Steven Spielberg, one of the most beloved of filmmakers, has two films opening this holiday week. “War Horse” comes to theaters Christmas Day, while “The Adventures of Tintin” opens Wednesday. The latter is the more family-friendly of the two — but it’s also not as inspiring. It begins promisingly enough. The instantly recognizable art of Belgian artist Herge is transformed into moving pictures that play across the screen to the sound of a delightfully Francophonic score by frequent Spielberg collaborator John Williams.
Herge created the boy reporter Tintin in 1929; eight decades later, the figure beloved in Europe and beyond is responsible for Spielberg’s first animated film — motion-capture 3-D, to be exact.
| On screen |
| ‘The Adventures of Tintin’ |
| 2 out of 4 stars |
| Stars: Jamie Bell, Daniel Craig, Andy Serkis |
| Director: Steven Spielberg |
| Rated: PG for adventure action violence, some drunkenness, and brief smoking |
| Running time: 107 minutes |
But it’s hard to believe this Tintin spent a great deal of the 20th century traveling around the world, solving strange and dangerous mysteries with just his wits and his dog to aid him. This Tintin has no brains. In fact, more than once during the film, I wanted to knock that empty head and ask its owner how he could possibly be so stupid.
He even asks himself that question — but only once. Though he proudly declares that it’s his job to ask questions. Many of them he asks his dog, Snowy. For example, he’ll read (aloud) in a library about the Unicorn, a ship that went down in the 17th century in mysterious circumstances, that it was rumored to be carrying secret cargo. “What was the ship carrying, Snowy?” he’ll then ask meaningfully, as if the audience didn’t get it the first time.
Tintin must have VIP status at that library; most don’t admit animals. But Snowy is special. It’s not just that he’s cute — though of course he is. He seems to do more of the work involved in this case than Tintin himself.
Jamie Bell, the actor who portrays Tintin through performance-capture technology, should be happy he doesn’t appear on-screen directly: This would be an embarrassing role to live down. Daniel Craig does some great voice work here, though, completely unrecognizable as the villain Ivanovich Sakharine, who knows a lot more about the Unicorn than Tintin — and also Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis), whose ancestor was in charge of the Unicorn when the ship went down.
Though it looks good and sounds better, “Tintin” is frustrating to watch. But it appears I’ll be forced to go through the experience again: Spielberg shamelessly sets up a sequel at the end, one likely to be directed by “Lord of the Rings” filmmaker Peter Jackson. Perhaps his vision of the comics will include more of the sophistication of the originals.
