Some Parts Work While Others Don't

Rating: 7/10 (16 January 2013)

The Polar Express has the difficult task of trying to take a book that's no longer than about twenty pages and turning it into a feature length film. For the most part some of the stuff they added, like the extra characters and settings, work but there are still some things that feel unnecessary.
The story is on Christmas Eve a young boy hears a noise outside his house and goes outside to see a train named "The Polar Express" has just rolled up to his house. He's invited by its strange yet friendly conductor to come with them to the North Pole where Santa will choose a kid to give the first gift of Christmas to. On the trip the boy befriends a girl who has trouble leading others and a younger boy who is incredibly shy. He also encounters a strange Hobo who lives atop the train who turns out to be a ghost. The boy, who remains nameless throughout the film, must learn to believe in things that seem impossible while their journey takes place and even gets a special gift because of it.
Some of the things that work for Polar Express are the characters which are all pretty fun and the settings which are gorgeous. However the film isn't without its problems. One major complaint some might have is the animation itself. A common criticism is that the characters all have blank emotionless eyes which personally I never thought. I will say the way they animated the Elves is pretty uncanny though. There's also the strange choice of having Tom Hanks perform and voice several characters, like the Conductor, the Hobo and even Santa himself. They look a little different from each other but you can tell it's the same person even with slight voice difference. There's also the sometimes jarring adding of some scenarios to lengthen the film. There's a scene where they have to move caribou from the train tracks that seems to add nothing and a scene which explores Santa's workshop which is creative but after they rejoin the crowd it's never really brought up again and there's nothing really new that we haven't seen from other films that have portrayed the workshop.
But the film is enjoyable nevertheless. It's not the best Christmas film but it gives you a warm feeling by the end that every good holiday flick should provide. And that song at the end credits to me is one of the best representations of Christmas in any film.