Movie Preview – The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

Thanks to the folks from UIP, Rachel and I caught the 3D preview of The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn last Wednesday (21 Nov).

Both of us were big fans of the series of classic comic books, The Adventure of Tintin, created by the Belgian artist Georges Rémi (1907–1983), who wrote under the pen name of Hergé. Tintin might just have been the subliminal inspiration for Rachel to carve a career in journalism and me, working in the media profession.

Directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by Peter Jackson, and written by Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish, the film is based on three of the original comic books: The Crab with the Golden Claws (1941), The Secret of the Unicorn (1943), and Red Rackham’s Treasure (1944).

With two of the biggest names in motion picture history, Spielberg and Jackson, throwing their weight behind the movie, stakes were high for it to succeed. And succeed it did, both on the box office front worldwide and with international film critics in general.

Initially when we saw the movie trailer, Rachel and I were aghast with the human-like rendition of Tintin in 3D. What had they done to the cute little cartoon boy with the cowlick?

It took a while to get used to this movie version of Tintin, but he grew more likeable along the way, assisted with a fast-paced storyline, grand visual sets and the other iconic characters from the comic series like Captain Haddock and the Interpol twins, Thomson and Thompson.

I was particularly tickled by a self-spoofing scene at the beginning of the movie whereby a portrait artist did a painting of Tintin which was to the likeness of his cartoon character.

Gauging from the success of this first movie, movie sequels are likely to follow. Spielberg and Jackson will have no shortage of stories to draw from, given that there are a total of 24 books in the comic series! :p

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn opens in Singapore cinemas tomorrow. Be sure to catch it!

Synopsis (via IMDB):

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.

Trailer: