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

By: Bobby Ghatak
(Bangalore, India)

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Written by:
Steven Moffat (screenplay)
Edgar Wright (screenplay)
Joe Cornish (screenplay)
Hergé (comic book series "The Adventures of Tintin")
Starring:
Daniel Craig - Ivanovich Sakharine / Red Rackham
Jamie Bell - Tintin
Simon Pegg - Inspector Thompson
Andy Serkis - Captain Haddock / Sir Francis Haddock
Cary Elwes - Pilot
Toby Jones - Silk
Nick Frost - Thomson
Tony Curran - Lt. Delcourt
Sebastian Roché - Pedro
Mackenzie Crook - Tom
Daniel Mays - Allan
Gad Elmaleh - Ben Salaad
Phillip Rhys - Co-pilot
Kim Stengel - Bianca Castafiore

The Secret of the Unicorn

The world's best loved reporter is back. This time under the tutelage of Hollywood's ET'ian and father of modern wizardry, Steven Spielberg. If you still love to read and re-read Tintin comics, get transported again to old woods with his tuft of brown reddish hair, snowy his dog, bounding away behind cats, bumbling detectives the Thompsons and his pal Captain Haddock of the thundering bellows, then this is for you. The movie follows events of 'The Secret of the Unicorn' but Spielberg intersperses it with dashes of incidents from other classics like 'The Crab with Golden Claws', 'Flight 714' and 'The Castafiore Affair'. These help Spielberg gain leeway to garnish it with more special effects and leverage the 3D frame. It is this that makes Tintin's journey on screen more watchable and thrilling.

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

Everything about the movie is endearing. The flea market, the villainous crew of the rogue vessel 'Karboujan', voice overs and of course the amazing special effects. The unicorn, a giant Galleon, tearing through the desert sand and then rocking wildly on the sea when caught in a vicious attack led by Red Rackham. The sheer mismatch of sand and sea in this scene is because of the narration by Haddock that rocks in between hilarious drunken burps. Or the mid air crisis when the little amphibian plane has to enter a dark storm cloud. Or the crazy-on-the-edge chase in the African town of Baagaar.

If you were the ones who pestered your parents to get you the new Tintin comics or if you are a parent who has never heard of him, this movie will complete your baptism. You will also agree to Snowy’s parting woof in the end signalling their return in 'Red Rackham’s Treasure'. Hopefully it should not take long.

A REVIEW BY BOBBY GHATAK