"Billions of bilious blue boiled and barbecued barnacles!"...

Rating: Null/10 (30 October 2011)

...or as we say in Dutch: "Duizend bommen & granaten!"
Like you've probably noticed I went to see 'The Adventures of TinTin: The Secret of the Unicorn'. To be exact; I saw it yesterday, a week after the world premiere here in Brussels, Belgium. I don't want to spoil a lot about the movie, because I'm aware that people from the USA have to wait until the movie arrives in their theatres on the 21 of December 2011.
As a Belgian it is quite logical to know who TinTin (Dutch translation: 'Kuifje', literally translated in English it would be 'Tuft' because of his hair) is. The comics of TinTin are quite known and popular here because of Hergé his Belgian origin. Also because of the fine memorabilia that you can get of TinTin, Snowy, Haddock, ...
But back to the movie review. I had quite high expectations with this movie. The reasons are simple; 'Will Spielberg honour Hergé's heritage?', 'Will TinTin be the TinTin we all knew and grew up with?', 'Is there a chance that the characters will loose their power of imagination and innocence when they talk and move?', ...
Well... I'm happy to say that Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson did a marvelous job. They took the effort to know TinTin and do him honour. You get to know the brave, unselfish and energetic TinTin. You see how loyal and fearless Snowy is. Or how much of a goof Capitain Haddock is, but also very proud of his background. You'll see how confused and know-it-all Thomson and Thompson are in their own humorous ways. Really if you are a TinTin fanatic or you just appreciate TinTin, you will find pleasure in the characters and the storyline.
Now, an other aspect of the movie is the fact that it's in 3D. And I do believe it was the right choice to wait and film it in 3D because, believe me, it was beyond beautiful. For me 3D is about details details and details. If you can't take the effort to make it as real as possible, you better don't start with it. But yet again, they did a splendid job. The first 10 seconds of the movie I was blown away because I thought it wasn't an animation movie that I was watching but a real one. It's from the moment that you see the people their faces that you notice that it is an animation movie. Not in a bad way, because the people had the typical characteristic features that all of Hergé his characters have. Which I was glad to see because that made the experience of hergé his comics coming alive more fantastic. But like I said it was all in the details. If you saw a close-up shot of TinTin for example, you saw the little hairs on his head moving in the wind. Or you saw the leaves of the trees in the background slowly moving like leaves do in real life. There are also a few scenes that took place on the sea (in broad day light or at night) and it was amazing how real it all looked. you could imagine yourself standing at the coastline and experience the glistening of the sun on the sea surface. Also the transitions from old to knew or from a scene to a new scene were scrupulous done. I just loved it and admired it.
It's just amazing to see a comic coming alive. A comic with a special style, clear lines, in a way kind of atypical compared to other comics.
So for those who love TinTin, or for those who love animation coming alive in 3D, or for those who just like a good movie that is easy to follow and that makes you laugh. Go and see 'The Adventures of TinTin'. It would be hard to believe that you will leave the theatres disappointed after seeing this movie.
I can't wait for the next adventure of TinTin.
J.