The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011) voice Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Nick Frost, Simon Pegg directed by Steven Spielberg Movie Review

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011)   3/53/53/53/53/5


The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011)

A Mystery to Me

Having had his portrait drawn in a local market, as you do, young reporter Tintin spots an impressive model ship and buys it, something which others try to do immediately after before then someone steals it from Tintin's home. Curious as to what is so special about it that someone would steal it Tintin and his faithful dog Snowy start looking in to things and not only discovers that a man called Sakharine is after his boat but also that the boat may relate to the lost treasure of Sir Francis Haddock. Fortunately Tintin has managed to track down a relative of the great Captain Haddock, the not so great, drink loving Captain Haddock who could unknowingly hold the clue to the treasure.

I reckon regular readers of my reviews may think I had a sad childhood because I always say things such as I never read it as a child. The thing is that the things I enjoyed as a child haven't been made into movies; make of that what you will. But as such I have never read a Tintin story, seen a Tintin cartoon or had anything to do with Hergé's creation. Yes I have heard of Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock as well as Thomson & Thompson but recognizing them is as far as my Tintin knowledge went before watching "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn" one of the much talked about movies of 2011 from Steve Spielberg.

Now as such I can say from an entertainment point of view "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn" did not a lot for me as we have this annoying character on an adventure to unravel a mystery which puts him in danger. Everything about it from a story point of view ended up typical and typical was not enough to enthral me. Maybe it is different for those who grew up reading the adventures of Tintin and I would hope this bringing it to life, so to speak, is a joy for fans.

Of course there is another side to "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn" and that is the motion capture rendering of the characters. So yes it is visually impressive with some rendering being remarkably life like. But because the actual storyline didn't grab me it almost felt like a waste of effort.

What this all boils down to is that whilst "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn" is visually impressive the actual storyline did little for me. But I am sure those who grew up on the adventures of Tintin will love it a whole lot more than I did.


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