Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, The
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN
PARAMOUNT
RELEASED 26 October 2011
In the early Eighties, Steven Spielberg and ‘Tintin’ creator Georges Remi (better known as ‘Hergé’) had a mutual love-in over each others’ (in Spielberg’s case, intrepid adventurer ‘Indiana Jones’) work. Hergé wanted Spielberg to be the person to bring his creation to the big screen after watching ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’, with the bearded wonder buying the rights to Tintin in 1983 shortly after the great artist’s death. So although the big screen film arrives with the thirty-year-old blessing of it’s creator, Hergé probably imagined he’d be watching a live-action film rather than a motion-captured animation in 3D. But if Hergé had been alive to suffer the agony of sitting through ‘Indiana Jones 4’, he’d probably be glad it’s turned out to be an animated movie!
‘The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn’ sees our young (age unspecified) bequiffed ginger hero Tintin (Jamie Bell) purchase a replica model of a famous sailing ship called the Unicorn, which was captained by Sir Francis Haddock and lost at sea reportedly carrying four hundred weight of treasure. When Tintin, along with faithful terrier Snowy, discovers a secret piece of parchment inside the ship that may lead to the location of the lost treasure, an adventure begins that takes Tintin to Morroco via the Karaboudjan cargo ship, recently captained by none other than Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis), a direct descendant of the famous Sir Francis. Just as long as Detectives Thompson and Thomson (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost) don’t obstruct the course of adventure!
It’s easy to sum up ‘Tintin’ – the best family film Steven Spielberg has directed since ‘Jurassic Park’ (1993). ‘Tintin’ is the kind of film I wasn’t sure Spielberg knew how to make anymore. I’m happy to report that the recurring nightmare that is ‘Indy 4’ can be laid to rest. It’s clear the open-world filming style of motion-capture (the director can move action in constant-evolving way, using a huge tablet-style joystick) has excited Spielberg, as ‘Tintin’ can’t keep still, with scenes aboard the Karaboudjan brilliantly capturing that swaying, at-sea motion. Best of all is the film’s major action sequence in a middle-eastern city as Tintin, Haddock and Snowy chase the baddies (and a villainous bird of prey) on a motorbike, which goes on for about ten minutes and is one continuous shot, the kind of thing that just wouldn’t be possible in the same way with live-action. Buildings crash, the bike ends up in pieces, and our heroes eventually come together via different routes.
As well as Tintin looking amazing and having action by the panel-load, the script by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who), Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz) and Joe Cornish (Attack the Block) is a cracker, with humour sprinkled plentifully throughout the movie. ‘Tintin’s trump card is Haddock, a man always looking for the next bottle of whiskey, and a feature of the comics that could well have been toned down in a lesser director’s hands, but Spielberg isn’t afraid to let the booze flow, with Haddock coming up with an ingenious form of alternative aircraft fuel as their seaplane runs out of petrol.
For fans of the comic who might be worried about this big Hollywood venture, all I can say is it felt just like a movie version of ‘Tintin’ should. Plenty of imaginative action, loads of laughs, and more than a dash of slapstick. There are numerous nods to fans (weightless whiskey, tins of crab, Le Petit Vingtième) and the main bulk of the novel ‘The Secret of the Unicorn’ (backed up by parts of ‘Red Rackham’s Treasure’, ‘The Crab With the Golden Claws’ and ‘The Castafiore Emerald’) is safely handled here. Trust me, kids are going to love this film, and if they seek out the original novels (which are quite complicated language-wise), then that can only be a good thing, much like the way ‘Harry Potter’ brought a love of reading to so many.
FOUR OUT OF FIVE
