Tintin

I've often said that nostalgia ain't what it used to be, but it came pretty darn close last night. As a treat, and to escape a pre-Halloween party at home, Judith & I went to see the new Tintin film. Both of us remember fondly the cartoon adaptation of Hergé's original books, so were quite keen to see how the big screen would deal with them.

The film is directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Peter Jackson, both renowned for big-screen epics and a prolific use of special effects, and has been made primarily using performance-capture animation - the technique used by Jackson for the character of Gollum in his 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy. This technique gave the film a realistic quality, particularly in the many action sequences, whilst allowing the film-makers licence to keep the characters as close to Hergé's original design as possible.

The film stars that acting and vocal talents of Daniel Craig, Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis (who played Gollum in Lord of the Rings), Nick Frost & Simon Pegg, who all put in sterling performances. Without wanting to give away the plot, the film ended in such as way as to leave room for more, and I believe that possibly two sequels are being planned.

On the whole it was a very entertaining evening, and I would highly recommend the film to any, like me, who remember the original cartoons, or the books themselves, and to those of more tender years who, I'm sure, will be captivated afresh by the stories.