Tom falls into the "Uncanny Valley"

Rating: 4/10 (14 December 2006)

In short, this film tells a great story. I would give some weight however to the gentleman that put forth the theory about population control and fascism when the train arrives at the north pole. That argument at least sounds interesting. But my problem with this film lies along a different path. I had a difficult time watching the film without becoming nauseous. My principle reaction to the look of the characters was revulsion. This is a fantastic example of when not to use computer animation. It would have been fine to turn the people into cute animals or caricatures, but photo real looking CGI people that talk and act in medium shots and close-ups are nothing more than animated cadavers. At least that's how our brains see them. I saw the film in 3D, which I'm sure amplified my natural and innate instinct to reject the characters, as one would reject a fresh corpse.