Have an incredible Christmas!

Rating: 8/10 (2 January 2005)

The problem with Christmas movies is: they're generally  I mean, usually  made to make money. My point is, the producers/directors/writers/actors are often making the rounds on these ones  they don't pay much attention to what they're doing (example: "Christmas with the Kranks"). They don't care.
"The Polar Express" really cares about itself. It's got a long, beautiful story that it dares tell children and adult alike about. It is a film full of the kind of simple wonder, joy and magic that I thought was all but gone for years. It doesn't need to tell a story of complexities, violence or conflict for the children to be interested. All it needs to do for that is to give the kids wonder, and does it ever.
The story, though much expanded upon from the book, is still quite simple: a boy (known as Hero Boy) who is losing his faith in the existence of Santa Clause is  along with many other children  taken to the North Pole to see how it's all done. Of course the movie wouldn't be half as interesting if it was without their means of transportation: the Polar Express.
The Polar Express is a massive steam engine which runs on both coal and Santa's magic. It is run by a flesh-and-blood conductor (Tom Hanks) and a couple of engine men, though the rest of the staff seems to materialize in (and out) of thin air when they're needed. For instance, when the conductor orders cocoa for the children a group of waiters leap into the car, pour their drinks, sing and dance, and are gone in a flash. Another instance of the train's magic is when Hero Girl's (Hero Boy's new friend) ticket flies out of the window and various parts of the environment (animals, wind) cause it to catch up with the train. Seeing this in 3-D was amazing.
There are many other scenes of pure spectacle, as when the train skids over ice, or when Hero Boy and a strange hobo who lives on top of the train (Tom Hanks) race to an empty car before being crushed by the oncoming tunnel. These are very exciting, energetic, fun, and visually stunning action scenes, and require no violence either.
The film keeps its supply of wonder and energy for the entire ride of the Polar Express, but when the train rolls into the North Pole, it slows down just a little bit. I think this may be because the Pole is already so familiar to us, too familiar for a few small adjustments to change. The Pole still looks nice, with its thousands of elves and its small buildings and toy factories (it looks more like hard work than jolly fun), but we've seen it all before, too many times. Still, this is probably the best envisioning on screen that I've seen.
And probably also the best envisioning of Santa himself. Played by Tom Hanks, this Santa seems like a real man, warm and kind though with a no-nonsense voice, who reacts to his job and requirements like a real person might. His entrance is one of the most memorable parts in the movie, and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed Hanks' "performances" in the film. Of his three most significant characters I would say the Hobo is my favorite, just because he's so eccentric and original, but The Conductor and Santa are right behind.
Another thing, my mother said she didn't like how the movie was devoid of spirituality, but I disagree, I think it was all right there on the screen. I mean, when The Conductor says that life's best things cannot be "seen"well, what else could he mean? So, it was a great film. A spectacle. It should be seen by every family. I suggest you see it in 3-D, because it is amazing that way, and you had better hurry. But I have a feeling they will play this every few years, at least, in the IMAX, so children decades from now will still be able to catch the experience of one of the greatest Christmas movies ever made.
8/10