The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn 2011

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: Motion capture, which transforms actors into cartoon characters in a vividly animated landscape, is the technique Spielberg has been waiting for - the Christmas gift ... that he's dreamed of since his movie childhood. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Herge's was an art of subtraction - of doing more with less - but that seems to have eluded Spielberg and Jackson. Read more

Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: The film also earns points for being the least creepy motion-capture movie I've ever seen... Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: 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... Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: [Spielberg's] camera has always been effortlessly mobile, but here it swoops and soars with an unfettered freedom... Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: There are so many variables moving so fast that it's a wonder Spielberg didn't have someone onboard from Princeton's department of Higher Math to help keep track. But his crack team here is enough. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: The action grows wearisome as it grinds on, and the film becomes a succession of dazzling set pieces devoid of simple feelings. Read more

Soren Anderson, Seattle Times: You get the feeling Steven Spielberg had a whole lot of fun making "The Adventures of Tintin." Read more

Tasha Robinson, AV Club: While it's essentially just another slick Spielberg action machine, it's operating effectively on all cylinders throughout. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: In some ways it recalls Spielberg's Indiana Jones adventures, though more manic, if you can imagine such a thing. Read more

Jill Lawless, Associated Press: It has a light touch, a brisk pace and considerable charm, perfect family fare for casual viewers. Read more

Chicago Reader: 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. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: I fear Spielberg and Jackson hitched their wagon to the wrong technological star here. Read more

Tom Charity, CNN.com: It's delirious stuff, often laugh-out-loud funny. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: The main achievement of Tintin is that at least the cartoon people and pets come across as characters and not hollow, humanoid entities. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: The Adventures of Tintin can be a delight to look at, even if motion capture isn't your particular cup of animation tea. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: A clamorous headache of a movie, it's hard to say who the intended audience for The Adventures of Tintin might be. Read more

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

Jordan Mintzer, Hollywood Reporter: Serving up a good ol' fashioned adventure flick that harkens back to the filmmaker's action-packed, tongue-in-cheek swashbucklers of the 1980s, Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn is a visually dazzling adaptation. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Think of "The Adventures of Tintin" as a song of innocence and experience, able to combine a sweet sense of childlike wonder and pureness of heart with the most worldly and sophisticated of modern technology. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: The relentless pace is a big part of the fun. Who ever heard of a slow rollercoaster, anyway? Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: A frenetic bonbon with an empty center, and a movie made without any perceivable audience outside of filmmakers besotted by their own innovative processes. Read more

David Denby, New Yorker: Tintin is exhausting, and, for all its wonders, it wears one out well before it's over. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: If I wanted to spend two hours watching a plucky kid and his feisty dog run around having adventures, I'd dig out my old "Jonny Quest" cartoons. Read more

Bob Mondello, NPR: The joy [Spielberg] brings to the film's action is contagious. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: 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. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: One of the year's most pleasurable, family-friendly experiences, a grand thrill ride of a treasure hunt. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: It should win over the uninitiated, and work quite well for those who have already pitched their tents in the Tintin camp. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Had The Adventures of Tintin been a live motion picture rather than a motion capture-driven animated endeavor, it would have been compared to Raiders of the Lost Ark and Pirates of the Caribbean. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: 'The Adventures of TinTin' is a good old-fashioned adventure painted in modern colors. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: "The Adventures of Tintin" is an ambitious and lively caper, miles smarter than your average 3-D family film. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: The Adventures of Tintin comes at you in a whoosh, like a volcano full of creative ideas in full eruption... It hits home for the kid in all of us who wants to bust out and run free. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: 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. Read more

Amy Biancolli, San Francisco Chronicle: Such are the timeless joys of the books (and now the movie), this sparkling absurdity and knack for buckling swash under the worst of circumstances. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: Even if this hyperactive movie isn't your cup of tea, there's much to admire on-screen, including Spielberg's astonishing attention to visual detail and John Williams' jaunty score. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Spielberg's first venture into animation is his most delightful dose of pure entertainment since "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Read more

Kate Taylor, Globe and Mail: 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. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: If you were expecting a bracing, thrilling Raiders of the Lost Ark, what we get here is more like a muddled, busy Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: A film which, in both its rip-roaring, globe-trotting narrative and its visceral dedication to pure white-knuckle thrills, is the true successor to his original 'Indy' trilogy. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: Tintin is the kind of strap-in-and-hang-on adventure that will endure. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: 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. Read more

Leslie Felperin, Variety: 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. Read more

Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice: The movement here is near-constant, and Spielberg's orchestration of action is undiminished. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: There's a lot going on in "The Adventures of Tintin," but precious little is really at stake. Read more