Kids will like it

Rating: 6/10 (4 December 2004)

A young boy doesn't believe in Santa Claus at all. On Christmas Eve a huge, magical locomotive pulls in front of his house. The conductor (Tom Hanks) tells him to get on--they're going to the North Pole. It seems the train is full of kids who don't believe in Santa. Well...that's about to change.
This is not a live action film. The characters look like humans (Tom Hanks has FIVE roles) and sound like them but are clearly computer-generated. In fact the whole movie is like that--EVERYTHING is computer generated. I saw it in an IMAX 3D theatre. I admit the visuals were incredible (if somewhat creepy)---but I really didn't like it.
There's very little plot, no characterization and I was basically bored silly. The "adventures" on the express didn't impress me and there's a pointlessly long episode with three of the kids lost in Santa's town (or whatever--we're never told what it is). Tons of characters and situations are left unexplored or unexplained and it gets annoying. The waiters on the train serving hot chocolate had me going "huh"? Also the meaning of the film (believe in Christmas) is heavy-handed even for a kids movie. They go out of their way to make you cry and choke up---I found it overly manipulative. Basically you just sit there and are bombarded by tons of visual tricks. For some people, that's enough. For me I needed more. The actors voicing the figures do pretty good except for Eddie Deezen--his voice is INCREDIBLY annoying (as is his character).
So I didn't like it--I looked at my watch more than once. Still the kids in the theatre were spellbound--they sat there in silence watching the screen. So--I think kids will like it but, to be honest, I think some kids might get nightmares from this. These CGI characters look so strange. More than once I was feeling very uneasy looking at them. Adults MIGHT enjoy it. I give it a 6--and that's mostly for the visuals.