a5c7b9f00b Having bought a model ship, the Unicorn, for a pound off a market stall Tintin is initially puzzled that the sinister Mr. Sakharine should be so eager to buy it from him, resorting to murder and kidnapping Tintin - accompanied by his marvellous dog Snowy - to join him and his gang as they sail to Morocco on an old cargo ship. Sakharine has bribed the crew to revolt against the ship's master, drunken Captain Haddock, but Tintin, Snowy and Haddock escape, arriving in Morocco at the court of a sheikh, who also has a model of the Unicorn. Haddock tells Tintin that over three hundred years earlier his ancestor Sir Francis Haddock was forced to scuttle the original Unicorn when attacked by a piratical forebear of Sakharine but he managed to save his treasure and provide clues to its location in three separate scrolls, all of which were secreted in models of the Unicorn. Tintin and Sakharine have one each and the villain intends to use the glass-shattering top Cs of operatic soprano the Milanese Nightingale to secure the third. With aid from bumbling Interpol agents the Thompson Twins our boy hero, his dog and the captain must prevent Sakharine from obtaining all three scrolls to fulfil the prophesy that only the last of the Haddocks can discover the treasure's whereabouts. Intrepid reporter Tintin and Captain Haddock set off on a treasure hunt for a sunken ship commanded by Haddock's ancestor. "You care about something, you fight for it. You hit a wall, you push through it." – Captain Haddock.<br/><br/>Check out my full review at: http://reelstorymovies.blogspot.com/2012/04/adventures-of-tintin.html<br/><br/>Steven Spielberg's computer animated children's movie, "The Adventures of Tintin" is a fun, thrill ride, which is suitable for older kids and adults all the same. The movie, fashioned from the most popular European comics in the 20th century, is a dazzling rendition of the famous Belgian artist Georges Remi (1907–1983), who published the series of comic albums under the pen name of Hergé.<br/><br/>As far as source material is concerned, Spielberg's adaptation of Remi's famous work revolves around the story of meeting, and then collaborating with the drunken, and kidnapped Captain Haddock, who has had his ship taken from him after a mutiny.<br/><br/>The classic Tintin character, Captain Haddock, played by Andy Serkis, escapes with Tintin and snowy (his white fox terrier dog) and embark on an adventure together to find Captain Haddock's grandfather's sunken treasure on the Unicorn.<br/><br/>The tale is engaging and exciting. It was well-directed and was filled with suspense. The action scenes, while implausible and hearkening back to Spielberg's days directing Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, draw you into the fantasy world unfolding on the screen.<br/><br/>The most impactful point of the movie is when it appears like all hope is lost. The bad guys have gotten away with the secret message Haddock left, Tintin and Haddock are stranded, and Haddock gives a rousing speech to encourage Tintin to push through this "wall" they face: "Failed. There are plenty of others willing to call you a failure. A fool. A loser. A hopeless souse. Don't you ever say it of yourself. You send out the wrong signal, that is what people pick up. Don't you understand? You care about something, you fight for it. You hit a wall, you push through it. There's something you need to know about failure, Tintin. You can never let it defeat you."<br/><br/>While the animation is similar to any other animated film, it lacks Hergé's signature ligne claire style, which characterized his comics. Tintin is easily recognizable by his red hair, and the front which sticks up, but Hergé's signature style is largely absent in the animation of Tintin.<br/><br/>Tintin and Haddock's "stick-to-it-ness" is a highlight of the movie as they endure impossible odds, are faced with countless detours and missteps, yet continue on in their pursuit of the goal.<br/><br/>It reminds me a lot of the Christian life. That it is a marathon, not a sprint. That there are ups and downs, there are failures and successes, and to continue to run the race, pursue the goal, that is key. That is and will always be the point: to never give up and to continue on until the end.<br/><br/>In Philippians 3, Paul urges his fellow followers of Jesus to press on, like him, even a great apostle who has planted several churches with great results. He tells the Philippians: Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 3:12-14<br/><br/>As Christians today, we need to follow Paul's example. We need to exhibit this same type of never give up, never say die attitude that Captain Haddock spurs Tintin on to, even when it looks like all hope is lost.<br/><br/>I also liked the team that Haddock, Tintin, and little snowy, formed as Haddock was a lost and drunken soul, desiring adventure and purpose, and snowy was a little dog, but both played a very important role in the trio finding what they sought: treasure.<br/><br/>In order for us, as Christians, to go the distance we need each other. We need people to keep us focused on what really matters. We need those around us to encourage us to continue when we are ready to give up. We need someone to tell us that we can do it and we must go on, and not let us settle for failure.<br/><br/>Haddock's word ring true for us too in this life: "There's something you need to know about failure, you can never let it defeat you."