Overall Rating: Score: 8.7/10
Grade: A
Family-Friendliness Scale: Level 3 (OK)
Kids ages 9+
Great snakes!!!
In the first adventure, Tintin (Jamie Bell) is an avid, young reporter who keeps looking for stories to uncover. When he decides to buy a model ship called the Unicorn, little does he know it will lead him on the adventure of his life, where he must solve the mystery of an ancient treasure with the help of a drunk sea captain named Haddock (Andy Serkis), before a descendant of an evil pirate (Daniel Craig) finds it first.
Positive Notes
Tintin, though mainly focusing on entertaining than educating, showcases some hidden morals on
determination, teamwork, and how one person can make a difference in any situation. The animation is
fantastic, with the 3-D visuals, backgrounds, and characters looking the most realistic I've seen in all this years' animated films. The story is full of twists and turns, and the cast stands out, including Bell, Serkis, Craig, and Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as the comical Thompson and Thompson. Scoring all of Spielberg's movies to date, John Williams delivers an emotional and breathtaking music score. Also, Tintin's dog Snowy steals scenes, bringing more comic relief to the script.
One thing that I found enjoyable about Tintin was that it followed the old-school pattern of typical mystery solving, which hasn't really been used since the Scooby-Doo mysteries. It keeps you on guessing through some of the film, and the characters play bigger roles a lot of times than what you think they are at first. The movie stays faithful to the original comic books by the late Herge. Several thrilling moments.
Negative Notes
Loads of adventure-style/swashbuckling action violence (similar to the Indiana Jones movies). While impressively done and almost completely bloodless (except for one brief moment), it will likely overwhelm little ones. Haddock drinks and is inebriated quite a bit, sometimes causing hallucinations. One d-word, one h-word, and two misuses of God's name. A pickpocket steals things and people are briefly seen smoking.
Conclusion
Unlike many other things, Tintin's comics are largely unheard of stateside, and I personally have never heard of the name. Everyone seems to get the name confused with Rin-tin-tin, but, at least it has an audience overseas, where its' mostly popular. Now, Steven Spielberg has chosen to adapt it into a motion-capture animated 3-D event, and will his guidance make this another classic? The answer is yes and no.
Why yes? Spielberg definitely brought it in this film. The animation quality is incredibly realistic, and the story and acting is nicely-done. His signature "touch" is very much recognized in this movie (for what I've heard, its' his first movie ever done with digital cinematography, which is actually quite surprising). Peter Jackson also adds his signature touch of absolutely amazing CGI/motion-capture effects to the mix that makes it even more exciting and realistic. Add in a brilliant score by John Williams and great 3D, and this can truly be seen as popcorn-worthy entertainment.
Why no? Simply, its' not for younger children. Its' actually quite violent for a PG-rated pic, and some of the drinking/hallucinations will cause parents to have a lot of explaining to do (in the case of little ones). Basically, before going out on this adventure, parents will need to check all of this cross-country trip's contents before determining if this is right for their kids under the age range I recommended.
Regardless of mild cautions, Tintin is a fantastic action flick that takes advantage of its' old-school style mystery and combines it with clever animation and plotlines.
