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A Mom's Review
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See what Mom thinks of the movies that are out now.
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Articles
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| The Polar Express |
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moviecritic writes, "When a young boy loses all belief in the holiday spirit and Santa Claus, a mysterious train pulls up to his house on Christmas Eve to take him away to the North Pole to witness Santa's launch. At first reluctant to embrace the magic of the moment, the train's perilous journey, budding friendships with his fellow passengers, and sage advice from the Conductor (performed by Tom Hanks), shake the young boy into the hope that the Christmas spirit could possibly be true; all the while leading him into fantastical misadventures during the journey. "
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If there's one filmmaker who can handle turning a 32 page illustrated children's book by Chris Van Allsburg into a feature length film, it would be director Robert Zemeckis ('Forrest Gump,' 'Back to the Future'). 'The Polar Express' is the newest admission into the CG animated market, most notably bringing a unique technology to the medium for an extended period of screen time. 'Express' is a light holiday confection, brimming with Christmas flavor and adolescent fantasies, and the story marks a ripe opportunity this season for a little Santa worship and seasonal festivities. Judge by those criteria alone, and the picture is near perfect.
Though computer animated, 'Polar Express' uses a special technology that required the players to fully act out the film, and later their performances were animated over. It's a unique process; a next generation step up from the Ralph Bakshi 'rotoscoped' films of the 1970s and 80s, and provides the animation with a distinct human quality that even Pixar hasn't been able to secure from CG artistry. 'Express' uses this aesthetic to spectacular means, delivering fertile, emotive performances to a story that urgently requires a heartfelt execution. The technology isn't perfect, as evidenced in the limited movements of the eyes and mouth, but the look of the film is often stunning and unique, vigilantly matching the colors and scope of Van Allsburg's book with Zemeckis's own desires for yuletide adventure.
Facing an adaptation challenge unlike any other, Zemeckis has a tendency to go a little overboard padding 'Express' to feature length. There are some pretty bland musical numbers scattered throughout the film, and there is a palpable awareness during the third act North Pole arrival that the plot isn't moving a swiftly as it should. But Zemeckis knows what kids want to see, and 'Express' is chock full of snappily paced action sequences (the train crossing a frozen lake is a doozy), fetishistic holiday cheer, and the appearance of the grand marshal himself, Santa (along with his horde of diminutive, tough guy elves). Zemeckis is also obsessed with roller coasters. It seems every new scene has some form of runaway train careening down a mountainous slope, or the kids caught in some winding Santa workshop slide. 'Express' does get infectiously dizzying, aided by a warmly reliable film score by Alan Silvestri (which sounds like a mash-up of 'Edward Scissorhands' and 'Back to the Future'). Zemeckis's goal with 'Express' is to Christmas it up big time, and he succeeds, using his technology impeccably to imagine far away places and long lost sentiments.
Since the performances are so critical to the success of 'Express,' Zemeckis plays it smart and calls on Tom Hanks (in their third collaboration) to play just about everybody in the frame. As the adult voice of the lead character, his father, the conductor, a homeless spirit who rides on top of the train, and Santa, Hanks puts in a great effort for the film, filling each performance with that special, lovable Hanksian spirit. The rest of the roles (including Nona Gaye and Hanks's former 'Bosom Buddies' co-star, Peter Scolari) fall into line just as easily, even employing former geek overlord, Eddie Deezen ('Grease'), to voice an obnoxiously know-it-all Express passenger.
Even with some extraneous ornaments, 'Polar Express' delivers the holiday goods kids will be salivating over. Ushering in an interesting form of CG animation, Robert Zemeckis furthers his reputation as a groundbreaking filmmaker, guiding 'Express' to charming holiday merriment and many other unexpected delights.
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Posted on Nov 11, 2004 10:50am.
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