Oscar® Nominee for Best Music (original score)The Adventures of Tintin
for adventure action violence, some drunkenness and brief smoking.
Reviewed by: Patty Moliterno
CONTRIBUTOR
| Moral Rating: | Average |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
|
| Primary Audience: | Kids Family Teens Adults |
| Genre: | Family Animation Mystery Adventure 3D Adaptation |
| Length: | 1 hr. 41 min. |
| Year of Release: | 2011 |
| USA Release: |
December 21, 2011 (wide—3,000+ theaters) DVD: March 13, 2012 |
ships in the Bible
treasure hunt (see: treasure houses, treasure cities, treasury
secret scroll
kidnapping
good versus evil
friendship
pickpocket
pirate
| Featuring |
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 See all » |
| Director |
Steven Spielberg |
| Producer |
Columbia Pictures Paramount Pictures See all » |
| Distributor |
 Paramount Pictures Corporation, a subsidiary of ViacomCBS |
“This year, discover how far adventure will take you.”
“The Adventures of Tintin” is based on the comic books by Belgium creator Hergé. It has been brought to life on the screen by director Steven Spielberg. Tintin (Jamie Bell) is a young reporter with an adorable dog, Snowy. Tintin purchases a ship model, The Unicorn, and is placed in the center of mystery that he attempts to solve. Immediately after purchasing the ship, he is approached by a man wanting to buy it and warning him about the dangers of having it. He then is approached by another man, Sakharine (Daniel Craigs) who tells him to name his price. Tintin refuses to sell. He wants to know more about this Unicorn and visits the library to research.
Tintin finds that The Unicorn had belonged to Sir Francis, hundreds of years ago. When he returns home, the ship is missing, and his home is ransacked. However, the burglar hasn’t found what he was looking for and kidnaps Tintin. Tintin is placed in a crate on a ship, and he encounters Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis). Captain Haddock has ties to The Unicorn and can help Tintin unravel this dangerous mystery if he can only get sober long enough to remember anything. As Tintin and Captain Haddock get closer to solving the mystery of the ship, the danger escalates and the adventure continues in far off lands. Adding to the mystery are two bumbling Interpol detectives Thomson (Nick Frost) and Thompson (Simon Pegg) who even when in the house of a criminal continue to overlook the obvious.
Objectionable content
Language-wise, this movie is pretty clean. One character says “swear to God”. D-mned and hell are used. There is plenty of violence. There is slapstick violence, shooting, sword fighting and numerous chase scenes. A man is shot, and before he dies, he uses his blood to spell out a message. There is a pickpocket who is seen stealing wallets throughout the city. Tintin is almost hit by cars. Snowy is running through a cattle bin and bumps into cow udders. There is a plane crash, car chase, pirate fight and a unique “sword fight” with cranes. There is also a huge dog that when it appeared on the screen made me jump and might be scary for some children.
Captain Haddock is a drunk. He is shown drinking numerous times. He talks about drinking almost constantly. Tintin does tell Haddock that there are worse things than sobering up. When Haddock is finally sober, he remembers stories his grandfather told him which lead to solving the mystery.
Tintin doesn’t appear to have any parents. He is shown living alone.
Positive content
Faced with having his crew killed or giving up the treasure, Sir Francis gives up the treasure. The often misquoted Bible verse, 1 Timothy 6:10 says,
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with grief”. This movie exemplifies this verse.
Sakharine continues a feud over gold with roots of evil spanning generations. He is so consumed with finding a treasure that he will steal, kill and destroy anything that gets in his way. Jesus said in John 10:10, “The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full”. Only through following Jesus can we really have an abundant life.
I highly recommend this movie. It is a wonderful, fast-paced, action-packed movie. My 9 year old son loved it; my 21 year old son loved it, and I loved it. I felt at times it was like watching a young Indiana Jones. There are some scary scenes that might be a concern for younger children. The action is so intense, at times, that you might want to pre-screen this movie, if you feel your child might be afraid or anxious. Overall, this is a great movie to see, and I hope to see more of Tintin and Snowy in the future!
Violence: Moderate / Profanity: Minor / Sex/Nudity: None
See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.
Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 5
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 4½
I would think 10+ year olds would handle the movie. There is one scene where a guy is killed by a machine gun; I thought that was unnecessary. The drunken sea captain is more comedic relief than anything, but if you don’t like this kind of thing, then be cautious. I’m looking forward to the next two movies. I don’t think this movie promotes any particular worldview. BTW, I went to see it by myself.
