With the Adventures of Tintin, one thing is certain, you’re never sure of Steven Spielberg’s versatility. He always turns out to be a bit more versatile than you last remember him being. And it’s not just that he’s only directed many different kinds of films with different themes, but also that the direction style itself transforms so greatly that it’s at times hard to recognize the person sailing the ship.
Regardless, there’s one thing that remains common in a lot of his prominent films, which is an adventure. That alone makes someone like him the perfect choice for adapting The Adventures of Tintin.
How to Stream or Download The Adventures of Tintin
To stream or to download the full movie, click on the Download button that is located below this review. If you like Spielberg’s movies, check out also our reviews of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List (1993), The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), Saving Private Ryan (1998), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Minority Report (2002), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), or Ready Player One (2018).
The Movie Review
The Adventures of Tintin is Spielberg’s first-ever film to completely feature animated CG characters. It’s far from his best works but it’s one hell of a sea adventure, and definitely something worth watching a few times. It features all the right possible people in its crew, be it names like Andy Serkis, Jamie Bell and Daniel Craig in the cast, John Williams as the composer, or the screenwriting involving Edgar Wright (of Shaun of the Dead fame), Steven Moffat (of Sherlock fame) and Joe Cornish (who debuted as a writer).
The Adventures of Tintin is a perfect representation of what the film’s title entails. An enjoyable adventure with fun characters and interesting things escalating in the story. It’s based on the comic book series of the same name, which was written by Belgian cartoonist Herge. It’s been adapted as an animated series in the past too, and this 107-minute feature adaptation is very likely to entertain those who may or may not have watched earlier adaptations alike.
It involves the young journalist Tintin (Jamie Bell), alongside his dog Snowy, chasing the legends of a ship called the Unicorn. It starts with Tintin purchasing a miniature model of it, which itself seems to pique the interest of some strangers for reasons unknown. With all the attempted stealing and action surrounding the model, it is eventually broken, but that’s not all. A metallic tube had rolled out of it. On the other hand, detectives Thompson and Thomson are on the lookout for a pickpocket named Aristides Silk.
Being a journalist, Tintin explores the mystery of the Unicorn more and begins to learn its history in a library. He eventually discovers that there is more than one model of the Unicorn, and is shown the metal tube by Snowy, which happens to contain a scroll. From then onwards, begins the adventure, with the plans of Sakharine unraveling and Tintin acquainting with Captain Haddock.
Tintin’s adventure of the seas keeps you captivated throughout almost the entirety of the film. The characters are nicely written, and Spielberg’s direction is known mostly to hit the right notes anyway (which it does here as well). Serkis as Captain Haddock gives the best performance in the film, with Bell’s performance as the titular character being a notable one too.
The characters genuinely feel as if they were brought to life. What works really well for The Adventure of Tintin is that it executes the spectacle nicely enough to complement the thrill itself. John Williams’ original score isn’t among his best scores of all time, but the bar is too high anyway and this score holds its own pretty well by general standards.
The Adventures of Tintin checks all the positive boxes of a good blockbuster film and is something to recommend to even those unfamiliar with the character’s lore. It may not have revolutionized the blockbuster genre as much as a good bunch of Spielberg’s work, but it’s certainly a well-constructed film that deserves to be enjoyed more than once.
