Tintin: Spielberg Returns To Adventure Genre With Rousing Results

It's almost impossible to review Steven Spielberg's new film, The Adventures of Tintin, without referring to his earlier work, the Indiana Jones movies.

Tintin harkens back to those films (which, in themselves, harkened back to the earliest adventure films), delivering a rousing, satisfying journey that will excite all audiences.

The movie follows the adventures of a young journalist, Tintin (Jamie Bell), and his dog Snowy as they become enmeshed in a plot that involves hidden treasure, intrigue and conspiracy.

The animation here is astounding. Tintin, Snowy and Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis) travel across the world, visiting one beautiful, atmospheric locale after another. The CGI capably provides a world that's a thrill to discover, though the 3D version does it no favors. This film has a beautiful color palette, one that is sadly dulled by 3D (films with the effect are infamously darker than their 2D counterparts). In short, the 3D isn't quite worth the surcharge.

The characters are fantastically well done, ably combining the style of Herge's original Tintin comics with modern computer animation. There's enough detail to catch subtleties in the characters' performances, something that's often lost in CG.

Tintin reasserts Spielberg's place among the top visual storytellers. The action sequences are fantastic, delivered with a wit, humor and sense of timing that often is absent in modern films. There are times when the do-anything possibilities of animation lead to scenes that strain credulity a bit too much, but these scenes (thankfully) don't ruin things.

The movie is kid-friendly, but is not a "kiddy" movie. Characters are frequently in mortal danger, and the bad guys (and occasionally Tintin) carry guns, not walkie-talkies. Captain Haddock's constant drinking is frequently played for comic effect as well.

I mentioned the Indiana Jones movies earlier, as this film captures everything that made those classics work: the swashbuckling adventure, the thrill of discovery, the sense of the unknown. Indeed, Tintin is more reminiscent of Jones than the last Jones film (the largely joyless Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull).

The Adventures of Tintin is a fantastic throwback that should be a strong contender in this jam-packed holiday film season.

Grade: A-

The Adventures of Tintin is rated PG.