Cinematic Adventures
February 6, 2012
The Adventures of Tintin (2011).
D: Steven Spielberg. W: Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish (Based on the comic book series by Hergé). Starring (voice talents): Jamie Bell/Andy Serkis/Daniel Craig/Nick Frost/Simon Pegg/Toby Jones/Joe Starr/Enn Reitel.
This Christmas the films targeted for young audiences may have surprised some families with their more sophisticated story telling and impressive visual work. But as admirable as that is, I wonder what children lost their way in the beauty of what they were seeing? Who wiggled a bit too much in their chairs?
Having been a fan of the Tintin books as a young reader, I was elated to find such a film icon at the helm of the project. More specifically, I could not wait to see how my younger brother would react to his telling of the Tintin stories. Would they be up to par with his own imaginings from one of the few series that actually got my brother to read? Thankfully, neither of us were disappointed.
Speilberg’s first animated project for him to actually direct, The Adventures of TinTin is all swashbuckling charm and British innuendo. It plays on everything we love about being a child, what we think we remember, and what we wished life could be like again. Innocently buying a ship in a bottle one day, journalist Tintin (voiced by Jamie Bell) soon finds himself in the midst of a startlingly adventure. It is safe to say it is an adventure of great proportion as he finds out his recent purchase is part of much larger treasure hunt.
Firstly, what is timeless about the story is although Tintin is geared towards a young audience, he is of a certain age that makes his adventures remain somewhat logical and believable to adults. Even better is the characters charm and innocence never come off as naivete. Nope, rather Tintin has been able to hold on to something pure from his boyhood, and its not just his dog snowy. Specifically, the film safeguards the character from any sort of consumerism corruption or washed out simplicity some “childrens” films tend to have. Nothing is washed out in the visuals either. Speilberg held nothing back with producer Peter Jackson’s imput. Everything is full of depth and brings the pages of the graphic novel to a new life. Lastly, all the voices here are also superb, with a nice role for Andy Serkis to show off a Scottish brogue.
My only few complaints are that the film runs a bit long, the end of the second act seems to stretch too much. Only makes me wonder more how younger children in the theater felt and how much they were actually engaged. Yet regardless, they just might be forced to sit a bit longer. Who would think?