[rating:3.5/4]

If you are looking for a good holiday movie then look no further. Forget all those literal Christmas and New Year’s movies; “The Adventures of TinTin” has everything you could want and nothing bad in it at all. There is mystery, action, adventure, well-placed comedy, and so much more.

Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Written by: Steven Moffat (screenplay), Edgar Wright (screenplay), and 2 more credits »
Starring: Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis and Daniel Craig
Rated: PG

Steven Spielberg takes us on a wild ride trailing a young reporter named TinTin (voice of Jamie Bell) and his brave little dog. They come across a beautiful model ship that is more than it seems. It turns out a wealthy and devious man named Sakharine (voice of Daniel Craig) wants the ship as well. Secret clues are hidden within that lead to the sunken treasure of the great Captain Haddock (voice of Andy Serkis). The hunt takes them down south to Africa and all over the ocean.

The action was pretty constant and the story moved at a really good clip. I was never bored. There was even an amazing sequence of action in an African city with no cuts. Only Spielberg could come up with an amazing section where the camera constantly follows the action and nothing else. My jaw dropped. And leave it to the Einstein of directing to come up with a new fight scene involving cargo cranes. Didn’t know you could do that.

The music: If you listen carefully, you might be able to recognize a few other movie soundtracks in there. That is because John Williams composed the score. Williams is notorious for taking a few bars of music from one of his other compositions and creating a whole new score around it. I know this because I have listened to nearly every John Williams song and watched nearly every movie more than three times. I can recognize it when I hear it. I can tell you that there are sequences from “Indiana Jones,” “Harry Potter,” and “Star Wars” in this movie. As you watch “The Adventures of TinTin” be sure to pay attention to the music.

I am pleased to say that this movie stays true to those adorable Belgian characters we know and love. TinTin still wants to get his story, Snowy is still a very resourceful pooch, and Captain Haddock still loves his whiskey. This movie adventure actually incorporates two TinTin comics at the same time: “The Secret of the Unicorn” and “Red Rackhams Treasure.” I was very impressed at how seamlessly these two stories could be combined. Definitely enjoyable.

“TinTin” is an excellent movie for children and men, but very little of it appeals to girls outright. There are no female characters that last more than a scene, no evil temptress, no love interest. This is a straight-up boy’s adventure fantasy. That isn’t to say girls wont enjoy this either, but I just noticed that Spielberg didn’t even try to throw anything our way. It doesn’t matter; go see this movie as soon as you can. I already saw it twice, and I’m going to have to see it a third time with my family as our holiday movie. Have fun.

About The Author

Alexandra Smolen is a Blast correspondent while also a graduate from Emerson College. She majored in Broadcast Journalism.

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