It could be a great movie

Rating: 7/10 (2 January 2005)

Are human actors expendable? Are we witnessing the beginning of their replacement by animated characters no matter how much "human" they can look like? Why? Is it cheaper? Or does it avoid directors the trouble of directing them and having so often to deal with their whimsical behaviour? Well anyway it's indubitable that my vote of 7 for this movie could be 2 or 3 points higher if the characters where human and not mere computer made puppets. Because it has all the ingredients to be a great Christmas movie conveying everything good that's contained in Christmas spirit and message: a good and original story, beautiful images (some of them breath-taking) and a well shaped team of characters, everything totally adequated to the beauty and fantasy of the Christmas atmosphere as we all have always imagined it mainly when we were children. And don't tell me please that if the movie were made with human actors it could not have the amazing and fantastic scenes it portrays. Today computer techniques allow to combine the most audacious special effects with human acting including that of children. And no computer can replace real human acting, real human gestures and expressions. Thus this movie left me a bit disappointed.