Lifeless and spread ridiculously thin...

Rating: 5/10 (19 November 2004)

Wow. I never thought Zemeckis and Hanks could produce something so...boring.
The Polar Express is not only predictable (which can be forgivable, but not here...), it has no likable characters, and besides some eye candy, it really has nothing going for it at all. What initially appeared to be a visually spectacular film was actually lifeless. The characters look awkward and dull, and nothing great is really done with the scenery (besides a small handful of moments on the train). Most of the action ends up being theme-park driven POV action. Fun, for a couple of seconds, but without a motion simulator, it tires easily. The fact that it is repeated throughout some three to four times does nothing to up the ante.
I'm sure the book had much charm, but as a fully fledged feature film, it is such a small story that is spread so thin that really, it becomes apparent that this should have been a thirty-minute short film - made for holiday TV viewing. Sure, it somewhat captures the "spirit of Christmas", but certainly not in any fun way. They really needed to take a page out of Pixar's book - develop a story which doesn't bore and characters that are well-rounded, FUN and likable.
Forget this turkey and watch the Grinch again...