A Major Disappointment

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Although a Belgian, I've never been particularly fond of Hergé's work : when I read the Tintin series as a child, I liked it well enough but I did not adore it. As an adult, I can recognize its technical prowess and abundant imagination, but I still don't think it's as stellar, innovative or unique as some critics would have it. (Still, credit where credit is due : with "The 7 crystal balls" Hergé created one of the most scary comics of all time. The moment where a grinning Rascar Capac, both alive and dead, enters a building can wipe the floor with about 99% of the horror scenes contained in movies, comics or novels. It is the essence of nightmares.) As a result of my lukewarm attitude, I began watching "The adventures of Tintin" without particular expectations. I'm pleased to say that it's both a clever, respectful adaptation and a pleasantly watchable movie. There are (at least) two brilliant set-pieces worth the price of admission alone : the first is the episode where captain Haddock tells of the heroic adventures of his ancestor, and the second is a long and bonkers pursuit through a North-African country. All over the movie there are touches of wit, satire and invention, just as there are moments of clever observation : note the scenes, for instance, where the poor have to queue for water in order to survive, while the idle rich surround themselves with fountains, canals and swimming pools. Authors have written 500-page works on social inequality that say less. I watched the movie with some youngsters, who all left dazzled and enchanted : no mean feat in these modern times.The scene where Bianca Castafiore sings is very well done - there is a truly glorious stream of music coming out of her mouth - but I was somewhat amazed by the choice of music : if I remember correctly, the various comics had her singing "The jewel aria" from Faust. The jewel aria too is delightful, plus it would have allowed the great diva to perform in Germanic peasant costume, complete with blonde braids. Perhaps some Tintinologists can help me clear up this matter.

This digital animated film recreates one of the most famous stories of the comic Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. Directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by Peter Jackson, with soundtrack of John Williams and a script by Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish, the film features the voices of Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, and other voice actors.I was never an avid reader of Tintin, but the comic strip was, for me, a good company during childhood and adolescence (still is, sometimes). But I never had a good impression of films based on comic-strips, as always end too stylized or unrealistic. In this case, keeping the film as an animation, I was waiting for something like the comic, and many similarities with the magazine. But my expectations were far from being met by this film, which does not seem able to capture the essence of Tintin. The script, despite being good and consistent to the cinema, don't link to the comic where it was based. On the contrary, it almost rejects it by mixing elements of another magazine and invent many other things that don't fit in the Tintin image, issued by magazines. Therefore, characters seem rather forced, and their reactions don't seem true to what might be expected in the magazines.The dubbing work looks very good, I didn't notice delays or errors. Most of voice actors used here are seasoned actors, with an excellent voice modulation capability, knowing well how to put voice to achieve the desired effect. The work of animation and visual effects are excellent, very colorful and striking. Its the wonder of digital animation. The soundtrack is very good but I expected something more intense.Overall, the film is quite interesting and entertaining but becomes boring at certain times and almost can't create a real sense of mystery, suspense and adventure.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a wonderful entry in the Indiana Jones franchise and was wrongfully hated on by fans of the series, with the Adventures of Tintin there was a much stronger fan base that were anticipating great things from the Master of Film and so was I despite the fact I have never read the comics they have been quickly glanced at by me but nothing more than that anyway the trailers griped me and I got really excited having know that the Master of Film was back directing again after another 3 year absence which is common for him at the moment, anyway did the film meet my expectations or did they sink down faster than Haddock's ship?, well I was wonderfully entertained thrilled jaw dropped and just wonderfully relieved although I was not worried about the film at all I knew it would be wonderfully entertaining I was relieved that Steven Spielberg's directing abilities had not declined or slowed down they were the same as always this film has a wonderfully fast pace to the outstanding action sequences and the breathtaking fluidity of the movement of the camera as we're flying around with Tintin and Haddock as the camera literally is flying around the screen like a balletic movement or performance is simply outstanding film making of the highest standard and Steven Spielberg must be commended for that. Martin Scorsese does not make movies like Steven Spielberg! Martin Scorsese makes the same type of movies over and over again with no versatility or change of style it's boring the only film of his I will ever watch again anyway is Hugo that's an outstanding movie really wonderfully cinematic and a stunning tribute to the old days of cinema just an amazing technical achievement and a great example of how films should be made but aren't anymore which is a deep shame, anyway I bring Hugo up in this Tintin review because Tintin shows us the future of motion picture film making with motion capture technology and Hugo takes us to the old fashioned days of motion picture making with images sound and color, Tintin has an outstanding visual language what I am referring to is how the shots look clearer and the characters feel different and look different because of this motion capture technology which enhances humans's emotions and textures, the technology was perfected in the Lord of the Rings film series over a decade ago to great critical acclaim and admiration by the film industry, anyway why do I love Tintin so much apart from the outstanding motion capture technology and the stunning flying balletic movement of the camera? it's because of the story the characters the locations the performances by Andy Serkis who played Gollum in the Lord of the Rings films and Jamie Bell who I loved in Billy Eliot which I watched recently and adored I love his charming performance in that film really lovely film that one! anyway Snowy's my favourite character in the film he's so lovingly recreated from the drawings I quickly glanced at in the comics an outstanding achievement from WETA Digital the same team who perfected Gollum in the Lord of The Rings and Snowy's emotions are so perfectly recaptured in the film to comic interpretation or at least as I see it!, The Score By John Williams is another masterstroke of film score genius his new themes are perfectly interwoven into the body of the film, it has always interested me that Tintin's theme is not given a full concert arrangement you hear the first few bars of it but that's it it never develops or changes other than the few notes you hear they are always the same notes that you hear every time Tintin is referred too you always hear the same tiny hints of Tintin's theme it's very quick and very sudden like 5 second variants of the same melody or theme there's one melody for Tintin a very quick theme which has always interested me why the main character does not have a fully developed theme in the film and the supporting characters in the film all have fully developed musical identifications Snowy the pirates the villains all have themes outstanding themes all the same which all have concert arrangements I really love Snowy's theme it's really fast like he's running along a garden path or a road that might be one of my favourite themes composed by John Williams it's so perfectly integrated into the character I can't not imagine seeing that character now without hearing his theme that's the outstanding gift of John Williams's music he composes music for the character and so the character becomes ingrained into the musical identity for the film so when we see him on the screen you hear or hum it straight away that's John's gift his skill he is the master of film music and an incredible asset to film scoring! I really love this film because it gives me a wonderful feeling inside of the fact that this is a wonderful family film and an underrated one at that the film was hated and dumped on by the hardcore fans of the comics because they just thought it was another Indiana Jones Film Don't listen to those stupid people they are wrong and stupid and quite pathetic to even suggest that this is just another Indiana Jones film it's not please give this a chance it deserves a chance to be loved and appreciated don't let it go down the same route as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull did when it was forgotten about it does not deserve it, it should not receive such harsh negativity by anybody!

