The Polar Express [G]

A boy has reached that age where he begins to doubt the existence of Santa Claus. One Christmas Eve, he stays awake, eagerly listening for the sound of sleigh bells, but what he hears is the sound of an approaching train. But this is not just any train; it’s the Polar Express here to take the boy all the way to the North Pole! Reluctantly deciding to board, the boy soon sets off on the ride of his life filled with singing waiters, magic, new friends to be made, and the spirit of Christmas and after it’s through, he’ll never doubt again. 

The breathtaking motion capture animation that later brought dazzling new life to Dickens’ classic Christmas tale, The Polar Express is a stunning holiday display of bright lights, magic, beautiful achievements in animation, and powerful holiday messages. It’s really quite beautiful. 

A boy has reached that age where he begins to doubt the existence of Santa Claus. One Christmas Eve, he stays awake, eagerly listening for the sound of sleigh bells, but what he hears is the sound of an approaching train. But this is not just any train; it’s the Polar Express here to take the boy all the way to the North Pole! Reluctantly deciding to board, the boy soon sets off on the ride of his life filled with singing waiters, magic, new friends to be made, and the spirit of Christmas and after it’s through, he’ll never doubt again. 

This was the movie that set new heights for animators, using the motion capture that we often see for computer-generated creations such as Gollum from Lord of the Rings to create a completely animated world that holds all the power and wonder of its real counterparts. All the performances are real so it’s not just voice work for the actors and then instead of enlisting the help of set construction teams and stuff, the world of the movie is designed by the art department and then brought to life through the computer. The result is absolutely wondrous to behold and the closest thing to magic that we are likely to get in this day and age: when it’s used in movies is one of the rare moments when I really appreciate technology. 

Essentially the animation is all that you can talk about with this movie because there is really not much of a story, but on a more dorky note I would like to say that I found a certain level of amusement in seeing the Steven Tyler elf! 

Starring Tom Hanks, Leslie Zemeckis, Eddie Deezen, Nona Gaye, and Peter Scholari, The Polar Express is a breathtakingly beautiful holiday treat on a visual level filled with action, adventure, magic, music, and plenty of holiday clichés that we all know and love. It really is only the achievement in animation that makes it a cut above many other animated holiday features, but you still must give it a whirl, it really is a lovely and moving film.