Movie Reviews
This is one of the most beautiful animated films I have ever seen. Zemeckis is able to bring humanistic qualities to each character in ways that no other film of this type ever has. Although “Toy Story” and “The Incredibles” contributed human characters, none have been as realistic as this. Now, before you make some conclusion to the film that will presumably lead you to believe that it is so realistic that making it animated was pointless, let me point out some key differences.
When you see the film, you’ll understand what I mean by realistic human qualities. The humans in the film are comprehended as animated – you know their not real. But it’s the subtle traits that Zemeckis throws in there that make them so fascinating to watch. The children all act like children, which I guess is one of the advantages to animated performances: the animators make it. While the voices do provide that verbal performance, I’ve never seen a animated film that took advantage of facial movements and emotions as much as “The Polar Express”.
Hanks plays the boy, his father, the conductor of the Polar Express, a hobo, and Santa. This is not a sole performance, but five totally different ones that epitomize each character, proving, once again, that Hanks’ voice is one of the reasons he’s such a great actor.
What I found was that this film is a kinetic experience passed dazzling, and into mesmerizing. The animation is by far the best of the year, which is saying a lot considering the immense success of three other “cartoons” that arrived in theaters this year. The children’s book “The Polar Express” is a short tale about a boy who rides a magical train to the North Pole, where he meets Santa. The film is about the same thing, but Zemeckis and co-scripter William Broyles, Jr. understand the meaning of addition without subterfuge. All that they add is a delight to see unfold, but what happens is that peril becomes a central issue. These children nearly die on a whim numerous times, in sequences that I have a hard seeing a child not getting scared of. The tone of the film, actually, is strangely creepy – inexplicable really.
But this is a magnificent ride from beginning to end; a joyous journey into the sugar coated meaning of Christmas, but one that is so sincere, you’d think it true if it weren’t all computer generated. I enjoyed the themes of friendship and giving, which lie under the top meaning of the film. The older children will love it, the parents will marvel at the visuals, but I do think that the toddlers will have a crying fest (another failure of the MPAA). ****