Well I'll be damned, it's actually a good yarn

Rating: 7/10 (13 November 2011)

I've never been the biggest fan of Tintin. For me his character has always been a bit too bland, while his adventures have been entertaining enough. But out of Franco-Belgian comics I've always preferred Lucky Luke and Asterix before Herge's comics. So with that I went to see Steven Spielberg's and Peter Jackson co production and Spielberg directed Tintin movie. And what a blast it was.
Firts of, as you might know, the movie is done with mo-capped CGI animation. Every previous endeavor at the field have been a mishmash of pretty pictures, but eerily human like and appalling characters. Not this time around. WETA uses all the tricks they've learned in doing movie effects like in Cameron's Avatar. They've pulled out all their cannons and they deliver a visual blast of unmatched animation and scenery. On a very few fleeing moments there's that feeling of unsettling eeriness present on a couple of minor characters, but I do dare to say that all the main characters and the majority of the side characters leave that feeling far behind and in many moments you just forget, that you are watching a CGI creations facial movements, as the emotion is fully present in every expression and the eyes steam of life.
The story of the movie revolves around captain Haddocks lost family fortune and villains, who are trying to take his rightful heritage away from him. Tintin stumbles upon this by an accident, when he purchases a miniature of a galley Unicorn. Sure enough, there are some holes in the plot, but Spielberg drives the plot forward with such an enthusiasm, that it is easy to forgive a hole or two, especially when we are treated with great deal of visually splendid action and humour. This all is lazed nicely with a soundtrack of John Williams. Over all the atmosphere is straight from old adventure movies, which dared to be fun instead of foreboding and gloomy.
Voice cast does a good overall work as well. Andy Serkis is good as Haddock and Pegg and Frost do a good job as Dupont & Dupond (or Thompson and Thomson, how ever you want it). Bell manages to breath some life in Tintin as well and over all he's a bit more rounded up as a character in the movie than he ever was in the comics. It's perhaps the facial expression, which are a bit more telling in the movie that they ever were in the Herge's images.
Also, what was a pleasant surprise, the character traits of Haddock have not been sacrificed in the altar PC culture, as he still is the same cursing drunkard as he is the books. Dupont and Dupond are the same incompetent detectives and Tintin is smart as ever while Milou, Tintins dog, stays as his loyal friend and edgier alter ego.
The 3D works nicely on the movie. It's not necessary for the movie, but it's not distracting either, it's merely there to give some depth to the picture so it's not necessarily worth the extra price.
All I can say is, that the more I think about it, the more I can recommend it.