Movies.ie

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• Currently 4/5 Stars.

Movies.ie Critic Review

Taking story elements from three Tintin books of the 1940s (Secret Of The Unicorn, The Crab With The Golden Claw, Red Rackham’s Treasure), we follow our young intrepid reporter (Bell) after he buys an old model ship - only to find some very mysterious, very menacing men are desperate to get their hands on it. Leading the onslaught is the sinister Ivanovich Sakharine (Craig), who, it seems, will stop at nothing in his hunt for some long-lost buried treasure. Luckily, Tintin’s got his faithful terrier, Snowy, by his side, and the duo are soon on the high seas in a race to find the final clues.  Joining them is the drunken sailor, Captain Archibald Haddock (Serkis), who doesn’t yet realise that he’s a big part of the jigsaw. Keeping the home fires burning back in Brussels are bungling identical twin detectives Thomson (Frost) and Thompson (Pegg)…

THE VERDICT: Of course, 3D and performance capture are two very good reasons to be wary of this movie. As is the fact that Hollywood has a reputation for taking sacred cows and turning them into hamburgers. Once you get over the fact that most of the people here look as though they’ve had extensive cosmetic surgery just that morning, and that performance capture is, yep, just plain pants (“Hey, let’s cast Daniel Craig and then make him look like Jason Isaacs!”), well, The Adventures Of Tintin is something of a hoot. Fittingly enough, Spielberg hasn’t had this much fun since Raiders Of The Lost Ark – that 1981 film having prompted Belgian artist Herge to approve of the director taking his beloved creation to the big screen. Once again, Andy Serkis – the man who brought Gollum, King Kong and, more recently, summer box-office champ Caesar to life – pretty much steals the show, doing a rollicking good job as the sozzled and Sparrow-esque Captain Haddock. The chase sequences would make Buster Keaton weep. RATING: ****

Review by Paul Byrne 

• Avg User rating
• Currently 3/5 Stars.

User Reviews

• • Currently 2/5 Stars.

  Marty hanratty

  

  The Adventures of Tintin is an A when it comes to visuals probably the best since Avatar but the story and how the movie was made was not very good to say the least. It went way to fast and the ending came to sudden halt with me saying at the end that's it.

• • Currently 4/5 Stars.

  Onionhead

  

  The animation is magnificent, the motion capture has gone a long way since The Polar Express. It looks very realistic, especially all the features on Captain Haddock's face. The beard, the wrinkles and the eyes, they all looked amazing. Especially the eyes, they aren't so dead-eyed anymore as in The Polar Express. The action scenes are brilliantly written and directed, the angles of the camera, the drive of the action scenes, timing of all the jokes(physical or visual) is genius. Because Spielberg is a genius. He is the master of adventure movies and there never will be another genius in adventure movies like him. Overall Spielberg has created an old-fashioned style adventure movie for the whole family to enjoy,where the important things are just the hunt for the treasure, the friendship two people can make and the most important thing of all that it is an entertaining ride. Spielberg never disappoints, it doesn't matter if you are a fan of Tintin or not, you will enjoy this film nonetheless

• • Currently 3/5 Stars.

  filmbuff2011

  

  The directing titans of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson join forces to bring an animated Tintin to the big screen... with mixed results. I only have vague memories of reading the Tintin books as a young boy, so I really had to dig into my mental archives to try and remember what Tintin is all about. This first film in a proposed trilogy is a light, breezy affair that zips along at a merry pace. The animation (via performance capture by the actors) is so incredibly photo-realistic at times that I wondered why it's not live action in the first place. Thankfully, the animated humans don't have the "dead eyes" look of The Polar Express. There's also a definite Spielbergian feel to the film, yet sometimes I wish the characters would break out of animation and become live action. It's a passably enjoyable romp, but for a 3D film it feels very two dimensional and not particularly memorable. I would certainly expect something of a higher standard from Spielberg. After all, he's supposed to be the greatest director of all time...

• • Currently 3/5 Stars.

  &IKnowMovies

  

  My real bugbear with 3D offerings of late is the colour and unfortunately those issues are present here. The vibrant colours are almost washed completely by wearing the glasses. Even with their addition for effect the backgrounds were blurred and unfocused, which made some shots a little distracting. I did notice several audience members forgo the glasses altogether. The character animation, however, is a triumph. The comic is brought to life with an engaging cast and constantly changing scenery. Captain Haddock is a stand out here and surprisingly witty, his mannerisms and personality adding to the comedy each time he’s on screen. Snowy the dog is given his due and developed as a character in his own right, I have to mention the Rottweiler scene too as the penman behind this obviously has one of those soppy brutes at home. (As do I). What could have been a scary scene was turned on its head and the delighted reaction of the audience showed they appreciated it. Tin Tin himself is likeable but is somewhat overshadowed by Captain Haddock. Although historically Tin Tin is more of an adult comic strip there was an abundance of under 10s in the audience. I did think the plot a little difficult for them to follow but the gales of laughter from the, often slapstick, humour proved me wrong. My own lads are 14 & 15 and didn’t take their eyes from the screen once, evidence that this production has mass appeal. Spielberg and Jackson have taken Tin Tin and made him accessible; the visual chances they’ve taken here have paid off, for the most part, though I’m not convinced that the 3D was a necessary addition. The running time at 107 minutes feels a little long for an animation but again the audience didn’t seem to grow restless at any time. For me this won’t match the blockbusters of the year, nor will it stand up as an option for solely adult audiences unless they are Tin Tin fans to begin with. But is certainly an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours with family.