Review of The Polar Express (2004) by Whatwasthat? — 26 Dec 2008

Bad, Bad, Bad! I agree with those that say, don't take kids. It was mean, ugly and hearltless, with a sicko message that hope is found in believing that a made up person will give you the material objects that your family can't.

I agree with Nancy. The cruel joke that the movie plays on the poor boy who is finally learning that his life is not a fairy tale and that he is poor and that that is OK as long as he accepts it. But no! the movie says he is wrong to be realistic and sensible.

He should "believe" more in a lie that will stunt his emotional growth for a few more years and make him resent his poor family for not giving him big presents. So santa is "god" and material objects are the reason christmas exists.

This movie insults all religions and spiritual orientations equally. But it is not just the message of greed and delusion that makes it bad, it is that it is randon and mean-spirited. Like so many readers noted, there was no story.

The boy gets on, the train goes north, random unrelated things happen that make no sense and do not make you care at all about the people and then the train gets there, the boy gets a present, and then he comes home.

So what happens next christmas? Does he go again? Does santa have to give him a bigger gift or he will think he got dissed? What if the boy went to meet Marilyn Manson and got a gift, would we all want him to "believe" in MM for the rest of his life.

So when a kid loses his "believe" in the idea that he gets free things from a fictional character, we should all be sad for that person? Good christmas movies are about human values and choices and recognizing what is important.

This movie was a creapy effort to sell a sick and harmful message.