A good adaptation of the Tintin comics--but it could have been better

Rating: 7/10 (30 October 2011)

As a big fan of the comics I could think of quite a few ways in which this could have been better, but for the most part, I quite enjoyed the movie. It's very true to the comics, and packed with exciting action set-pieces. There is a flashback sequence of a crazy sea battle that is positively jaw-dropping. I didn't love the last set-piece involving cranes, though, and I don't understand why they left out the underwater treasure hunt from the comic--I thought the film could have used another interesting location. Visually, it's a bit of a mixed bag, although it certainly looks much better than any of Robert Zemeckis' mo-cap films to date. Some of it looks really stunning and some of the characters (well, Haddock) are fairly cartoony and work really well, while others are too realistic, and look a bit stiff and artificial (Tintin himself, Snowy, and the villain). All in all, I think a less realistic, more consistent approach would have probably worked better. A few more exotic, visually interesting locales wouldn't have hurt, either.
Still, I hope the movie makes some money and Spielberg and Jackson get to make a second one. Despite my reservations, they did get a lot of things right and I would like to see them adapt some of the other great Tintin books. Maybe they'll even find something interesting to do for some of the characters from the comics that made brief appearances in this one without contributing much at all.