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

Director: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig

It has been much publicised that Tintin creator Herge insisted only Spielberg could direct a film about his much loved character. Through motion capture technology Spielberg has to an impressive extent recreated the feel and look of the comics. The film combines three of these comics to meld them in to a tale of treasure hunting and revenge that centres around the legacy of the captain of the sunken ship the Unicorn and his descendant, the drunkard Captain Haddock played by Serkis.

Tintin, as played by Bell, comes across as a vacuous character. This may well be intentional allowing any child to superimpose themselves on the blank canvas of Tintin to facilitate a sense of “that could me be, this could be my adventure.” This technique proved effective with the Bella character in the Twilight franchise. On the other hand it could be down to the technology. Serkis is a proven master of the motion capture acting and as always steals the show with the only performance that carries resonance. The other actors, including Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, seem to be unable to convey emotion with anything like the same intensity. The result is flat and leaves the audience not relating nor caring.

Where the film does well is Spielberg’s legendary handling of action set pieces. With this technology he is free from inhibitions of camera and actors allowing him to create an intricate motorbike chase in one shot. The sea battle also impresses as Spielberg defies logic and physics to have two ships spinning the other in a mighty tangle as sailors fight and canons  and sails blaze. 

This however is not enough to engage the audience. The adventure and mystery never draws you in. The macguffin is there in the form of the model ships that contains the next clues. The purpose of the mucguffin is meant to be so you care as much about finding the object as as you do for the heroes. The trouble is that Spielberg never conveys Tintin’s motivation beyond “here is another mystery to solve.” As such by the time they find the prize there is no sense of achievement in either Tintin or the audience. Indeed throughout the film Tintin does not undergo any change in his character arch. He is exactly the same inquisitive and perky young quiffed man as we found him. Even his Dog Snowy showed more of a dynamic character development and more innate skills at sniffing out a crime. 

A friend described the film as comparable to the rollercoaster ride that was Indianna Jones and the Temple of Doom. I see his point in that Tintin goes from set piece to set piece. However you cared for Indianna, you cared for the macguffin as the stones  represented saving the lives of enslaved children. The film had depth beyond the fun. Tintin has none.  To add to this there is never any real sense of jeaprody or risk to the heroes. You felt every punch Indianna took, not so with Tintin. Despite being in harms way he comes out unscathed, unchanged by the process and ready to do the next bit of adventuring. Tintin's adventure come across as a hazardous hobby, not a quest to save us from a dangerous enemy's diabolical plot. If he failed, who would care. I imagine not even Tintin. He would just stumble into another mystery.  

This is without doubt a Spielberg film. I wonder to what extent Jackson was involved as I did not sense his input as much as had wanted. The technology is definitely opening new doors to portray adventure, but if the audience has not been given enough emotion or insight into the characters, then it is all for nought. 

Rating: 6/10

Official Trailer:

 

Cinema Review - Real Steel

Director - Shawn Levy
Starring - Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly, Dakota Goyo

Real Steel is a film in the robotic mould of a Rocky movie, but outside this metallic framework is that of a tale of father and son reconciliation. Levy uses the robots to symbolically and figuratively represent Jackman’s character, a failed boxer who would sooner sell his son for cash than face his responsibilities. Life has left him on the garbage heap. It is that same garbage heap that his son, played with likable enthusiasm by Goyo, revives an abandoned robot and in turn his relationship with his father.

The robot, Atom, is in every way the underdog, but despite his size he can take a beating. Jackman is the robot in every sense. As the father and son connect over the success of their fighting robot so too does Jackman’s confidence grow. His skills become the robots skills as their robot possesses a unique ability to shadow and learn from Jackman’s boxing expertise. As the film progresses, Jackman and his son reveal their robot’s innate value and in parallel Jackman’s own value as a fighter and a father is uncovered . He fights back against the odds and at the crunch point realises the real fight is to fight for his son.

As is expected the father son tale is played against the typical boxing scenario as seen in Rocky. The underdog rises to fight the colossal champion. The fights, which are choreographed by Sugar Ray Leonard, have a genuine sense of the sport behind the robots. The part CGI / part animatronics robots have the right sense of realism to make it credible to watch.

Real Steel is an enjoyable watch and as expected from Spielberg as Exec Producer the film as the production value and emotional resonance to make you want to invest in Jackman. Jackman is, as always, immensely watchable and turns a character, who under another actor’s control could be obnoxious to the point of audience disconnection, into a likeable rogue. Lilly is a pleasure to see acting again in the supporting role and gives a genuine barometer for the type of man Jackman is portraying. She aids in the sense that here is a man on the garbage heap and only a person who can see beyond would attempt to salvage him, just as she and his son do.

The boxer and his mechanical shadow overcome the odds and his own failings and its fun to go along on the ride.

Rating: 7/10

Official Trailer: