And Steven Spielberg has found that ship and that ship has sailed him to a brand new technology for filmmaking. Yes, I'm talking about motion capture or as Spielberg calls it "perfomance" capture. This technology is a like a new toy for Steven. You can feel the joy for filmmaking from every shot, every detail. He plays with the camera in a way he never could while making a live-action film. For example in probably the best scene of the film the main character, Tintin is gliding on a wire and the camera is following him throughout the whole scene in a continuous shot. But you can still say, you still see that this is a Spielberg movie. You know this is a Spielberg movie since the opening title credits that will remind you a lot of the opening credits in Catch Me If You Can. Even the music is very similar.

The main character is Tintin, who is a journalist who we never see doing any journalism though, but that doesn't matter because he is the textbook example of a heroic boy with boy scout qualities. The voice of Jamie Bell fits perfectly for the character. Andy Serkis gives here an incredible performance as Captain Haddock, the drunken sailor who to me was often reminiscent of a grumpy Harrison Ford. The story did seem as too much centered on Captain Haddock though, you could even say this should have been called "The Adventures of Captain Haddock" instead of Tintin. Daniel Craig is unrecognizable as the main villain Sacharine. Although his voice did jump to his normal voice in one line but otherwise you didn't know it was him. Of course I can't forget to mention the lovable dog, Snowy. He steals almost every scene that he is in. He is very realistic, he acts like a real dog and even gets his own chase scene. I'm telling you will adore this dog.

The animation is magnificent, the motion capture has gone a long way since The Polar Express. It looks very realistic, especially all the features on Captain Haddock's face. The beard, the wrinkles and the eyes, they all looked amazing. Especially the eyes, they aren't so dead-eyed anymore as in The Polar Express.

The action scenes are brilliantly written and directed, the angles of the camera, the drive of the action scenes, timing of all the jokes(physical or visual) is genius. Because Spielberg is a genius. He is the master of adventure movies and there never will be another genius in adventure movies like him.

Overall Spielberg has created an old-fashioned style adventure movie for the whole family to enjoy,where the important things are just the hunt for the treasure, the friendship two people can make and the most important thing of all that it is an entertaining ride. Spielberg never disappoints, it doesn't matter if you are a fan of Tintin or not, you will enjoy this film nonetheless

I was much anticipating The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. It looked interesting, the cast on paper are great and I am fond of both John Williams and Steven Spielberg. I am also a fan of the comics and the animated series which I saw over and over in English and French.

When I finally saw the film, I admit I was slightly disappointed but actually while there was room for improvement I thought it was good.

First of all, the visuals are truly dazzling, so much colour and you can tell in both the settings, character designs and cinematography that a lot of effort had gone into it technically. John Williams' score is not among his very best, but it is strong and memorable with some of Williams' distinctive style.

The story is a great idea and while there are some slow spots it is thrillingly told. There are also some masterly touches to Spielberg's direction, particularly the back of a hand morphing into desert dunes, the galleons on the ocean enacting a sea battle and a motorcycle chase taken on one shot.

Against all this, part of me felt it could've been more. For me, despite the brilliant voice over from Jamie Bell, not much is done to make Tintin particularly compelling. The script is mostly good, but the comedy could've been timed a little better. This has nothing to knock Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, their delivery is as enthusiastic and as witty as it ever could be, but sometimes the presence of Thomson and Thompson jars with the overall tone of the film.

I loved the cast. Bell is brilliant, Pegg and Frost are good as are Daniel Craig and Toby Jones but I thought the standout was Andy Serkis. Not only is he a lot of fun to watch and hear, but for my money Captain Haddock and Snowy were the two most engaging characters.

All in all, a good film with several strong things, but I wasn't entirely blown away by it. 7/10 Bethany Cox

This is a horrible film, but then I knew I'd hate it outright as I'm somebody who actively hates motion capture and who believes that CGI is the worst thing to happen to cinema. The only mo-cap film I didn't mind too much was BEOWULF, but that was more for the story than the execution; unfortunately, THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN takes everything a step backwards.

Spielberg has made a film for kids and kids alone. The humour is juvenile, the plot and characters simplistic in the extreme, and the acting is so mannered and manufactured that no adult would take it seriously. Jamie Bell's wooden Tintin is a charmless creation, still saddled with those dead eyes and carved wood expression that mo-cap results in. Still, Andy Serkis spares him the embarrassment of being the worst actor in the thing; I never could work out if Captain Haddock was supposed to be Scottish or Scandinavian, because Serkis is all over the place.

The story and characters only vaguely resemble the original comic books by Herge (of which I am a big fan) and most of it boils down to the kind of incessant, entirely routine CGI action that nowadays blights many a Hollywood movie. It's like Jackson's THE HOBBIT: THERE AND BACK AGAIN, with endless chase scenes and swooping camera angles; none of it means anything, there's no realism or danger, it's just bland and safe. It's no surprise that Jackson has his fingerprints all over this and, unfortunately, in Spielberg he's met his match as a purveyor of soulless entertainment. I'd love these guys to go back and make real films without relying on CGI all the while but I fear it will never happen.