Dazzling visuals, strong score and great cast, could've been even better

Rating: 7/10 (1 November 2011)

I was much anticipating The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. It looked interesting, the cast on paper are great and I am fond of both John Williams and Steven Spielberg. I am also a fan of the comics and the animated series which I saw over and over in English and French.
When I finally saw the film, I admit I was slightly disappointed but actually while there was room for improvement I thought it was good.
First of all, the visuals are truly dazzling, so much colour and you can tell in both the settings, character designs and cinematography that a lot of effort had gone into it technically. John Williams' score is not among his very best, but it is strong and memorable with some of Williams' distinctive style.
The story is a great idea and while there are some slow spots it is thrillingly told. There are also some masterly touches to Spielberg's direction, particularly the back of a hand morphing into desert dunes, the galleons on the ocean enacting a sea battle and a motorcycle chase taken on one shot.
Against all this, part of me felt it could've been more. For me, despite the brilliant voice over from Jamie Bell, not much is done to make Tintin particularly compelling. The script is mostly good, but the comedy could've been timed a little better. This has nothing to knock Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, their delivery is as enthusiastic and as witty as it ever could be, but sometimes the presence of Thomson and Thompson jars with the overall tone of the film.
I loved the cast. Bell is brilliant, Pegg and Frost are good as are Daniel Craig and Toby Jones but I thought the standout was Andy Serkis. Not only is he a lot of fun to watch and hear, but for my money Captain Haddock and Snowy were the two most engaging characters.
All in all, a good film with several strong things, but I wasn't entirely blown away by it. 7/10 Bethany Cox