A movie that can only be considered ahead of time, The Polar Express only falters with its animation. Its story is heartwarming, characters memorable, and the message for the films target audience is perfect. This is a holiday classic, and it deserves recognition as such.

Based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg, Polar Express uses a new animation method to bring the story to life. Many shots are directly copied from the book, and they're perfect facsimiles. The story is small-scale, turned into a massive adventure aboard a magic train.

Following a young boy who is losing faith in the spirit of Christmas, Polar Express follows his journey that has a sole purpose: believe. The train taking him to North Pole becomes a wild ride. It's filled with well-crafted characters aimed directly at making the target audience grasp every shred of the "believe" message.

Tom Hanks plays, well, nearly everybody in the film. Five different characters are taken under his wing, from the main train conductor to the film's key character simply known as Hero Boy in the credits. A $150 million investment, Polar Express digitally captured the actor's performance, including full lip synch.

The result is a film that looks stunning. What comes off as strange is that it's also a little creepy. There's something either right or wrong with the animation that causes this. Facial movements seem natural, but you can't help but be distracted if they're off for even a split second.

Even still, you can't help but become engrossed in the story. Any animation gaffes are quickly forgotten as the film speeds along at a brisk pacing. Sequences like the train skidding out onto a patch of collapsing ice is not only masterfully directed by Robert Zemeckis, it's as memorable as they come. Becoming bored is not possible, and believing is the only option.

As with nearly every computer generated film on the DVD market, Polar Express looks remarkable. The only noticeable flaw is compression. With the Christmas theme, the film is filled with red hues, and the nighttime setting leads to darker blues. It's unavoidable. Sharpness and clarity can only be matched by other CG-based films.