Minor spoilers ahead.While impressive on a technical level, this big-screen-adaptation of the Tintin-adventures fails to capture the essence of Hergé's brilliant creation.The problem is "tone". What was, in its comic-form, a semi-realistic detective-story for adolescent boys has been turned into a cartoon-y slapstick-fest aimed at preschoolers.Tintin of the comics existed in a semi-realistic world. Yes: There were moments of silliness and convenient coincidences, but generally speaking, the world Hergé created adhered to a kind of realism and seriousness. And that's precisely why I loved the comics growing up. Here were tales your parents would let you read, but which treated you and your intelligence with a kind of "respect" rarely found in other kid-friendly comics.Not so in the movie, which bombards you with one wacky, mind-numbing action-scene after the other and dumbs down its story and characters to appeal to 6-year-olds.Let's just take a couple of examples: The Unicorn "dream-sequence" of the comics was presented as a realistic sea-battle - in the movie it looks more like something out of a Looney Tunes-skit. With burning ships getting lifted from the sea, people performing impossible feats of athleticism, etc. All of which defies any sort of real-world-physics.Characterization - for example: The Thompson-twins. These two were never a favorite of mine in the comics either, but the movie takes their stupidity even beyond slapstick-levels - as evidenced in their scene in Mr. Silk's apartment. Sure: In the comics, these two guys were mostly incompetent and naive - but in the film they act like a pair of lobotomized chimps.Tintin's and Haddock's escape on the plane. In the comic, this was a pretty intense and disturbing scene. Haddock was acting like a borderline psycho, trying to knock Tintin out because he wanted to fly the plane himself. In the film, it's just another collection of physically impossible stunts, ending with Haddock belching into the plane's gas-tank. Seriously? Which brings me to my next point of criticism and that is a lack of restraint on the part of the film-makers. Yes: a film done entirely in CG gives you incredible freedom. You can place your camera anywhere you want to, you can have characters perform incredible, physics-defying stunts. But in Tintin, they've taken these two "advantages" so far that it actually hurts the movie overall. When your hero survives one impossible stunt-sequence after the other, the novelty of it all wears off pretty quickly. Consequently, we stop caring - because we've seen him survive this sort of stuff over and over again, so why should be get invested when the 10th such sequence comes along?Lastly I have to address the poor choices in screen writing. Even though this film is called "Secret of the Unicorn" it throws elements of at least one more adventure into the mix ("The Crab with the Golden Claws"). I can see why they did this in order to have Tintin meet Haddock, but I can't help but wonder why they chose either "Unicorn" or "Crab" as starting points in the first place. Neither are exactly among the stronger Tintin-stories - a fact which the screenwriters seem to acknowledge themselves by switching tons of details around like cutting characters or transforming a minor character from the comic into the film's main villain.6/10 - mostly for its technical strengths and to acknowledge the relative "audacity" of adapting a comic-series that's probably not very widely known in the US.