The Polar Express: Review By slysnide

Robert Zemeckis is certainly far from his "Back to the Future" (1985) and "Forrest Gump" (1994) days. He's more recently become interested in digital filmmaking, but loses his way with the story, such as his two latest digital outings "Beowulf" (2007) and "A Christmas Carol" (2009). But before those two, he decided to return to a kid friendly story like "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" (1988)--albeit without the adult humor--and settled upon the classic story of a boy who takes a magical train ride to the North Pole, except that this was akin to F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (1922) in that there was little to work with for a feature length film adaptation, and would thus have to receive a major overhaul, though without losing the plot and essence of the instant classic that was the 1985 picture book by Chris Van Allsburg. However, there really is no continuous plot or intrigue in the story, making it much more well fit to an annual televised Christmas special than a theatrical film.

Tom Hanks leads the quiet cast as the conductor, the hobo, and Santa Claus, whom all are shaped in his likeness. Michael Jeter comes up second as the engineers Smokey & Steamer in his final film appearance. Employing a unique technique, Zemeckis used motion capture to enhance the characters on screen such that the movements and acting of real actors could be really seen by the audience, with Tom Hanks also filling the shoes of the boy, the boy's father, and the Scrooge marionette. Strangely enough however, the children don't turn out as good, as their faces always appear somewhat blurred up close, like some animator deliberately brushed over a blemish with a light smear. This was really noticeable to me with the 'leader' girl. On that note, keeping with the spirit of the original story, none of the characters have names and don't require prolonged extrapolations to understand who they are. You have the kid whose believe in magic is waning, the shy and lonely kid (Josh Hutcherson) the annoying know it all with the equally annoying voice which only Eddie Deezen could provide, and the happy go lucky girl who still believes (Nona Gaye).

The animation of the boreal landscapes were great for a dark room by the fireplace, and I can't even imagine how much greater on IMAX. But it still flows like a Christmas special, as the story still very much resembles the picture book, for random things occur on the train which accelerates the notion that the boy is starting to come around to believing again, and it still works despite that nearly 100% of it wasn't in the book. The biggest disappointment was swapping these gorgeous landscapes for the rather dull "been there done that" look to the North Pole which they arrive at halfway through the film. And what ate up the next half hour with commercials in his two hour presentation was a random tour through the North Pole sheerly for the sake of killing time. You could tell somewhat that Zemeckis was pushing his luck here. It didn't accelerate the boy's belief or lack thereof in the magic of Christmas--as if a magical ghost train which took him to the Arctic Circle wasn't enough to do the job--and only gives a little push to the lonely boy's issue. But still, eating up that much runtime was ridiculous, and only strengthens the argument that this should've been one of those annual Christmas specials and not a major theatrical film. Perhaps a temporary IMAX engagement for the sake of seeing it that way, but not purposed as such. But I suppose it worked out for the studio which caroled its way to the bank.

I was half expecting this to come with as much story as the classic Rankin/Bass Christmas specials from the seventies, which still rerun every christmas and are as exciting as any other Christmas movie. But "The Polar Express" was never that type of Christmas story. It was a simple Christmas tale which was beautifully illustrated and reinvigorated the magic of Christmas. Thus, Zemeckis seems to be making the case to watch this at home around the fireplace with hot chocolate every Christmas season as I just did the other night. The setting with the lit christmas tree was perfect and really set the tone rather than a dark crowded theater where everyone's snacking and getting up and leaving every few minutes like at that Elton John/Billy Joel concert I went to early last year (damn annoying patrons!). But overall, I still liked this movie, and wanted to give it a higher rating for the kid in me, but keeping in mind the mentality of the average moviegoer, I'd say this was a good christmas special at best, and still steadfastly stand by my argument that it should not have been a theatrical engagement. But I suppose it doesn't matter as it accomplished what I hoped, which was making it a Christmas special which reruns every year.