The Adventures of Tintin

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN (PG)

D: Steven Spielberg

Paramount/Columbia (Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy & Peter Jackson)

US/UK/New Zealand 🇺🇸🇬🇧🇳🇿 2011

107 mins

Animated

W: Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish [based on the comic book characters created by Hergé]

DP: Janusz Kaminski

Ed: Michael Kahn

Mus: John Williams

voices of: Jamie Bell (Tintin), Andy Serkis (Captain Haddock / Sir Francis Haddock), Daniel Craig (Ivan Sakharine / Red Rackham), Nick Frost (Thompson), Simon Pegg (Thompson)

I can't deny that this film has some incredible animation and is visually very well presented, but it seems filmmakers Steven Spielberg & Peter Jackson were so obsessed with the latest technological methods that they completely forgot to be faithful to the original source, therefore alienating a huge section of the potential audience.

Hergé's selection of comic strip books have gathered a massive fan base over the decades and it's been quite a wait for a feature-length film about the young intrepid reporter and his thrilling adventures, previously brought to TV screens in the format of a series of cartoons, none of which varied in animation style from the comics themselves.

This film, despite the title, is actually a jumble of three of the Tintin adventures; The Crab With The Golden Claws, The Secret Of The Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure, but I don't consider the screenplay to be faithful to either one of them, with certain important characters being merged or dropped altogether. Even Tintin himself fails to be portrayed as the intrepid young reporter, but merely a young boy who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. His main sidekick, Captain Haddock is relegated to being an annoying drunk and the villain, well... Read the comic to see for yourselves how they ballsed that one up.

Clearly the studio was trying to indoctrinate a new, juvenile audience rather than the huge fan base which already existed and a sequel is inevitable.

Personally, a better story to start this franchise would have been 'The Black Island', leaving the introduction of Captain Haddock to a later time. Either way, the film pales in comparison to the original books.

5/10

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

Did You Know:

Originally, Steven Spielberg was going to do a live-action adaptation of Tintin, and called Peter Jackson to ask if his visual effects company, Weta Digital, would work on the film, in particular, creating a CGI Snowy. Jackson, as it turned out, was a longtime fan of Tintin, and convinced Spielberg that live action would not do justice to the comic books, and that motion capture was the best way of representing Hergé's world of Tintin. However, Snowy would still be animated.

Award Wins & Nominations:

MILSTEAD MOVIE AWARDS:

Wins: none

Nominations: 2 (Best Animated Film; Best Original Dramatic Score)

OSCARS:

Wins: none

Nominations: 1 (Best Original Score)

BAFTAS

Wins: none

Nominations: 2 (Best Animated Film; Best Visual Effects)

OTHER WINS:

Golden Globes (Best Animated Film); Annies (Best Animated Effects, Best Music); Empire Awards (Achievement in 3D); Florida Film Critics (Best Animated Film); Georgia Film Critics (Best Animated Film); Goldspirit Awards (Best Animated Soundtrack); Hollywood Post Alliance (Best Sound); International Film Music Critics (Best Original Score for an Animated Film); International Online Cinema Awards (Best Animated Film); Motion Picture Sound Editors Awards (Best Sound Editing); New York Online Film Critics (Best Animated Film); North Texas Film Critics (Best Animated Film); Oklahoma Film Critics (Best Animated Film); Online Film & Television Association (Best Animated Film); PGA Awards (Best Animated Film); Satellite Awards (Best Animated Film); St Louis Film Critics (Best Animated Film); Toronto Film Critics (Best Animated Film)