“The Adventures of Tintin” is a grand adventure story for the whole family. This is what the fourth Indiana Jones film should have been like…
In “The Adventures of Tintin,” a young journalist named Tintin (voiced by Jamie Bell) finds himself swept away on a grand treasure chase complete with pirates. His inquisitive nature, practical wits and the company of his charming dog Snowy makes Tintin a fun adventurer to follow. Joining him in company is the oft drunk Captain Haddock (voiced by Andy Serkis) who holds hidden in his mind an important clue to finding the treasure. Impeding the journey is the formidable foe and pirate Ivanovich Sakharine (voiced by Daniel Craig). Sakharine has a sweet name, but is most definitely not a sweet man.
“Tintin” is based on a comic series, which I must admit that I have not read. Tintin should have no problem attracting a new generation of fans and keeping the nostalgic ones happy. Even with the realistic animation, there are several instances that pay homage to the series’ original animation style such as the beautiful opening credits, and later a fun street caricature drawing of the friendly Tintin. As for the motion-capture animation, it is done beautiful and makes the action scenes all the more impressive. Tintin finds himself involved in many chases, but all the runs, slides, punches and falls look very realistic. Backgrounds are simply gorgeous and many a scene will be like eye candy for the adults. My only quip with the motion-capture is if you’re going to go to the lengths to make a realistic looking film, why not just use real people in the first place? But I suppose I will excuse this one as it only makes sense to keep a film based on a comic as an animation.
There are some moments in Tintin that might be little scary for small children — a surprisingly bloody shootout and lots of emphasis on alcoholism — but otherwise, this is a great holiday adventure for the whole family. Parents and children will both find something to chuckle about and all will get swept away with the story of the ship the Unicorn. This holiday season take the relatives to Tintin. I look forward to the Tintin adventures continuing on the big screen.
