Blistering muthafuckin Barnacles!
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Director: Steven Spielberg
Music : John Williams
Producers : Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg
Writers : Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright etc
Actors :Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg and Daniel Craig

Damn that is some heavyweight production, Tintin on HBO was dope

PUMPED. Shit looks dope.

Its using Avatar style performance-capture too, so the fluidity and movement will be spectacular. Loved Tintin as a kid. I went to the Tintin museum when I was over in Belgium a few years back, it was a treasure trove. Amped for this flick.

Looking more like an animated Indiana Jones adventure now. The motorcycle handlebars swinging whilst breaking up, dope.

yeah it looks fucking rad

Quote:The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn Review
Steven Spielberg directs this animated adaptation of Herge's hugely popular comic books.

The first Tintin comic strip hit newsstands back in 1929, and yet while the books have been capturing the hearts and minds of children the world over ever since - selling more than 350m copies in the process - the boyish reporter has yet to grace the silver screen. Until now that is.

Thanks to the combined clout of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, Herge's most famous character is spectacularly brought to life using state-of-the-art computer-generated effects, and in three-dimensions no less.


Yet while the film is undoubtedly easy-on-the-eye - director Spielberg bringing the comic-strip panels to life in intricate fashion - the film nevertheless has problems in terms of pacing and characterisation, making this a far-from perfect celluloid adaptation.

The visuals take the breath away from the outset however, the film commencing with stylish opening credits that hark back to Spielberg's own Catch Me If You Can, with character silhouettes acting out vignettes to a toe-tapping John Williams score.

We're then transported to a Brussels market where we meet be-quiffed, baby-faced reporter Tintin, voiced by Jamie Bell and brought to life by WETA Digital using image-based facial performance capture. This isn't the dead-eyed CG of The Polar Express and Beowulf however, but rather a far more convincing approximation of the human face, just a few steps away from being photo-real.

Together with his trusty canine sidekick Snowy, Tintin trawls the market in search of intrigue, which comes in the shape of a beautiful model ship that once purchased by the pair, attracts unwanted attention of the deadly kind.

For hidden within the vessel is a scroll that sets the dynamic duo on a globetrotting adventure that combines three Tintin books - The Secret of the Unicorn, The Crab With the Golden Claws and Red Rackham's Treasure - and revolves around a riddle, a curse, a shipwreck and a bounty of buried treasure.

It also enables the filmmakers to create a collection of jaw-dropping action set-pieces in a series of glamorous locales, including the Saharan desert and the imaginary Moroccan city of Bagghar. Stand-outs include a stunning battle on the high seas which is chock-full of clever match cuts and transitions to blend past and present, and an amazing boat/bike/tank chase that unfolds in one incredible continuous take.

But the sheer number and length of these sequences means that their impact lessens as proceedings advance, the film building towards less a crescendo and more an anti-climax.

They prove to be a treasure trove of inside jokes however, with the filmmakers paying homage to everything from North by Northwest and Peter Pan to Jaws. But it's another Spielberg classic - Indiana jones - that gets most obviously and frequently referenced, with Tintin pulling off the kind of action moves that would make the archaeologist adventurer proud.

The only trouble is, he lacks the world-weary charisma that made Indy so compelling. Instead, Tintin is somewhat bland - a blank-faced goody two-shoes whose relentless pursuit of the truth, while noble, does begin to grate.

Screenwriters Steven Moffatt, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish have clearly identified this fact, and so Snowy provides the entertainment in the opening sequences, with Captain Haddock taking responsibility in the film's second half.

Fans of the books will know Haddock as Tintin's long-time partner-in-crime-fighting, but here the two of them are strangers, with the story detailing the origin of their friendship. As played by Andy Serkis, he's the undoubted star of the show, a cantankerous sea captain with a drink problem and a seemingly endless supply of gruff one-liners (some of which may be a little mature for young audiences).

Indeed, Haddock is the most successful comic character in the film, with series stalwarts Thompson and Thomson something of a disappointment, the pair shoe-horned into proceedings and failing to raise a laugh in spite of the fact that they are voiced by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.

As for the villain of the piece, Daniel Craig does his best as the voice of Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine, but the character lacks menace, feeling less like a tangible threat and more like a somewhat antagonistic librarian. Which makes for a film that's filled with action and spectacle, but lacks the kind of intrigue and danger needed to sustain interest throughout.

The result is a fine family flick that eventually runs out of steam and ultimately outstays its welcome, in spite of the fact that the run-time is a relatively brief 107-minutes. Which is frustrating as with some judicious editing and the emphasis on quality rather than quantity on the action front, it could have been a classic.

The decision to use computer animation is largely a successful one, though that spectacular chase aside, it feels like the film could have been shot on location away from the green screens, and thereby avoiding falling into that strange netherworld between live-action and animation.

Spielberg nevertheless seems to be having a ball with the process, bringing an energy and enthusiasm to proceedings that has been missing from his recent output, and proving that when he gets it right, there's no better action director around.

So while this may not be the perfect Tintin adaptation, it's nevertheless an entertaining one; a film that honours the charm and spirit of the books, and one that should please fans and newcomers alike.

steven spielberg and peter jackson? gawd dayum!

where's that review from?

^That was from IGN, pal.

There's more reviews flooding in now.