The Adventures of Tintin

Whenever I'd go to my grandmother's place when I was young, I'd look under one of her couches and there was a pile of books; but not just any books... they were Tintin books. My brother and I would alternate between reading the books and making planes and buildings out of Meccano... they were great times.

Another childhood favourite, Steven Spielberg (you may have heard of him), has gotten together a rag-tag bunch of dudes to adapt Herge's books for the big screen. The screenplay was written by some top notch British writers, Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead), Joe Cornish (Attack the Block) and Steven Moffat (some little show called Doctor Who). Chuck in honorary Hobbit, Peter Jackson as a producer and you've got yourself one hell of a film... and the cast isn't bad either.

Inquisitive journalist Tintin (Jamie Bell - Billy Elliot) and his ever faithful companion/dog Snowy are no strangers to adventure. Tintin sits in a park and gets his portrait drawn by a lovely man (who just happens to look exactly like Herge) while a pickpocket does the rounds. Hot on his trail are no-so-competent police officers Thompson and Thomson (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost - Shaun of the Dead) (you pick which one's which). Tintin sees a model ship for sale at a stall and buys it for one pound.

The ship isn't just any ship, it's a model of The Unicorn, a ship that sailed during the reign of Charles II and was supposed to be carrying a very special cargo. Tintin gets caught up in a hunt for clues that will lead him to the resting place of the ship and whatever lay with it. Along for the ride is frequently drunk Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis - Rise of the Planet of the Apes). Turns out the mystery of The Unicorn just happens to be a family secret, if only Haddock could remember it!

Also after the treasure is a man called Sakharine (Daniel Craig - Cowboys and Aliens), but why on earth is he interested in this ship? The film takes us around the world, albeit a CGI one, in a smashing adventure in search of treasure, bad guys, and whiskey.

Is this the first film Andy Serkis has done in mo-cap that he has actually played a person? It must be. Good for him.

I remember watching Monsters, Inc. when it came out ten years ago and marvelling at Sully's hair. The special effects were breathtaking. Now... wow. It's astonishing the level of detail that they are able to put in to these films; the pores on Sakharine's face, Tintin's hair (what he has of it) blowing in the breeze, it's just wonderful. I saw it 3D, I think 3D does wonders for animated films which it still fails to do so sometimes for live action.

For Herge fans, there are references to the original books. For Spielberg fans there are loads of easter eggs from films past. I saw references from Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Last Crusade, Jaws and even this youtube clip (not one of Spielberg's but super funny nonetheless). I think he even nicked a bit from Star Wars Episode IV.

I had a ball with this, after the heaviness of The Iron Lady yesterday it was nice to have some good clean fun. Though I'm very surprised that Spielberg let his main character carry a gun... maybe he will airbrush that out in a few years time and replace it with a mobile phone. There's tonnes going on on the screen and never a dull moment.

The transitions between scenes were so lovely. There's one scene, which is in the trailer, where a ship sails through the desert and the sand turns into water as it goes which was just gorgeous to watch. John Williams always does a cracking job with his scores and he's done another great one here.

Looking forward to the sequels of which I'm sure there will be many.

Things I learnt: if you don't have a plan, a bottle of whiskey is the next best thing; never bet your eyelids in a game of cards; I have to watch Raiders again.

Blistering barnacles!
Eight out of ten.