The Adventures of Tintin: Critic Reviews

I've barely even glanced at a Tintin comic, and what I saw looked more like The Adventures of Rubber Boy and Captain Boring.

Like the screen Tintin, the movie proves less than inviting because it's been so wildly overworked: there is hardly a moment of downtime, a chance to catch your breath...

For all the surface fizz, there is something flat and robotic and a little bit aimless about this Tintin.

While the big set pieces are often exuberantly handled, the human details are sorely wanting. Herge achieved more expression with his use of ink-spot eyes and humble line drawings than a bank of computers and an army of animators were able to achieve

Instead of being transported by the splashy mayhem, the audience winds up feeling exhausted by the one-dimensional story and disengaged from the thinly drawn characters.

There's a lot going on in "The Adventures of Tintin," but precious little is really at stake.

Herge's was an art of subtraction - of doing more with less - but that seems to have eluded Spielberg and Jackson.

The movement here is near-constant, and Spielberg's orchestration of action is undiminished.

The film is spectacularly constructed, from intimate closeups to dizzying chase scenes. But as is often the case with this format, the motion-capture animation feels weirdly lifeless.

The action grows wearisome as it grinds on, and the film becomes a succession of dazzling set pieces devoid of simple feelings.

The Adventures of Tintin can be a delight to look at, even if motion capture isn't your particular cup of animation tea.

The film also earns points for being the least creepy motion-capture movie I've ever seen...

Tintin is exhausting, and, for all its wonders, it wears one out well before it's over.

"The Adventures of Tintin" is an ambitious and lively caper, miles smarter than your average 3-D family film.

I fear Spielberg and Jackson hitched their wagon to the wrong technological star here.

It adequately re-creates the comics' Dickensian characterization, and every frame brims with clever details. But once the action begins, Spielberg's incessant, force-fed "fun" quickly gets exhausting.

It should win over the uninitiated, and work quite well for those who have already pitched their tents in the Tintin camp.

Spielberg's first venture into animation is his most delightful dose of pure entertainment since "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

A clamorous headache of a movie, it's hard to say who the intended audience for The Adventures of Tintin might be.

In some ways it recalls Spielberg's Indiana Jones adventures, though more manic, if you can imagine such a thing.

Spielberg has fashioned a whiz-bang thrill ride that's largely faithful to the wholesome spirit of his source but still appealing to younger, Tintin-challenged auds.

One of the year's most pleasurable, family-friendly experiences, a grand thrill ride of a treasure hunt.

Tintin is the kind of strap-in-and-hang-on adventure that will endure.

Herge was the pioneer of an even-handed style of cartooning with solid lines and no shading that became known as ligne claire, but there is a decided lack of clear lines in this erratic movie adaptation of his work.

Although I personally still find the rubber-faced, pseudo-human figures produced by this technique unsettling, the work done by Spielberg and Jackson's animation teams here is exquisite.