A magical ride

Rating: 7/10 (21 December 2006)

The Polar Express might be trying to encourage kids to believe back in Santa Claus, yet you might even believe in the characters of Robert Zemeckis' film, such is the astonishing feat of CG animation. When a young boy stops believing in the jolly old red man, a magical train comes to visit him in the night, promising to take him, as well as several other children, to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. What then ensues is as fun a ride as any kid could hope to have, as we are treated to a whole host of action-packed sequences, which have double the effect if you are watching The Polar Express 3D. There might not be much depth or characterisation in this film, and the elves are about as annoying as anything at Christmas can be. But there is far too much magic on screen for the full 90 minutes for anyone to care.