Did you read The Adventures of Tintin when you were a kid? I know sure did. I was introduced to the wonder of the entire series created by Hergé during Saturday morning cartoons on Canada’s CBC. Then, the books became a part of my early elementary school reading thanks to the Scholastic Book Fair. So naturally, when I saw that a film was coming out to depict a combination of three of the adventures, mostly from The Secret of the Unicorn, my heart skipped a beat.

Combing their movie making powers, both Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson tag teamed the project with Spielberg serving as director and Jackson serving as executive producer (jobs they agreed to swap if the film garned them a sequel). Spielberg had been saying that he didn’t want to create this movie until the technology was capable of bringing Herge’s depiction of Tintin to life. Here is a quick synopsis of the film.

Tintin (Jamie Bell) comes across a model ship that catches his eye in the market. Little does he know that it will enter him into a world of trouble and adventure. After his place is ransacked, he discovers the mast contains a parchment and that two other model ships have similar parchments, leading to the coordinates of a the Unicorn’s sunken treasure. Along the way, Tintin gains the friendship of Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis) while they both try and battle Ivanovich Sakharine (Daniel Craig) to get to the treasure before he does.

What I liked most about the film as a whole was that they paid homage to the original stories by recreating famous scenes and moments not only from the books but from the TV show as well. While some critics feel that Spielberg and Jackson should have removed the comedic characters of Thompson and Thomson, I thoroughly enjoyed their comic relief throughout the multiple action sequences.

What was really exciting was the 3D elements and the motion capture technology used to create the film. The energy and character of the actors really shone through throughout the film giving the cartoon like surface a lot more life than any other animated film we’ve seen thus far. One of my favorite sequences is when Tintin and Haddock are in a chase sequence with a hawk through Baggar. The scene could easily be turned into a 3D adventure ride at Universal Studios in the near future. It was incredibly thrilling.

Overall Rating:

I’d definitely give this movie a 4.5 out of 5 stars. It is fun for the whole family during the holiday season plus, it will bring out the kid in all of us who remember the books or just want to relive our youthfulness and innocence through the eyes of a wide-eyed, adventure seeking ginger journalist. The Adventures of Tintin a must-see in my opinion. Check out the trailer below.

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