The Adventures of Tintin 3D - 3 smiles

“The Adventures of Tintin” is a motion capture version of a popular French comic book. Had it been a live motion picture, it might rival Raiders of the Lost Ark for fun, adventure and excitement. As it is, it’s an entertaining movie, full of nonstop action involving exotic locations, grandiose villains, planes, trains, automobiles, motorcycles and ships. It’s also the first time Spielberg has made a 3D feature and the results are mixed. It’s a competent use of the format, but there’s nothing special that demonstrates why “The Adventures of Tintin” is deserving of the process. In fact, I’m sure the 2D version is just as good. A young journalist named Tintin (Jamie Bell), accompanied by his gifted dog Snowy, and a rarely sober Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis), seek the location of the lost treasure of one of Haddock’s seafaring ancestors. Tintin and Haddock, however, are not the only ones on this quest. The mysterious Sakharine (Daniel Craig) is also in the hunt and he’s willing to kill to achieve his goal. With one clue in Tintin’s possession and another in Sakharine’s the race is on to find the third piece, which is owned by a powerful Middle Eastern sheik.

One of the benefits of animation is what it allows Spielberg to do with Snowy. The little dog is smart, if not smarter than the humans that surround him and some of the funnier moments involve Snowy’s abilities in action sequences, like surviving a flood or riding with Tintin on a motorcycle. The action, which is fast and furious, is exciting and flashy, but generates little suspense. The voices were all well cast. And since the animated characters resemble their comic book counterparts, we’re not distracted by seeing an animated version of ‘James Bond.’ “The Adventures of Tintin” is a spirited adventure that’s smarter than your average animated family fare. 12/23/11