A worthy experiment in animation effects

Rating: 7/10 (30 November 2006)

I have now watched this film twice and have decided that I like it, although I have some misgivings about the overall message it contains.
On a positive note, the animation is cutting edge and the story works, being the correct mix of wonder, magic and ghosts that are part of Christmas. Zemekis borrows freely from various sources to make up his movie, including Dickens,1984 (check out the Elf Monitor scene), harry potter, old bugs bunny cartoons to name but a few, but somehow it seems to work (despite the scene where Santa finally appears and the elves cheer him like Hitler at a Nuremberg rally which I found just wrong). The animation is strange to my eye, the characters looking often like animated dolls, but the sets and other visuals are stupendous.
The hot chocolate scene is worth price of admission alone.
What I found somewhat troubling about the movie is how the whole Christian basis of Christmas is entirely eradicated (other than preservation of the term Christmas) and it is somehow all about Santa Clause (who, lest we forget, gets his name because he is based upon a catholic saint) and getting presents. Now, I am not particularly religious, but I found that part of the film a little troubling, mostly I think because the film uses all of the Christmas references, glowing candles, Christmas carols and so forth, but the guy who started the whole thing by being born gets carefully airbrushed out.
But then, this is not the first Christmas movie to do that, so one cannot be too picky.