Visually Spectacular

Rating: 9/10 (11 November 2004)

*** SPOILERS
The story begins in the main character's bedroom, a young boy (Tom Hanks) who we later discover that he does not believe in Santa Clause. The movie quickly jumps to the arrival of the Polar Express; a colossal train with dynamic power. The boy meets the train conductor (Hanks) and decides to board and joins a group of other children en route to the North Pole. Throughout the ride, a series of thrilling scenes take place: We meet the Hobo (Hanks) who has a secret of his own, a breathtaking sequence of a lost ticket, and other suspenseful or gentle backdrops to fill in the movie. The train finally arrives at the North Pole and the movie begins its conclusion with the boy receiving the first gift of Christmas, a bell, directly from Santa Claus (Hanks) himself, which he loses by the time he returns to the train directly. The last scene finishes with the boy and his sister opening their presents, and the boy opening his last presentthe bell which he lost and a letter addressed from Santa himself.
I've read the other reviews, and noticed that one of the most frequent concerns the other viewers had was that the motion features and action sequences of the characters bodies seemed rigid and not to the expectations wanted. Personally, I thought the film was breakthrough in movie production. It features a new innovation called 'Performance Capture'; this is where the motions of the actors are filmed, then the studio uses CGI (Computer Generated Images) to layout the images for the film. The fine detail can be noticed simply by the character's hair and the features on the skin. Proceeding, the scene of the adventurous ticket is definitely the crowning moment of 'Express', the sound, camera angle, and quick direction created the perfect blend to create some screen time to extend the film and exemplify the vastness of the studio's art.
Robert Zemeckis did a great job extending the short children's book of Chris Van Allsburg. When 'Express' was first announced, I was worried that it would become another 'Grinch', pointless scenes just to give its story the usual 90+ min. movie. Here, Zemeckis managed to add colorful and thrilling scenes that fit in with the plot sensibly.
My only forewarning is that this movie should not be assumed as a monumental achievement, but a great family/holiday film for everyone to enjoy. As an adult, it made me feel like a kid again, which I think was the primary purpose for Zemeckis; therefore this film is a success. Concluding, Hanks and Zemeckis score again (Cast Away, Forrest Gump), Hanks does an unbelievable job, most notably supplying the voice of the young boy. I think this will be a holiday film for the books along with 'It's a Wonderful Life' and 'A Charlie Brown Christmas'.------9/10