Definite Christmas Classic

Rating: 10/10 (30 January 2013)

This is the movie that started off the whole thing with mixing CGI animation with motion capture software, and it's still at the top of the CGI movie totem pole. After all these years, the effects and imagery still blows me away. Employing a mix of real world physics and the unique properties of a cartoon universe, the movie shows us the scale and details of what looks like a real train, but at no time is anyone ever at risk of danger. The train slides around and crashes through ice, but it also careens down mountains at top speeds without getting swept off the train tracks. Another thing, frequently the distances and horizons keep shifting, and this is exceptionally obvious on the frozen lake whose size we see on arrival, but as the Polar Express speeds back to the tracks, the horizon keeps popping back from getting closer to much further away. I also noticed the train length and number of train cars keeps varying, and that Santa's North Pole village seems much larger than its population seems to require. They're small bloopers for a movie whose whole purpose is to stun and stir awe in the watcher. The story is simple and sweet: a boy travels to meet Santa at the North Pole and get a secret tour with two other children. It's remarkable and utterly magical, but still, I can't help but want to add in the mythology of the "Santa Clause" movies with Tim Allen. Maybe everything we're seeing is under the ice as in that movie and this Santa is the man in the suit before Tim Allen. Wouldn't that be cool? It's a good movie that stimulates our imagination, and "The Polar Express" is definitely a good movie, ranking in the top ten of my favorite holiday movies with "A Christmas Story," "Miracle on 34th Street," "Harry Potter," "Scrooge" and "The Shining."