A Beautiful Vision and Wonderful Story

Rating: 9/10 (8 January 2006)

You know, when it comes to reviewing children's shows, adults should really listen to their children. When I initially watched Polar Express, I thought it was a great movie. The animation style, purposefully made just this side of realistic, was a wonderful change from what is swiftly becoming a standard practice of ultra-realism in the CG community. The story was enough to make even me, someone who hasn't heard the bells jingle for decades, pick up a chime or two. In all, I thought it was great. Certainly not dark, not glorifying in child endangerment, but presenting a compelling story that, while relatively simplistic, has enough humanity about it to catch almost anyone's attention.
But the real reviewers are my two boys, Liam and Jackson (6 and 4 respectively). After the first time watching it, they demanded seeing it again. After the *third* time watching it, they were running around the house, reenacting all of their favorite scenes, including the roller coaster-like actions, the dialog between Santa and the Hero Boy, and other neat moments. You see, they didn't care that a train really can't do what this train did. They didn't care that anyone trying to ski down the roof of a train on an incline would likely end up flattened on the arc way of a tunnel. And they certainly didn't care that tight-rope walking across a perilously high bridge in the middle of Santa Town, in the North Pole, would likely lead to disastrous and tragic results.
What they cared about was the action. They cared that the characters, regardless of their disposition or their CG-simulated race and poverty level, got to see Santa and that they all had a wonderful time. In the end they enjoyed the movie, fully and completely.
And that's what *I* care about.