THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN (2011)

Director: Steven Spielberg
Writers: Hergé (comic book series “The Adventures of Tintin”), Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish (screenplay)
Running time: 107 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): PG

Genre: Animation/Action/Adventure
UK Release date: 26^th October 2011

Watched on Sky+ Thursday 27^th December 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I remember there being a lot of talk in the press when this one came out; opinion appeared divided. Of course I didn’t get a chance to see it at the time of release and so I was pleased when it came up in the Christmas films on TV this month. It’s an interesting film with some nice ideas… I’ll tell you more after this very brief summary.

When Tintin (Jamie Bell) buys a model of the 17^th Century ship ‘The Unicorn’, he doesn’t realise the trouble he’s about to cause himself. A mysterious character, Sakharine (Daniel Craig) tries to buy the ship off him but he refuses. An accident leads to the discovery of a secret parchment; a clue that will lead Tintin (& his faithful dog, Snowy) on a great adventure. They board a ship and discover the captain, a certain Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis) is being held captive and drunk by his own crew who have been bought off by Sakharine. Can Tintin discover the secret of the Unicorn… Can he sober Captain Haddock up long enough for him to be of any help… Will the Thompson Twins (Nick Frost & Simon Pegg) turn up later in a kind of ‘just in the nick of time’ way?... All these and many more questions to be answered.

It’s all very well made with state of the art animation and motion capture to the fore. All the performances were very good with Andy Serkis standing out as Captain Haddock. It did, however, feel like a series of set pieces stitched together by a rather flimsy adventure story. Far too much is left to coincidence for anything to be credible I’m afraid, which is probably why I wasn’t really a fan of the Tintin stories in the first place. Over all, it didn’t quite work for me; however, I would be interested to see what they do with the next instalment.

SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED (…Just)

My score: 6.9/10

IMDb Score: 7.4/10 (based on 103,119 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0983193/

MetaScore: 68/100: (Based on 40 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 75/100 (based on 198 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 75/100 ‘Liked it’ (based on 68,353 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_adventures_of_tintin/

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FAVOURITE QUOTES:
[in a plane]
Captain Haddock: You do know what you're doing, right?
Tintin: Relax. I interviewed a pilot once!

Tintin: Captain, can you get us to Bagghar?
Captain Haddock: What sort of a stupid question is that?
[gets up]
Captain Haddock: Give me those oars! I'll show you some real seamanship, laddie! I'll not be doubted by some pipsqueak tuft of ginger and his irritating dog. I am master and commander of the seas!

Tintin: To think, all it took was one day in the Sahara! Congratulations, Captain, you're sober!

Tintin: How's your thirst for adventure, Captain?
Captain Haddock: Unquenchable, Tintin.

LINKS:
Official Site: http://us.tintin.com/
Trailer: