The Adventures of Tintin - The Secret of the Unicorn - Review

When a little middle-class boy with big dreams in his eyes proclaims that he wants to make films, the first gentle rebuke he will probably hear is, ‘So, you want to be Spielberg?’

Such is the influence of the man – a man praised and criticized in equal measure. However, irrespective of which side of the fence you are on, there is no denying that few men have had the kind of influence on any facet of human history, as Steven Spielberg has had in the field of audio-visual entertainment.

Spielberg’s latest, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, is exactly that - an entertaining film that is perhaps the closest that a big-screen adaptation has come so far, in capturing the essence of some of the most endearing and enduring comic book characters of all time.

That Tintin, Captain Haddock, Snowy, and of course, Thomson and Thompson will bring a smile on your face is a given. Their quirks, their dialogue and their ‘unquenchable thirst for adventure’ have been brought alive by producers Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson in a revolutionary new way.

Motion capture combined with incredible detailing in VFX brings the animation to life in a manner never seen before. Every reflection, every droplet of water, every tiny movement of human hair is unbelievably life-like. Only the characters’ faces (and at times their actions) betray that what one is viewing is indeed animation.

Be it an incredible mid-sea battle amidst a raging inferno or a superb bike chase through the streets and homes of Morocco, the film is riddled with enthralling set-pieces that will make more than a few jaws drop. The film is rich in colour and more importantly, it is rich in atmosphere – something that goes a long way in sucking the audience in to the story. John Williams’ music score more than plays its part in enriching the atmosphere that the film manages to create.

While the 3D in this film isn’t as big a waste as it has been in so many films, one still suspects that watching the film in 2D will not detract from the visual experience in any way. If anything, the colours are bound to be richer once the dark glasses are off.

The department that the film suffers the most in is the script. The mystery itself isn’t as mysterious as one would have liked. The twists and turns are there, but there is really nothing that will make you sit at the idiomatic edge of your seat. However, the quirkiness of the characters, particularly Captain Haddock, makes up in part for the deficiencies in the script. The characters keep you entertained at all times.

Yes, that aspect which Spielberg is criticized the most for is present all over this film – the manner in which it is moralistically sanitized. The edginess, the layers, the nuances of real human behavior and the shades of grey that someone who is not a Tintin or an animation fan would want are noticeably absent. This is the one area where this film would fall behind iconic Pixar films like Finding Nemo, Toy Story and Wall-E.

Ultimately, The Adventures of Tintin is an entertaining film for children as well as adults, particularly those who enjoy animation. The realistic animation is a visual treat, and there would be few who would not feel an adrenaline rush at least once during the film. Make no mistake, as far as animation technique in cinema is concerned, the envelope has been pushed. Even we who feel that audio-visual entertainment and cinema are often worlds apart would have to agree.