines from three comics and blends them seamlessly into one feature length structure, while paying homage to the entire series. (Including Hergé himself.)
Despite its quality, the film was mostly forgotten after its initial release. Perhaps Spielberg’s other film, War Horse which released a month later hurt it at the box office. Perhaps American’s lack of familiarity with the comics kept us from appreciating the films passion for and dedication to the source material. Either way, this is a film that should be appreciated, it is a fine representation of Spielberg working at the top of his game, it has a superb script, and it is tons of fun for all ages. It may be the best Motion Capture movie ever made, it was made with the same skill and craft that the original author put into his own work.
If you’ve forgotten it, or have never seen it before, I highly recommend checking it out. It’s currently streaming on Amazon Prime. You won’t be disappointed.
TheFlickReview 