The Polar Express
Published December 06, 2004
Q. What does the schizophrenic's Christmas card say?
A. "Do you hear what I hear?"
The Polar Express is a schizophrenic film. On the one hand, it tries to be a heartfelt, feel-good Christmas story. On the other hand, it also tries to be a hair-raising adventure thriller for kids. The film accomplishes the latter much better than the former.
Thanks to CGI, the thrills that The Polar Express offers up are second to no other G-rated film out there. The ability to create realistic-looking details helps ground the action when the scripting pushes it into the realm of the unbelievable. For instance, when the Polar Express is skidding along an iced-over section of track and a humble pin serves as catalyst to break the ice, sending an ominous crack barreling towards the train, the look of the water splashing forth and the intricate, aged details of the speeding locomotive help give the scene some semblance to tangible danger. There are times when the ride The Polar Express offers up can be quite fun. Sure it may be silly, childish fun, but hey, fun is fun. CGI is the perfect medium to capture the action of racing down a network of present chute slides at the North Pole or bounding up and down steep roller coaster hills on the momentarily out-of-control titicular train.
Where the CGI falters is in the depiction of the films' characters. I understand why, even after the disastrous failure of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, the filmmakers chose to attempt photo-realistic CGI humans (to emulate the look of the storybook's illustrations), but they still don't work. Yes, as other reviews have stated, pretty much every frame of the film looks painterly, but that isn't necessarily a connecting feature to the audience. At times, the humans DO feel a little bit real (mostly when they're off in the distance and greatly helped by motion-capture movement synchronization), but for the most part, there's a clear and cold distance that pushes the characters away, mostly when they're shown up close, "emoting" or--*shudder*--singing. The moment two of the "children" started belting out a bland tune, I suddenly didn't care about the child-like glee of the action scenes that came before; I wanted off the train.
The story has more problems than just being schizophrenic; the ending is so predictable and sappy that small toddlers in the audience were shouting, "it's the bell!" a whole scene before it was actually revealed to be "the bell." (Side note: WHY do parents allow their children to shout during a movie? If your children are too young/immature to shut the Hell up during a movie, LEAVE THEM AT HOME.)
- The Polar Express
- Published: December 06, 2004
- Type:
- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: Adventure, Video: Animation, Video: Family, Video: Fantasy
- Writer: Sombrero Grande
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The only truly bad thing about this movie was the voice of the know-it-all kid, who my son identified as Mandark from the Dexter's Lab cartoon. Mandark is supposed to be annoying, in no small part due to that voice. The kid in Polar Express is also annoying, and didn't really need to be there. Other than that, good grief, Sombrero. This is a kid movie, as susie reminds you (#1). It was such a nice break from the usual kid's fare. In fact, before the movie started, four or five previews of upcoming attractions were shown, and every one of them --- EVERY ONE OF THEM --- involved people getting konked in the head, falling, and various other ridiculously over the top slapstick nonsense. These movies are full of wiseasses and cynicism. It was so refreshing to see a kid's movie where kids actually treat each other nicely. My 9-year-old son loved it, too.
And I thought Santa was just fine. He radiated wisdom, whereas you were expecting a bowl full of jelly, I guess. Well, it all depends on what you want from a Santa.
I am a big fan of the Polar Express. The book shows the true meaning of Christmas and reminds you of how you used to believe in fantastic icons. Tom Hanks perfomance is acceptable despite his earlier work (Forrest Gump, etc) and the animation is interesting, but probably the most interesting thing about the whole movie is the art concepts. I would suggest this movie to anyone who likes art and trains. If you are looking for a place to look, not necessarily buy, the best images inspired by the Polar Express, I suggest you go to my web site www.graffitiusa.com I got some pictures of trains that are spectacular there.
"Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within " is the best 3D graphic film ever. Sublime scene! The cartoon effect is lifelike. The story line is superb, the heroine is very beautiful.
In this film, I love the people's sensation and scene.
With the great imagination.
this movie sucked balls
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well why i agree with alot of your points, bad animation and an emotionly unavailable santa, i liked the movie for the most part. a wonderful life is in black and white but i still watch that. its all about a christmas movie the family can share. doesnt have to be a classic doesnt have to win an oscar, as long as brings you together one night. the main thing i didnt like and it may because i had to get up several times are the loose ends. why were the tickets stamped differently? why was that guy on top the train? oh and by the way... its a KIDS movie. if you dont like children rent it on dvd because theres not a child in the world who can be quiet for an hour and a half straight.thats why theyre children, theyre still learning. i know for a fact im not keeping my kids away from a movie geared for them because some grumpy guy gets annoyed when they get excited.