Review of The Polar Express (2004) by Paul C — 09 Dec 2013

OK. I'm not really sure why The Polar Express has a 56% score on the Tomatometer. The consensus says something like "the characters aren't lifelike enough and the story is padded". While I respect the opinions of these top critics, I for one was wowed by The Polar Express, a visually wonderful Christmas extravaganza directed by the legendary Robert Zemeckis.

Bases on the children's book by Chris Van Allsburg, The Polar Express is about a young boy who doubts the existence of Santa Claus. That Christmas Eve night, a surprise waits for him in the form of The Polar Express, a magical express train which takes children up to the North Pole to see Santa Claus. On the way, the train goes through extremely steep hills, ice, and caribou to reach the pole, and the doubting boy begins a journey of self-discovery about the existence of Santa Claus.

First off, the animation is phenomenal; possibly the best motion-capture animation ever released. I remember seeing this for the first time in IMAX 3D back in 2005, which I rarely do because there's not an IMAX theater close to where I live, and I was heavily wowed. It was one of the rare 3D releases where I was pulled into the world. I felt like I was riding the express and I felt like I could feel the snow. Possibly the best 3D experience I've ever witnessed in my life (this is coming from someone who doesn't care that much for 3D, and missed out on acclaimed 3D viewings for films like Avatar, Hugo, Life of Pi, and Pacific Rim). What I love about motion-capture animation is that the animation characters look extremely realistic like it was a live-action film. When I first watched it, I thought it was a live-action film. That's how incredible the animation is here. The conductor literally looks like Tom Hanks, who did the role, the hobo looks like Tom Hanks, the elf that sings Steven Tyler looks exactly like Steven Tyler (who actually did the part, which I didn't know that until my recent viewing). I still prefer 2D animation as the quality animation, but what comes close to me is not regular CG, but animation created by motion-capture. It's too bad that the horrific mess that was Mars Needs Moms ruined people's taste in this incredible art-form, cause what was created here was phenomenal. I loved it.

When first watching it, I was skeptical of how Zemeckis was going to pull the story off, cause while I loved the book, the book was extremely short and looking at it by just the pages, a film going by the book would only last, like, 20 minutes. Thankfully, Zemeckis expanded upon the greatness of the book, by adding adventurous moments, such as the train riding on the ice and the doubting boy and the hobo skiing down the train, plus a incredible one-shot sequence of a missing ticket, and kids on a runaway caboose. Robert Zemeckis was behind some of the greatest films ever from the 1980's, such as Back to the Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The Polar Express does not disappoint. As a kid, the film helped confirm my belief in Santa Claus. Now, while I don't really believe in him today, watching it today helps me reminisce of the days where I left my cookies and milk under the tree and anticipated the Big Guy's arrival. It's films like The Polar Express that makes me love Christmas so much.

The voice casting is pretty strong, with the child actors playing the kids in the film having great personalities of children without being too annoying. Zemeckis was smart in creating children with different personalities without giving them names, probably to give the audience good possibilities of what they should be called. We have the doubting boy, the main character of the story, the smart, leader girl, the poor, depressed, and lonely boy, and the smart, geeky know-it-all. Tom Hanks must have really enjoyed doing this film, cause he not only played the train conductor, but he also plays a hobo and even Santa Claus himself. In these roles, Hanks gives it his all and creates entertaining and heartfelt characters, heartfelt for Santa and entertaining for the conductor and the hobo.

Alan Silvestri, a frequent collaborator with Zemeckis, scores the film, and it's wonderful. His score provides wonderful instrumentations and excellent takes on great Christmas songs. Silvestri also writes the songs used in the film, and they're great as well. Songs include the awesome and extremely catchy title track, the fun "Hot Chocolate", the wonderful "When Christmas Comes to Town", and the phenomenal Josh Groban song "Believe", a chilling, inspiring power track that sums up the entire film in the perfect way.

When it comes to a film that I truly love to watch around the holidays, The Polar Express ranks near the top of the list, featuring some of the best motion-capture animation, great performances of Tom Hanks, an inspiring story, and wonderful music. I might not have a lot of agreements on this film, but I stand by what I say about this great and wonderful Robert Zemeckis film. This might very well be the most underrated Christmas film out there.