The Adventures of Tintin User Reviews

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Tintin is a character I have know for many years, about 15-20 years ago the original animated series was shown on British Tv during the summer holidays from school and there would be a different adventure everyday for several weeks. This introduced the character to me and when I first saw the stills from this new adaptation I was interested to know how it would turn out. Now it is out on DVD I have finally seen it and I can say I enjoyed the film.

The story follows the adventures of the titular young reporter Tintin as he sets about trying to uncover the mystery of the Unicorn, a three masted ship of the line from the 1600's. After he acquires a model of the famous ship, a mysterious man try's to warn him off and then another tries to buy it from him. This sets his mind on the hunt for a story which leads him on an adventure involving pirates, treasure, near death situations and new friends, as he attempts to get to the bottom of the mystery.

It would be difficult to write a review of the film with out mentioning the similarities to Spielberg's out adventure series Indiana Jones as they are very similar in tone and style, in fact on one of the DVD extras Spielberg himself states that the decision to make the film as an animated performance capture piece came from trying to differentiate the two. The similarities are clear to see, as you would expect from films made by the same person, both are well paced and exciting to watch but Tintin is a very different film visually.

The animated style is by far the most interesting part of the film, every frame has been meticulously designed to match the original Herge work in the source material and it shows. The film looks good but there is also something odd about it as well when it comes to the characters. They all look fine but the exaggerated features, especially the noses, are off putting. Everything else about the visuals are fantastic and the action sequences thrilling and compelling, a case in point is the is the pirate flashback sequence that is better than anything in any of the Pirates of the Caribbean films. Not only is the action thrilling but the performance capture gives the characters a real sense of weight and movement unlike other animated films.

The voice work is superb as everyone of the cast is top notch talent, and it shows in the performances as they all seem spot on. I especially liked Daniel Craig as Sakharine, as it is nice to see him playing the villain as he is quite good at it, as he was back in his early day in Sharpe. Jamie Bell is also very good in the title role, he brings the character to life and adds some real emotion to the film. Finally on the subject of voice work is the obligatory mention of the ever great Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock who really is the sole of the film and brings the film together.

While it is a good film there are still issues with it, apart from the already mentioned strange look of the characters faces, my biggest issue with the film was that I did not think highly of the final action sequence and thus the film ended on a bit of a down note for me. The other issue I had was that for a John Williams score I found that the music was a real let down. It was not bad, and it did work in the film, but none of it was memorable to me.

In conclusion Tintin is a solid film that is well worth your time, as you would expect from an animated film it is a bit childish at times but there is plenty there for the older audience. It looks great visually and has the usual Spielberg charm making it a solid adaptation of the source material.