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Movie Review - The Polar Express (2004)
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Robert Zemeckis |
| Starring: |
Tom Hanks' voice, a bunch of no-namers' voices, and Peter Scolari's voice |
| Rated: |
G |
| Length: |
90 minutes |
| Genre: |
Animation/Family |
| Tagline: |
Journey Beyond Your Imagination |
| Studio: |
Warner Bros. |
| Website: |
The Polar Express |
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PLOT
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A young boy begins to doubt Santa Claus' existence, so he starts to do a little research to see if he can come to
the truth. On Christmas Eve he is awakened by the Polar Express, a train that is taking a group of Santa
Claus-doubting kids to the North Pole in an attempt to restore their faith. A surprisingly good start to the Holiday
season ensues.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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*removes sunglasses and takes cool guy tooth pick out of mouth*
Have you ever wondered what a midnight trip to the North Pole would look like? No? Neither have I.
But that doesn't stop The Polar Express from attempting to capture that journey through the eyes
of a young boy. As cool as I try to act, I have to admit that it is a pretty impressive journey. I
know I'll catch heat from my friends for praising a G-rated animated Christmas movie starring Tom Hanks,
but I'm man enough to give credit where it's warranted.
The Polar Express is definitely geared more towards children. After all, the entire story is told
from a young boy's perspective. The viewer is witnessing a dream inside his head; a dream that explores that
pivotal moment in a child's life where he must choose to either close the door on part of his childhood, or
to keep pretending that he believes in Santa Claus just so he can force his parents to continue to give him
gifts from "Santa Claus." I'll never forget the fateful day when my parents closed that door of my
childhood themselves, resulting in half the number of Christmas gifts in the years to come. It was a sad
time, one that certainly put a damper on my 18th birthday, which was less than two months away.
So unlike Johnny Betts, the kids on the polar express still have a choice. Each is on his or her own
personal journey, and each has a lesson to learn.
The first hour of the movie is great and moves at a very fast pace as we witness the adventures that
occur as the train makes its way to the North Pole. Everything on screen is just impressive to look at -
the scenery, the animation, the action, the characters. I especially liked the first-person view of the
train barreling down a roller coaster-esque track. Robert Zemeckis wanted to make the movie feel like
an oil painting come alive, and he succeeded. Not that I'm an expert on oil paintings and what they
would look like if they were given life, but I digress.
The movie does slow down for the last 20-25 minutes. Once the train trip has ended and the destination is
reached, the movie starts to *ahem* lose steam. Bwahaha! But hey, prior to that, it was chugging along
*snicker* at a great pace. I'm sorry. I was just trying to think of some lame puns that I'm sure plenty of
movie critics are using in their reviews. I'm pretty sure I succeeded.
Anyway, I could have done without the little sentimental musical number where three of the kids join
together to sing about "when Christmas comes to town." And macho guys might start to lose interest
once the children begin to learn their individual lesson. Yeah yeah, it's all sweet and good, but it's
nothing original. I won't fault the filmmakers for that. A good "moral of the story" in a kid's
movie never hurt anybody. So if you start to zone out then just pay close attention to all the fine
detail, and you'll be impressed.
One of the things that I found most impressive is the characterizations of the humans. The human characters
benefit greatly due to a brand new system called Performance Capture. Performance Capture is a process in
which the actors wear form-fitting motion capture suits, but unlike regular motion capture, Performance
Capture is able to capture genuine emotions and natural expressions. Every single movement by the actor
is captured, down to the flutter of an eyelid. The result is the best CG humans I've seen. The mouth
movements actually look pretty good! Most CG humans look like they've got peanut butter stuck on the roof
of their mouth when they talk, so this is an excellent advancement. I'm eager to watch this system
develop.
One of the main points in the movie, as the conductor tells the little boy, is "it doesn't matter where
the train is going. What matters is deciding to get on." I don't know that I agree with that. What if
the train is going to Detroit's inner-city? Or even worse, what if the train is actually on its way to
Hell? What small child is gonna want to take that trip? If you decide to get on then you're in trouble,
and you've got the conductor to thank. Quite the disturbing message, don't you think, Mr. Zemeckis?
Oh well, it's all right to look past this and enjoy this visually stunning film.
*puts sunglasses back on and places toothpick back in mouth*
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ODDS & ENDS
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- Based on the 29-page book by Chris Van Allsburg.
- Each painting in the original book is recreated at some point in the movie.
- The Polar Express is the first feature film to be shot entirely in Performance Capture.
- The first and last lines of the movie are also the first and last lines of the book.
- Under production for 2 1/2 years.
- Budget: $165 million
- Tom Hanks performs 6 roles - The main boy, the main boy's father, the train conductor, the mysterious hobo,
Scrooge, and Santa Claus
- Charles Fleischer, the voice of Roger Rabbit, provides the voice of Elf General.
- The Polar Express: An IMAX 3D Experience will be the world's first feature film to be presented in
Imax 3D.
- Watch for the Steven Tyler elf near the end of the movie.
- Tom Hanks was in Forest Gump with Gary Sinise who was in All the Rage with Josh Brolin who
was in The Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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The Polar Express is one of the very few movies this year that would completely meet mama's approval.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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The trailer really didn't do much for me when I first saw it. My immediate reaction was, "Looks a little too
childish to me." I thought it'd be strictly a kid's movie, so I'm happy to say that it exceeded my
trailer-based expectations and wasn't as gay as I originally feared.
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THE GIST
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If you're looking for a movie you can take the entire family to, then go see
The Incredibles. If you've already seen it, then The Polar
Express is a very good second option. It's a little more child-oriented than The
Incredibles, and the sappy moments might slightly grate the coolest of cats, but it's an
entertaining movie, and at the very least you'll enjoy the visual experience.
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