Many are cynical about motion-capture animation being used to make full-length movies (after that brief "Yellow Submarine" fiasco, many downright dread it), and even more people are cynical about the action-adventure genre. Yet all that cynicism seems to be dead in the wake of "The Adventures of Tintin", the Belgian comic-hero's biggest big-screen adventure ever. Maybe its the names involved that are breaking down any doubts about this movie: Steven Spielberg directing, Peter Jackson producing, and Andy Serkis starring as the drunk captain to end all drunk captains (which is quite an accomplishment when you look at the candidates), Captain Haddock.
The expectations from the international Tintin-fan community are heavy, but Spielberg and Jackson have come packed with ammo. The movie is action-packed, well-written, and well-casted,and it's impossible not to get involved in the adventure, which starts almost immediately after the credits.
This film's plot, first written by "Doctor Who" writer Steven Moffat and finished by Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish, puts together three of Tintin's best graphic novels: "The Crab with the Golden Claws", "The Secret of the Unicorn", and "Red Rackham's Treasure". When our cowlick-headed hero (played by Jamie Bell) finds a beautiful antique ship, he immediately falls into a dangerous treasure hunt for the pirate booty of a Haddock ancestor, joining up with the last-living Haddock in a race against the evil Sacharine (an unrecognizable performance from Daniel Craig).
The movie has so much going on in every frame, it's impossible to take in all the richly-detailed CGI world in one sitting. The animation is truly realistic, and most importantly, it isn't creepy! We truly become connected with the digital Tintin and Haddock, as well as the very funny Thompson and Thompson, who are compeletely alive and characterized as if they were real. The actors are truly to thank for bringing each character out of the books with their inventiveness and uniqueness intact. In fact, the director is to thank for taking the ENTIRE WORLD out of the books with it's uniqueness intact. The locations are realistic, but the action scenes are amazing and fantastical.
The only problem with the movie is, despite a 107-minute running time, I still felt a little unsatisfied by the end. You might be exhausted by the near two hours of adventure, but I thought that there was still lots of room for more Tintin. Fortunately, the ending is so open with its hopes for a sequel that it's impossible not to miss. And just like a certain fedora-hatted college professor we all still love despite a lackluster fourth installment, this is a hero we're not going to get tired of anytime soon.
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