Underwhelming!

Rating: Null/10 (15 May 2015)

From the filmmaker who has enriched the world cinema with some of the most adventurous, dazzling & unforgettable films ever made, The Adventures of Tintin marks a couple of firsts for Steven Spielberg. In a massively successful career that spans 4 decades, it's his very first foray into the medium of animation & also marks his first stint with digital filmmaking.
Based on the immensely popular comic book series by Hergé, the story of The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn follows the fearless journalist Tintin, his pet dog Snowy & the permanently drunk Captain Haddock who together set off on an adventure to unearth the secret of a ship that sank 300 years ago & was once commanded by one of Haddock's ancestors.
Co-written by Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish, produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Steven Spielberg, The Adventures of Tintin opens with a brilliantly composed opening credits sequence that wonderfully pays its homage to its source material but after that, it feels like an inconsistent mash-up of Hergé's Tintin & Spielberg's Indiana Jones that isn't as rewarding as expected.
Spielberg's direction is still worthy of mention for he shows a great comfort in what is a new filmmaking experience for him & is never hesitant to try a few experiments with the camera, for animation makes possible a number of sequences that would be too difficult to capture in a live-action scenario. The editing however is a mixed bag for it fails to provide a tighter plot & a brisker pace would've sufficed a lot.
The animation is gorgeous for the rendering captures the authentic ambiance of the comics, every frame is richly detailed, characters aren't entirely computer-generated as is the case in most animated features but make use of motion-capture to bring the real performances of the actors behind the voices, and the ever dependable John Williams once again chips in with an adventurous, mesmerising & light-hearted score.
The cast consists of Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Nick Frost, Simon Pegg & others and all of them chip in with fairly good performances. The characters look exactly like their comic book drawings, the voice acting as well as the motion-capture performance by all is commendable, Tintin's beloved dog Snowy is a great comic relief & whether it's humour or entertainment, the film has a few cheering moments for everyone.
On an overall scale, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn is underwhelming as far as what was expected from it but it still makes up for a good ride, if not a great one. The entire picture feels like the writers were unsure which aspect to favour more: character depth or big-screen spectacle, & they end up half-way on both. Nevertheless, the film promises plenty of fun, entertainment & wonders to its viewers. It's just that it won't be remembered in the years to come.