A Review by Phil Calabro
2004, Warner Brothers, Dir. Robert Zemeckis - Starring the voice talents of Tom Hanks, Daryl Sabara, Nona M. Gaye, Leslie Harter Zemeckis, Eddie Deezen, Peter Scolari, Michael Jeter, Brendan King, Andy Pellick, Josh Eli, Mark Mendonca, Rolandas Hendricks, Mark Goodman
As my hate for modern holiday flicks grew stronger through my viewing of 'Surviving Christmas', I was relieved to find a film like 'Polar Express' that stuck loyally to the spirit of Christmas. I am thoroughly sick and tired of having to associate the joy of the yuletide season with a couple of crude jokes and terrible acting, and not having a movie with substance and soul that really captured everything memorable about the most wonderful time of the year. Instead of solely focusing on the presents, the wanting, and the getting, director Robert Zemeckis unleashes his imaginary skills once again with 'The Polar Express', which is undoubtedly one of the greatest visual accomplishments of the year, but especially the Christmas genre itself. It's a film with a message so simple, that it'll make you wonder how it can stick in your head for days - something the kids and adults will both enjoy.
Based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg, it is the story about one young boy (Sabara) who is losing faith in the whole Santa Claus conception after overhearing his parents talk about it. On Christmas Eve, while sleeping in his bed, he is woken by the trumping sounds of a freight train which stops right in front of his house - the infamous Polar Express, on its route to bring kids to the North Pole. The young man climbs aboard the train, guarded by the haughty but spiritual conductor (Hanks), unexpectant of everything around him. He encounters a brave young girl (Gaye) who is quite a leader and looks out for everyone else, a know-it-all nerd who meddles around and cares too much about his presents (Deezen), a lonely boy from a poor household who hasn't experienced the joys of Christmas (Scolari), a ghost hobo who lives on top of the train (Hanks), and a whole caberet of singing hot chocolate chefs. As they travel to the North Pole, they run into many obstacles - but they can't be late, because they have to be there once Santa Claus (Hanks) is ready to take off.
Zemeckis has built this entire movie around two elements: the animation and Tom Hanks. Hanks, who starred in Zemeckis' box office hit 'Forrest Gump', gives another spectular performance as the several characters he portrays. The animation is nearly identical to Hanks' expressions, almost as if the CGI never existed. Also, he holds a steady charisma as each of his characters - the conductor is hasty and upset often, but in the end it's all because he wants to Christmas to be the best time of the year. His performance as the hobo is quite similar to his role in 'Ladykillers' this year, with a little less edge. His job in 'The Polar Express' is a very hefty one, but he voices everything with great zeal and spirit - the film would have been weak without his talent. Nona Gaye has a beautiful voice, and surprisingly sounds younger than her age - her singing voice for the song 'Spirit of Christmas' is absolutely amazing, the same goes to Peter Scolari.
Move over, Pixar. The animation department at Warner Brothers must have had some amazing grants, because this is undoubtedly the most realistic, magical format of computer generated imagery I've seen on the silver screen yet. My whooping over these effects is not entirely for the novelty of the animation, but because it helps enliven the Christmas spirit in the film. There is your average Christmas-Joy material involving presents and old time crooners on the stereo, but deep down inside, the message and the visuals combine to create something incredibly real. The screenplay, although lacking in premise sometimes, has real soul to it. It's sufficient in giving the children laughs and thrills, and in the end protecting that treasured message of the Christmas season - to believe.
If there's one movie to see this holiday season with the kids, it's 'The Polar Express'. It's not your average mainstream junk that will smother your kids with annoying cartoon voices and an over-obsession about gifts - it's something that they will remember like an ancient proverb. Everybody go take a trip to the theaters and hop on the train - because seeing is believing.
