Blistering Barnacles! The adventure film of the year!

Rating: Null/10 (20 October 2011)

Having grown up with the Tintin comic books, I was doubtful of this project. I'm not a fan of the motion-capture technology and I feared the world created by Hergé would be sanitized for American audiences. But there was no need to worry. Tintin is a funny, exciting and tremendously entertaining adventure movie. It's also Spielberg's most entertaining film since Jurassic Park.
Tintin (Jamie Bell) is a young reporter who gets tangled in the affairs of smugglers when he buys a model ship from a scrap meet. When he gets kidnapped to the smugglers' ship, he meets Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis). He's a pure-hearted old drunk, who has information on a great treasure, told as a legend in his family for generations. He just needs to get sober enough to remember it. The adventure takes the pair to the Atlantic, Sahara, Morocco and finally back home. Tintin lives in an unmentioned European city that could be Brussels, London or any other one that has a sea port, really.
True to the comics, Tintin himself doesn't really have any strong characteristics. So it stands to reason that the minor characters steal the film again and again. Captain Haddock's alcoholism may not be suitable for the younger children, but it provides some of the film's most hilarious jokes. Almost as good are Nick Frost and Simon Pegg as bumbling Interpol detectives Thompson and Thomson. Familiar faces from the comics pop up now and then, but don't overcrowd the film. The focus is still on the main characters.
Even the 3D isn't just a distraction, as Spielberg has truly gone off his way to make use for the technology. Action scenes are shot with a long single shot, where the camera goes around to wild angles. There's a strong sense of being in on the action and forgetting you even are wearing a pair of painful glasses. The film takes a while to pick off steam at first, but after that the action varies from pirate battles to crane fights. The most outstanding scene is the motorcycle chase near the end, which would give Indiana Jones a run for his money.
The film's story is faithful to the comic book, and thus ends promising more. I hope there will be, because I was willing to follow Tintin and Haddock on new adventures straight away! I'd say it's among the best, the most innovative comic-book films with Sin City and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. The film is excellent escapism from the dreary day-to-day life and it made me smile for the rest of the day.