Director:
Robert Zemeckis

Cast:
Tom Hanks
Nona Gaye
Peter Scolari

Official URL:

http://www.polarexpressmovie.com

Country: USA
Rating: PG
Studio Name: Warner Bros Pictures
Running Time: 1 hr 37 mins
Release Date: November 10, 2004

Critics's Rating:
(2 1/2 Reels) 

November 10, 2004

By Veronica Mixon

Everyone has been raving about the breakthrough in CGI technology used to bring this classic Christmas story by Chris Van Allsburg to the big screen by director Robert Zemeckis (Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Forrest Gump, Cast Away and Back to the Future) and Oscar winning actor Tom Hanks. The Polar Express is a very simple tale about a young boy, Hero who doesn’t believe in Santa Claus and the spiritual journey that he takes that restores his faith in the Christmas holiday. The Polar Express has some powerful visual moments but it’s also an eerie tale.

Zemeckis has modeled several characters after Hanks (Forrest Gump and Cast Away). Hanks play the train conductor who invites Hero onto the train to the North Pole for a Christmas Eve special presentation. Hanks also provide the voice and/or likeness for several roles including Hero, his father, Scrooge, Santa and a ghostly hobo who rides on the top of the speeding train. None of the characters have names.

The setting seems timeless but a poor kid called Lonely boy (modeled after Peter Scolari and voiced by Jimmy Bennett) is from the wrong side of the tracks. Among the kids on the train, there is a talky nerd (voiced and modeled Eddie Deezan) and a little black girl (voiced and modeled by Nona Gaye Ali). She's called Hero Girl because she shares the adventure with the Hero.

Much of the creative effort has been focused on the CGI technology which is glorious as the train races through the snowy countryside, into tunnels and curling around a mountain. When the train dips and climbs tracks like a roller coaster, Hero, the conductor and Hero girl get a front row seat of the action because they are standing on the front of the locomotive. Of course, none of this makes any sense. Why are they traveling on the outside of the train in the first place? Obviously, it’s done to make the film more exciting.

My chief problem with The Polar Express is the way the characters look. Hanks and the other actors performed in front a blue screen and then had the images recreated by computer. However, their faces and body movements look like wax puppets. And, the elves at the North Pole look hideous and scary! Furthermore, I’m not quite sure what Zemeckis was trying to truly express. The visual look of the film suggest a time long ago – Baby Boomer fantasy stuff with steamy radiators, hobos, the middle class separated from the poor by railroad tracks, singing waiters with old fashion costumes, etc. Yet, the kid’s disbelief in Santa is based on newspaper clippings about ‘Striking Santas.’ This seems to be a very contemporary notion. So is the nerdy kid and presence the black girl. When she temporarily loses her ticket, the conductor separates her from the other kids in the train and it makes no sense. Lastly, at 97-minutes, the film is too long for such a simple message of faith.

The Polar Express is based on a lovely idea but it may not satisfy many in the audience.

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