<br/><br/>My Score – Overall Rating: 8.25 out of 10 Plot: 9 out of 10 Character Development: 7 out of 10 Acting: 8 out of 10 Audio/Visuals: 8 out of 10 I went into Tintin with great expectations, I intentionally ignored any trailers or reviews as I wanted to go into the film without any prejudice, unfortunately the film did not live up to my expectations, worse than that, I found it to be an utter bore.<br/><br/>First though, the positives. The film is visually spectacular, it's vibrant, detailed and just a joy to behold. The characters are designed wonderfully, almost like they were ripped out of the series and placed into a 3-dimensional world. The 3D, if you decide or are forced to watch it in the format, is great for the most part. There are some shots that stood out as looking spectacular in 3D, in particular a long corridor shot on the ship really impressed me.<br/><br/>The direction is also great, throughout the many set-pieces in the film, Spielberg's hand guides us through these scenes with flair, and you can tell he's taken advantage of the format with some wonderfully creative shots.<br/><br/>On to the negative, and in my opinion they outweigh the positive.<br/><br/>The film feels jumbled and at times I felt like I was dragged kicking and screaming into the next bombastic and usually unnecessary set-piece. There were so many chases, escapes and battles there was never going to be time for character development, let alone a story that could be told well. Let's not forget that this film will be an introduction to Tintin for many people, and action fans will lap it up. More discerning film- goers with a desire for something a little more substantial will leave disappointed.<br/><br/>To me, one of the most important parts of the series is the relationship between Haddock and Tintin, and it is not well developed in the film, a real missed opportunity in my opinion. The film really dragged, which was a huge disappointment for me. I was relieved once it was over, but I hope it makes enough moolah for a superior sequel to be made. Busy, busy. That's The Adventures of Tintin boiled down to its essence. The Adventures of Tintin is an adaptation of the Belgian comic book series The Adventures of Tintin created by the Belgian artist Georges Rémi, who wrote under the pen name of Hergé. Specifically, it's based on three particular entries in the series: The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn, and Red Rackham's Treasure. Steven Spielberg had planned on doing an adaptation of the Tintin series in the early 1980s, as both he and Hergé were fans of each others' work. After the death of Hergé, however, the project fell out of development until it was recently revived. The script was co-written by British screenwriters Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright, and Joe Cornish. Many had expected from the trailers that both parts of the treasure hunt tale, "The Secret of the Unicorn" and "Red Rackham's Treasure" respectively, would be covered in the film. Once the film was out, however, this quite obviously turned out to be false. "Red Rackham's Treasure" is not in this film and, since professor Calculus is first introduced in that half of the tale, he fittingly doesn't appear. It then stands to reason that he will make an appearance in a sequel, should there be one. The film is actually a combination of "Crab with the Golden Claws" and "The Secret of the Unicorn", especially since the film depicts Tintin and Haddock's first encounter. Possibly the only scene taken from "Red Rackham's Treasure" is the ending, when they do find the actual treasure in its location. The original Tintin comic series spanned the years 1929 to 1976. While most of the series has aged well, some of the earlier entries in the series (specifically Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, Tintin in the Congo and Tintin in America) might appear controversial to modern audiences, due to stereotyped portrayals of other cultures. However, these depictions were not supposed to be intentionally malicious, but were rather the result of the cultural values at the time of their creation. The Tintin comics actually became well known for their accurate and tolerant portrayals of other cultures. During the creation of the fifth comic in the series The Blue Lotus, Hergé met a Chinese man named Zhang Chongren with whom he became lifelong friends. Because of this friendship, Hergé decide that from then on, the creation of all the Tintin comics would involve meticulous research into creating accurate depictions of other cultures. No, there's nothing after the credits. In the beginning of the movie, a newspaper stating that Tintin uncovered a tribe of gangsters in Africa has the date Wednesday, January 29th, 1930. The book on which the movie is based places the story in 1943. Right after the agent is killed at Tintin's frontdoor, we see some Citroën 2CV's parked outside, and when Tintin looks at the bloodstained newspaper, we see it is dated December 12th, 1944, but the 2CV is produced between 1948 and 1990. When the detectives leave Tintin's place, you see a yellow Renault 4cv parked at the other side of the street. This car was first introduced at the 33rd Paris Motor Show on October 3rd, 1946. In The Art of The Adventures of Tintin, a book which chronicles the making of the film, Weta Digital VFX Art Director Kim Sinclair was quoted: