Review of Tintin et le lac aux requins

Although available on a DVD of excellent quality, one cannot say the same about the movie itself. Although the storyline is easy enough to follow, its rather jumbled account of underwater larceny in a remote Swiss chalet fails to hold the interest. The characters remain stubbornly one-dimensional from first to last, and the "surprise", sudden introduction of a "comic" villain from a previous Tintin adventure does not help either. In fact, the script is way overloaded with slapstick episodes. The players vary from the overly enthusiastic (the chief villain) to the conspicuously bland (Tintin himself). True, despite everything — including its animation techniques that vary from agreeably watchable to save money elementary — the movie is often reasonably engaging, even though the promise of its earlier scenes (the plane perched on the edge of a cliff) fails to materialize.