by Jessica Tharaud
3 out of 5 stars
While “The Adventures of Tintin” displays incredible workmanship through its animation, music, and directing, its story falls flat in the end because of two-dimensional characters and an unremarkable plot.
Based on a popular 20th century Belgian comic of the same name, the movie details the adventure of journalist Tintin as he searches for treasure with his trusty white dog, Snowy, in tow.
In “Tintin,” the out-of-place adults provided a strange contrast with the otherwise children-angled movie. The movie’s simplistic plot involving buried treasure, pirates, and a centuries-long family feud seemed meant for children. However, the movie also depicts more adult topics such as an alcoholic with an inferiority complex and several near-death sequences. For a children’s movie, its length of an hour and three quarters could disinterest children as it drags on well past the attention span, focusing too much on a trip to Morocco.
In addition, the characters are flat and unrealistic. Tintin’s high voice annoyed me, and most of the other characters were uninteresting and dumb. My favorite parts all involve Snowy because, after all, who doesn’t like a cute and resourceful pooch? Whenever he would save Tintin from falling into a plane’s propellers or persistently chase his owner’s kidnappers, Snowy always gave the movie whimsy and fun. For some reason, it seems that the writers put all their effort into making Snowy a fun character while forgetting the rest. But where the movie lacks in character development, it tries to make up for with production quality.
At the start, the colorful animation piqued my interest. This movie really shows how much computer animation has improved since the days of the first “Shrek” movie. And director Steven Spielberg certainly uses it to his advantage with the numerous flashbacks that help him tell the story in an interesting way.
Composed by the great John Williams, the music guides the story along to build suspense and heighten the excitement of the numerous action sequences. The music enhances the movie and creates emotion that might otherwise not be there.
“The Adventures of Tintin” is a well-made movie because of the tremendous effort and success of the directing, music, and animation. Its plot can be predictable and boring at times, but the spectacle of the movie itself helps to make up for most of it.
