The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

As the title suggests, i was prepared to join Tintin in a ride of adventure.

Voiced by Jamie Bell as Tintin, he bought a model ship which hid clues that ultimately forced him into a feud between two families (Haddock voiced by Andy S and Sakharine voiced by Daniel C) in search for the hidden treasure. Tintin with his adorable pet Snowy, investigated the mystery surrounding them, deciphering the clues along the way and met Haddock after his kidnap by Sakharine. They escaped and raced against time and Sakharine to retrieve all three pieces of the puzzle. In the start, it felt like an animated Sherlock Holmes with Snowy playing Watson. When they boarded the ship, it felt like Narnia 3: Voyage of the Dawn Treader and when Haddock recalled the story his grandfather told him, the scenes pictured that of Pirates of the Carribean. Not that it wasn't good or original, but just that the scenes felt familiar.

I thoroughly enjoyed the graphic and visual of the movie. The faces of the characters looked so real i had to remind myself that it was an animation. One of my favourite scenes in the movie was when Tintin and his gang were in Morocco and they were running away, at the same time snatching the scrolls, from Sakharine's men and bird. It flowed well with fast-paced action and humour. Another scene that captured my attention was the fight between Haddock and Sakharine using cranes. It was intense yet entertaining to watch.

How could an animation movie like this go wrong? It doesn't. It is a progressive story with mystery intertwined that blends well action with adventure, humour with intensity. Good visual and adorable characters. I was dumbfounded that Tintin was not a kid and what i thought to be a childish movie had the characters holding guns. I was wrong, but i was, to say the least, pleased. The adventures of Tintin gets a green light!

Year: 2011
My rating: 7.4/10
Genre: Animation, adventure, action, mystery
You'll like this if you like: Sherlock Holmes, Up, Narnia.

Enchanted

The first time i watched this movie, i did not enjoy it. The reason: bad quality (hence poor movie experience). I heard it was good but because of my mistake, i did not like it as much as the others did. That was then. Until the television showed this movie and i was all in to watch it again, in better quality, and smiled after watching. Lesson learned.

The movie begins with Prince Edward meeting Giselle in a fantasy world, Andalasia, and proposes to marry her. However, his evil stepmother tricked Giselle- as she does not want Prince Edward to marry Giselle and take her throne, into a well which connects to our world, in New York. Unlike her fantasy world, Giselle tries to find her way back to Andalasia to return to the arms of her, then, true love. She meets Robert and soon learns the real meaning of love. In a 'boom' ending, since this is a fairy tale, expect an all's well closure.

The cast of the movie is great. Amy Adams has the ideal princess look. The development of the story is well- intertwined with comedy and music. The score and soundtrack is good listen too. The costume is stunning- especially Giselle's. In short, nothing could go wrong with this movie if one looks for an escape into a true fairy tale type story- and if you believe in happy endings!

My rating: 7.5 / 10

Year: 2007

Genre: Fantasy, adventure, family

You'll like this if you like: Any Disney fairy tales

The Three Musketeers

Before i dive into my review of the movie, allow me to bring you, in a gist, through the summary of the story.

The first thing that comes to mind of 'The Three Musketeers' is the three musketeers- Athos, Porthos and Aramis. We know them for their threesome companionship. We know about their glory days, serving their country. In their last quest, Athos gets blindsided by the love of his life, and the three musketeers sort of lost interest, hope and faith in themselves. Then comes d'Artagnan, a child of another musketeer, who meets the three musketeers in a very scheduled manner, boost their long lost spirit of a musketeer and the three becomes four. A quest to save the French from going into war in the Europe is thrown to them. Romance ensues. Trust is put to the question. Bam, bam, bam, the movie ends oh-so well.

Now to the review. Firstly, watching through this movie, i felt it was very much like a crossover between Pirates of the Carribean and Zorro. The settings. The ships. The acting. No doubt, this movie boasts great cast (Matthew M as Athos, Luke Evans as Aramis, Ray S as Porthos, Milla J as Milady, Orlando B as Duke of Buckingham, Logan L as d'Artagnan). Orlando's role as the Duke felt like Captain Jack Sparrow in POTC, only less drunk. It's nice to see Milla out from her high-octane roles; nevertheless her character performs dangerous moves as a many-faced villain. The three musketeers are definitely fun to watch.

Next, the fencing scenes are exciting, especially when d'Artagnan meets the three musketeers and the four of them are forced to fight against the guards because of his reckless action. The storyline is rather predictable. The climax is short and leaves not much impact. The good part is, to me, when they plan for their quest. Then, it just fall flat. No twist except for the moment before the credit is rolled.

The Three Musketeer is not that bad, and not that extraordinary either. But it does make me want to be in that era- to be a musketeer, with their fancy swords, too. It is comical, which is a good reason why you might want to watch this. Or if you are a fan of the three musketeers. Truthfully, i did not know what the three musketeers are other than the fact that there are three of them. It is a good introduction. Otherwise, you might want to give this a pass.

My rating: 6.7/10

Year: 2011

Genre: Adventure, action, romance

You'll like this if you like: Pirates of the Carribean franchise, the Zorro franchise, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time