The adventures of Tintin: The secret of the Unicorn

Showing daily at: 17:00 - 19:00 - 21:00

One of 2011’s blockbuster movies will undoubtedly be Steven Spielberg's Tintin, which opened last week generating $56-million around Europe with Spain contributing $6.6 million of that. The movie is presently playing at the Ozone IMF Cinema in Torrevieja where you can watch it, with headphones in English (V.O) or/and Spanish in 3D! Some of you may remember watching ‘Hergé's Adventures of Tintin; in glorious Black and White on British TV back in the 1960’s and now, 50 years later, Spielberg has added his magic touch to the genre and introduced Tintin and his faithful dog Snowy to a brand new generation of children who until the last few weeks may have wondered what all of the fuss was about.

For those that remember the animated TV series or films, there is something strange watching these characters come to life through what is termed motion capture (mo-cap) whereby actors done body suits and act out the motions on Green Screen, before Spielberg introduces fabulous backgrounds and adds the character features to produce a very different concept of animation. Once you settle down with your popcorn, bag of sweets and drinks, you soon enter the realm of make-believe and marvel at the way the movie effortlessly flows between ‘fun’ and ’serious’ mode while always giving a nod back to the true comic style of Hergé's original drawings.

The Secret of the Unicorn does not disappoint, finding a nice balance of what purists expect from Spielberg and Hergé, and the film/movie materializes as one of the most entertaining jaunts from the director in years. Spielberg uses the available technology to create set pieces that are inventive and realistic yet would not be believed in an Indiana Jones setting, but speaking of Mr. Jones, the film is full of spectacular chase scenes, humour and a great storyline to match.

‘The adventures of Tintin: The secret of the Unicorn’ is showing daily at: 17:00 - 19:00 - 21:00, price: every day €6.00 except Monday, €4.50 or in 3D it’s €8,00 but be aware that it is not showing in 3D in English! Don’t forget your €20 as the fully refundable deposit for the headphones and also note that ‘Johnny English Reborn’ is still showing in V.O. More information available by visiting www.Torrevieja.com.

Keith Nicol