Why isn't The Adventures Of Tin Tin - Secret Of The Unicorn one of the very best films of 2011? It has director Spielberg on top, inventive form fueled by the creativity that comes from James Cameron's Avatar animation process. It has a relentless, intricately plotted adventure from Stephen Moffat, the best writer classic British science fiction show Doctor Who has ever seen. Added to his wit in the script department you've got the humour and offbeat imagination of Joe (Attack The Block) Cornish and Edgar (Scott Pilgrim) Wright, two of the most unique genre writer/directors in modern cinema. And to top it off it's co-produced by Lord Of The Rings visionary Peter Jackson.
Well, to be honest, there isn't that much wrong with Tin Tin apart from Tin Tin himself. There's a certain lack of depth and a lack of emotion that comes from a lead character that's hard to identify with. That lack of connection with the fact that the lead character, who's in practically every scene is a squeaky clean, earnest, one dimensional goody two shoes. He has no character arc, or no interesting character of which to speak...he's just a persistent voice of curiosity with which to propel the plot. And no matter how strong the plot, the locations, the animation, the action or the supporting characters...you just can't get over the fact that Tin Tin himself is a bit dull.
It's brilliant to see Spielberg freed of the constraints of the physical universe with his new digital camera. He rarely abuses it's abilities, keeping its movements in line with what's possible with a real camera in the real world (mostly). But it does allow him the luxury of not editing a shot, but instead smoothly recomposing the action by swiftly gliding his digital camera to the next important story detail.
The script if full of great gags and rockets from one piece of exposition to the next without ever becoming dull or over complicated. The action set pieces benefit from Spielberg's new found freedom, especially in one ludicrous chase scene through a crowded African town with the camera weaving and ducking around, through and over houses, river rapids and military vehicles.
Best of all is Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock. It's the Captain that gets to be flawed and needs redemption. It's him that has the emotional connection to the plot. And it's him that has the amusing, sarcastic and unexpectedly entertaining characteristics that make an adventure movie worth watching. He's funny, tragic, fascinating and damned likable and if Tin Tin had been made the annoying, eager sidekick instead with Haddock as the lead, a better story might have emerged.
To end I'd like to moan about John William's score. Spielberg's musical collaborator for nearly 40 years now and Williams has clearly run out of steam. There's no doubt is wonderful to hear a traditionally orchestrated score in this era of electronics and Hans Zimmer clones, but Williams can't compose a coherent melody anymore...a feat made all the more tragic as he was once the king of movie melodies. Once the composer of great themes like Raiders, Star Wars, Jaws, Jurassic Park and Harry Potter, he now poops out forgettable noise like War Of The Worlds, Minority Report, The Terminal and Munich. It's all frenzied, relentless bluster with no melody to get hooked on and when a theme does emerge it's a pale shadow of past works like Catch Me If You Can, Raiders and Last Crusade. Still, he's still got Spielberg's upcoming War Horse to redeem himself but I wouldn't get your hopes up.
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