By: Neil Smith

The cub reporter leaps off the pages of Hergé’s comic books in a CG animation that’s beautiful to look at, if exhausting to watch.

What's the story?
A model ship bought in a flea market sets intrepid reporter Tintin and his loyal terrier Snowy on a perilous, globe-trotting quest to find treasure lost at sea centuries earlier.

What did we think?
Told at breakneck pace using state-of-the-art computer animation and motion-capture technology, this eye-popping spectacle feels like a retro Indiana Jones adventure done as a cartoon. Yet fans of Hergé's originals might feel much of their smarts, charm and wit has been lost in translation, while Quiffy himself just looks weird.

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At first glance, Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson make as formidable a combination as Tintin and Captain Haddock, the much-loved heroes whose colourful exploits made Belgian cartoonist Hergé - real name Georges Remi - synonymous with adventure for generations of readers. With one directing and the other producing this 3D adap of his cherished books, what could go wrong?

The answer is not much, provided your knowledge of the title character is as minimal as Spielberg's apparently was when he first heard, around the time of Raiders, that he was Hergé's preferred choice for director of a big-screen version. If that's the case, you're likely to be gobsmacked by a nonstop rollercoaster that whisks Jamie Bell's earnest Tintin and friends from one startling set-piece to another with breathtaking confidence.

If, however, you have an affection for both the character and his legacy, you might be perturbed by how fast and loose writers Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish play with their source material and how inexpressive and doll-like its CG protagonists seem. Not only that, but you'll also be desperate for Spielberg to ease off the caffeine and slow... things... d-o-w-n.

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