"THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN" - RELOADED

Well now, here we have a film trying to live up to very famous ancestors. I mean, of course Tintin has had many “films” made of it before, but to the best of my knowledge, this is the first computer-generated / non “cartoon” (oh you know what I mean) cinema film made about it. And I mean, even if it weren’t, one goof, one error, one detail out of place and you will have a hoard of angry fans of many ages descending on you like the proverbial heard of locusts – ready to tear you to pieces. And yet, of course, be it the storyline or the effects etc, you have to still be able to have done something that no one else before you has done. It takes one heck of a director to be able to do that. Steven Spielberg for example.

So, what adventures, what dangers and mysteries do Tintin and Snowy find themselves embroiled in this time? This time, Tintin stumbles on the mystery quite by accident when he decides to purchase a rather ornate and beautiful model ship in the flea market. The ship attracts an inordinate amount of attention from the word go, strange men offering extraordinary amounts of money to buy the ship off him. Tintin, naturally, gets suspicious and refuses to sell. His journalistic instincts and quick wits will lead him to a sunken treasure, a story spanning half way round the globe and a family curse and feud involving the Haddock family… This time, a lot is at stake – not least Captain Haddock’s family honour!

First of all, I thought the film thought up a brilliant way of “introducing” Tintin and Captain Haddock. Secondly, the film is brilliant. Of course, as we mentioned above, there are quite a few challenges to making this film. It has to, up to a point anyway, follow a formula. It’s expected, it’s even wanted by the fans. However, it has to be an original artwork in its own right at the same time.  Now, a director like Spielberg is one of the best people to face these challenges, because he works mainly in the minefield of mainstream Hollywood movies. The fans of these “genre” films want certain very specific things from the films they watch. But you simply cannot regurgitate a single magic formula – there is no way of holding on to an audience under those circs. So you have to find just the right balance of the familiar and the original to make a really good film. I don’t think I need to spell it out to you guys, Spielberg has done this quite a few times in his time, and he has, in actual fact, done it again. The film is a wonderful, exciting ride into an adventure filled world that we are, in fact, quite familiar with. The film may be – and in fact is – an animation, but do not sneeze at this fact, as the film was so successful artistically, that it has gathered nominations and awards in contests as prestigious as the Oscars®, BAFTAs and Golden Globes. If ever a progeny lived up to a famous ancestor, this one is it people. Not to be missed.