THE POLAR EXPRESS

Starring the vocal talents of:
Tom Hanks, Daryl Sabara, Nona M. Gaye, Eddie Deezen and Peter Scolari

Director:
Robert Zemeckis

Running Time:
100 mins

Out to buy on DVD 14/07/05

"All aboard!"

As you get older you might think that believing in Santa Claus might just be a little too childish. The magic of Christmas will just become about what presents can get but for those of you how might just be losing your belief in the Christmas spirit, Santa has one more trick up his sleeve. You could be one of the lucky ones that a get a train ticket. Now this is no ordinary ticket, for this is a ticket for the Polar Express. All aboard for the North Pole!

Robert Zemeckis returns after a four-year break with another groundbreaking movie but does it have enough to capture the Christmas spirit. Not really.

Based on the best selling novel by Chris Van Allsburg, The Polar Express takes the magic of the season to new heights of technological wonder. Using the latest motion capture technology to create life-like human performances from the vocal cast, Zemeckis and his talented team have created a visual spectacle that is filled with some of the most realistic looking computer generated human characters to feature in an animated movie. The problem is that they look too realistic. Animation is not meant to be a recreation of real life but a chance for creativity to take over and transport you into another world. The Polar Express just leaves you thinking why didn't they just film this with real life actors. There is no question that the animation is astounding but it is not good enough to make the characters easy to connect to as they have little or no personality or quirkiness to draw you to them.

The story line isn't the best either. Hollywood's and the commercial sector's view of Christmas is getting ever more sickening. More and more they forget about the fact that it is a religious holiday and concentrate on what they call the true meaning of Christmas, giving presents. This is something that has spread around the world, with the Christmas season starting earlier and earlier each year as commercial profiteers prepare to cash in. The Polar Express adheres to this premise and only really has one real plotline for the entire movie, 'Believe in the spirit of Christmas and Santa Claus'.

The rest of the film is a collection of roller coaster, theme park type action sequences that become more elaborate as the film progresses. You might think why is Robert Zemeckis continuing to use this plot device through the movie until you find out that The Polar Express is also a 3D IMAX experience as well. While these sequences would look unbelievable in 3D, on a normal 2D cinema screen they just end up been too repetitive. With a slight message and a definite commercial push for the holiday season,

The Polar Express is a sugar coated seasonal event that certainly won't go down as a Christmas classic. As throw away piece of festive entertainment for the kids, it has just enough magic to keep them enthralled and get them believing in Santa. Just be prepared for a big Christmas list when you get home.

For the Kids

Disc 1:
Theatrical trailer
Disc 2:
'You Look Familiar': Tom Hanks comments on his 5 unique roles
'A Genuine Ticket To Ride': a focus on capturing performances, the music and the movie's creation
'True Aspirations - An Author's Adventure': Chris Van Allsburg discusses his artistic background and how he conceived the idea for The Polar Express book
Music video of Josh Groban performing
'Believe' Behind the scenes footage of 'Believe'
'Meet The Snow Angles': cast and crew members share their favourite holiday memories
'Polar Express Challenge' interactive game
DVD-Rom features: Trailer, one level of the Polar Express video game

Mickey's Christmas Carol


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2004