The Adventures of Tintin is a mixed bag. Technically it is stunning and innovative – starting with a magnificent opening credits sequel, and following with dazzling continuous action scenes, into which combined are anecdotal humorous moments. Yet, despite the success of making flat 2-D characters, lively screen figures, The Adventures of Tintin fails miserably at the third dimension of the heart. This is surprising given that the film was directed by no less than Steven Spielberg, a filmmaker so capable that he was able to bestow a spirit, albeit an evil one, onto a shark. However, it seems that in making The Adventures of Tintin, Spielberg allowed the animation effects to take over his better sense of humanity; and while for some filmmakers a pure action-based movie cannot have a softer side, Spielberg made plenty of films demonstrating a perfect balance. To a point, the film does capture much of Tintin’s original spirit – an investigative adventurer, who would stop at nothing to get at the truth. I can see Spielberg picturing a young Indian Jones when making this movie. On the other hand, inflating the characters into 3-D takes away from the ingeniously simple graphic style of Tintin’s creator Georges Remi (aka Hergé). One cannot have both simple 2-D and sophisticated 3-D, and for our times, 3-D prevails.
All in all, children watching The Adventures of Tintin will be dazzled, and their parents are likely to enjoy it too.
The film ends with a clear indication of a sequel. I am hopeful that when the next installment arrives at the screens, it will include a little more of that Spielberg magic called heart.