MOVIE OF THE WEEK #2 (12/21/11): THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN

"I just discovered I'm an animated relative of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton!" The title character (voiced by Jamie Bell) does some research about the history of the model sailboat he recently acquired in a scene from director Steven Spielberg's animated action adventure THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN. Credit: WETA Digital Ltd. © 2011 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

KEY VOICE CAST MEMBERS: Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, Toby Jones, Mackenzie Crook, Daniel Mays and Gad Elmaleh.

WRITER(S): Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish (screenplay); Based on The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé

DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg

WEB SITE: www.tintin.com

THE PLOT: Inspired by the series of books of the same name by Belgian author Georges Prosper Remi (better known by his pen name, Hergé), The Adventures of Tintin features the voice of Jaime Bell as the title character. A young reporter whose accolades have brought down criminals all over, Tintin – who's faithful dog Snowy is never far from his side - is out shopping at a local market when something catches his eye: A model ship with a distinctive unicorn on its bow.

Buying the ship for a pound (his set overseas, so yes, there are accents and such for the uninitiated), Tintin is quickly warned he needs to get rid of the seemingly innocent model ASAP. But before he can barely let that thought register, he is approached by another man, Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine (Daniel Craig), who tells Tintin to "name his price." But Tintin declines, heads home with Snowy and thinks that's the end of the matter.

A shooting and a kidnapping later, and Tintin quickly discovers that's not the case.

Now being held captive, Tintin (and Snowy) end up meeting up with Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis), a whisky loving sea captain who's facing a mutiny on ship. That's when the duo learns of why Sakharine is after Tintin's model ship: For he is pursuing a secret that could make him a very rich man - but not if Tintin, Snowy and Captain Haddock are able to stop him first.

THE TAKE: As I sat down to write this review, a commercial for The Adventures of Tintin came across my TV. Per the usual, it was filled with quotes from other critics of a national scale, none of which I really paid much attention - until the last one. For it said exactly what I thought about the movie, with one exception ... For while the film is a mix of "Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones" as the author of that quote said it is not perfect by any means.

Tintin as a character is a bit, at times, annoying (for lack of a better word) in the way that a teenager plays smarter than all the adults in the room on a bad network sitcom. His confidence comes off as cocky and his wisdom as a bit of know-it-all-ness.

The other characters, however, are well-suited if not standard, with Serkis adding a great level of drunken fun to Haddock, Craig showcases his villainous talents vocally as Sakharine and Simon Pegg and Nick Frost show off their well-oiled chemistry as inept Interpol officers Thompson and Thompson respectively. Yet by comparison, Tintin comes off a bit too one-dimensional - especially for a 3D animated adventure.

What keeps the film from being a bit better, though, however are the things that have become too familiar in Spielberg films: Long, drawn out action sequences that continue to expand in their grandiosity as well as the familiarity of the story. In Tintin's case, it's the researcher looking for adventure, sidekick following for reasons they won't fully understand until later even though they should from the start, some sort of curse or mystical legacy being involved ... Sure, Tintin isn't a bad movie because of those things, but the repetitive nature of them makes it too "been there, seen that" (even despite the brilliant animation) to make it a great movie.

Throw in a level of violence/alcohol abuse that pushes the boundaries of a PG-movie and there might be a couple of parents who may want to their young ones hit double digits in terms of age before going to the film. While it's obvious Spielberg - who is an admitted lifelong fan of Hergé's work who's been hoping to bring Tintin to the big screen since the early 1980s - wants to make a classic film, it just feels very ... average as a whole.

PARTING SHOT: All things considered, The Adventures of Tintin is a wild ride that is well-suited to please most longstanding Spielberg fans, even if they're getting the same adventure they're used to in a shiny, new, animated 3D setting.

RATING (OUT OF FOUR BUCKETS OF POPCORN):