A great homage to Hergé, with a nice twist

Rating: 8/10 (28 October 2011)

I just came back from watching Tintin and first thing I have to say is that I enjoyed it! I'd been afraid that Spielberg would mess it up and that digital Tintin wouldn't be my cup of tea, but it was fine.
The opening scene was perfect, I got so excited at Hergé making a caricature of Tintin (it's a pleasant, personal scene) and the market actually being the Foxmarket in the Marollenwijk in Brussels! I'm also glad Spielberg decided to go for an animation, because that way they could make all the people look the same way they do (from their clothes to their faces) in the strip which was such a joy. And oh, I loved the articles on Tintin's wall referring to strip titles and Bianca Castafiore's appearance! I hadn't seen that coming, it was fun! I also thought Tintin's portrayal was interesting. In the strip he's pretty blank, but in the film he felt more like a real human being. The scene where he went "I can smell it all over you" to Haddock with an annoyed tone is what made him feel most real to me.
The story itself was nice, though I felt a bit bad they turned Sacharine into a bad guy, but oh well. They combined some strips and they did it well, I think.
The only negative point is Captain Haddock. Captain Haddock was a bit too much of a hopeless drunk for laughs for me. In the strip he's still a bad ass alcoholic, but in the film he's whiny and pretty dumb. Especially that cheesy speech of his to Tintin didn't feel like something Captain Haddock would do.
I also have some mixed feelings about some scenes - mainly the pursuit in the Moroccan city - being so obviously made for 3D. That's just me though because I don't feel the necessity of 3D in films and think of it as a way to rake in a bit more profit.
Anyway, I'm happy. The excitement around the film made me pick up and reread the Tintin strips again, reminding me how much I loved to read them again. I feel tempted to go see it again. I'm even slightly wishing for another Tintin film, but as the majority of sequels are disasters I'm fine with only one Tintin film.
8/10!