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
I say for Christians, what I learned from this movie is “Never give up hope.” Sometimes life gets bad, and we just can’t do it on our own. God is always there to help us. At one point in the movie TinTin gives up hope. The Captain encourages him to fight for what he believes in. I recommend this movies for ages: 9 and up; I believe younger kids, as in babies and 8 years old, shouldn’t see movies like this. Side note: Parents are so selfish to take their children to see a PG-13 movie. A. your putting bad things in their minds which they can’t comprehend between what’s real or fantasy.
Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 5
Andy Serkis does not win enough awards. The storyline was fun and full of twists, the action scenes towards the end took my breath away… I think it a very sad and tragic thing that something as unintelligent as Chipwrecked is winning bigger audiences than Tintin. GO SEE THIS MOVIE!
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 2½
Tin Tin’s age was so vague, I thought, in the beginning, he must be a teenager, but, as he lived alone, he must have been a young adult. But right off, he gets his hands on a gun. A man is shot right at Tin Tin’s front door, and, as mentioned, uses his own blood to spell out a message. A bit… much for a kids movie.
The ship captain is such a drunk. Not your odd little cupid type man who hiccups like in “Tangled,” but a character whose drunkenness is repeatedly referenced. It was in your face, not something kids wouldn’t get. At one point in the movie, a bottle of whiskey is nearby, and you can tell he is debating, drink it or smash it over the other guy’s head. He smashes it over a guy’s head. He is shown drinking rubbing alcohol. In a scene where he is sober and can’t remember what is going on, the dog gives him more rubbing alcohol, and it apparently rejuvenates the captain.
I see mostly positive reviews here, and the reviewer saying it was like a Young Indiana Jones, but this movie is a cartoon marketed towards kids. The violence was excessive, as was the drunkenness. The captain being drunk was part of the storyline, the plot, not just a passing reference. The violence started right off in the movie and was not your usual cartoon violence, but looked like what you would see in a live action movie for adults or young adults, not for kids.
I took my 3 kids, aged 4, 6 and 10, and 3 other kids aged 10. I did feel I needed to let each parent know the content of the movie, because I didn’t feel right having let their kids watch a movie with such drunkenness in it. I’m not easily offended in movies and watch plenty of them, but kids movies—well I like them to BE kids movies and let our kids stay kids.
Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 4
Moral rating: Excellent! / Moviemaking quality: 5
Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 5
Sakharine is the main bad guy in this movie, though there are others. This movie is really great, but if you didn’t read the book you wouldn’t understand the plot. I think that the coolest scene in the movie is when they are escaping the ship through a hail of gunfire, outrunning murderous sailors, and continuing with their swashbuckling and rip roaring adventure.
Even though the movie is a little violent, it is magnificent for adventure-loving kids. I loved the mocap—the realism was amazing. It is mind capturing, and I think this is the best animation I ever saw! It makes me want to read all of the Tintin books.
Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 4
Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 5
Moral rating: Excellent! / Moviemaking quality: 5
There are a few scenes I would not recommend for younger children, such as the death of a certain investigator, but, overall, I would recommend this movie to anyone with children over the age of 6 or 7.
Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 5
No sex or nudity in the full film, nor bad language. For the amount of violence, I would just recommend this film for kids six and up (I went to the watch this movie with my brothers 6 and 8), but do see it, you’ll love it!
Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 4
The animation is amazing. My grandmother came in while I was watching it once and thought it was live action. It has super cool effects, like when the scene changes, or the super awesome chase sequence in Baggar.
Objectionable content: There are a few bad words. I admit, it’s not a little kid’s movie as there is a lot of violence, but not more than what most kids see these days (sadly). Captain Haddock does drink a lot, however a one point he starts to drink but stops and chooses to be responsible instead. The two detectives Thompson and Thomson are depicted as inept, but other authoritative figures such as a group of solders are fully capable.See all »
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
PLEASE share your observations and insights to be posted here.
And I was pleasently surprised by how funny “Tintin” was. Quite a few scenes had me laughing out loud, then laughing again as the scene continued to unfold. Snowy stole many scenes with his antics. Haddock was just hilarious. And Tintin was the perfect adventurer. Upon leaving the theater, I wanted to ship out on my own adventure. I was not in complete awe of the film, but yet I just could not wipe the goofy grin off my face. I forgot who I was sitting next to in the theater, forgot to eat my movie snacks. I was taken on an adventure from beginning to end.
I would recommend this film for a family outing (I do not remember any particularly frightening scenes. There was no language, but some alcohol and comic style violence) or a group of friends. I believe it is appropriate for all ages. I am an avid Tintin fan, thus if there are holes in the movie, I could have unknowingly filled them in with my knowledge of the characters. But as a fan, I was surprised at how well they stuck to the heart of Tintin. Hergé, his creator, would have been proud. Great Snakes! Which Tintin book will they pick next?
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 4