2004's The Polar Express is a huge festive hit that has somehow managed to pass me by. When this came out I was probably more interested in spending all my money at the pub and making a fool of myself in front of girls than going to the movies, so I'm glad I've caught up with it. It's Robert Zemeckis again, still trying to convince us all that this motion-capture business of making a CGI cartoon to create (sort-of) photorealistic characters instead of just pointing the camera at real humans is the way ahead. To be fair, the man is a pioneer of digital effects and with this one he does some fantastic, thrilling work, though the characters often look pretty damn creepy.
This one came a few years before his go at A Christmas Carol, so Bob hadn't quite cracked the CGI formula but I give him points for trying. Though the often glassy-eyed looking children in this film may give you nightmares, Zemeckis is laying foundations for the future here, crafting a thoroughly entertaining, memorable piece of cinema. The movie does reek of the director trying to show off but he had the wisdom to cast Tom Hanks in it, so you know it'll be at least half decent.
This is the tale of an unnamed little kid credited as 'Hero Boy' (Josh Hutcherson) who’s starting to doubt the whole Santa thing, snorting at fake Santas in shop windows and clipping newspaper articles that hint Claus isn’t real. Saying that, the kid is still sitting up late on Christmas Eve to listen out for sleigh bells, so he’s definitely conflicted.
When our boy falls asleep, it’s not jolly old St Nick that awakens him but a bloody great big magic steam engine that appears right outside his house in the dead of night. The train is full of kids and heading for the North Pole and, though the lad really isn’t too sure, Hanks’ pushy, stern, moustached train conductor hustles him into hopping on. Then it’s off we go on a technically impressive visual rollercoaster adventure through a hazardous, mountainy, caribou-infested winter wonderland.
It makes sense that Zemeckis would want to adapt this tale from Chris Van Allsburg’s 1985 children’s book, as a train ride is the perfect setting for the director’s big bag of tricks. The whole thing is set up to feel like one of those thrill-ride simulators, sending the audience whooshing between the carriages, onto the tracks, up into the sky and through tunnels and stuff. It’s very impressive and of course this was specifically made for 3D IMAX. Man, I wish I’d been lucky enough to see it that way.
For me, the best bit is a set-piece where we follow a little girl’s ticket as it accidentally blows off the train and flies around, like the feather at the start of (Zemeckis’) Forrest Gump. The ticket soars right through the train, out windows, even into an eagle’s mouth, before turning into a snowball and eventually, miraculously, ending up back onboard. The director clearly loves all this stuff and the film is full of cool, dazzling moments like this.
Hanks pops up as various characters, including the boy’s father, a ghostly hobo and even Santa Claus himself and the effect of this is simultaneously impressive and eerie. Still, it’s Tom Hanks, so you accept it.
The movie is let down by its musical numbers that mostly feel forced and aren’t particularly great or memorable, especially a bizarre rockin’ Christmas tune sung by Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler who’s been weirdly CGI’d into Elf form. Luckily, Alan Silvestri’s orchestral score is brilliantly festive, jingly and rousing, even if it sounds suspiciously similar to umpteen previous festive films.
It’s a great film to look at, even if the plot is rather so-so and padded out. But, when the padding is this flashy and thrilling, it’s difficult to grumble. I hope Zemeckis makes more movies like this so I can go and watch them on the big screen.
Not long after watching this, it actually snows for the first time this year. It feels magical and puts us all in the festive mood, though it is starting to get seriously chilly in our new house. We were supposed to be getting a shiny new boiler and chimney installed today but the guy’s cancelled on us last minute. He'd better come back and get the job done quick, or else he can explain to my child how the heck Santa’s going to get in on Christmas Eve night.
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