Review – The Polar Express

What a creepy movie. The look and feel of this picture are very much in keeping with the oddly disconcerting style of Chris van Allsburg, the author / artist of the book that inspired this production. As a shorter show this might have worked quite well. But in order to sustain a considerably longer running time, the story breaks up into a parade of episodic twists and turns that become tedious after awhile. The movie also relies to far too great a degree on the “lookey what we can do with our fancy computer animation” factor. The technical quality is good, but effects alone just don’t sustain a movie this long and plot-free. I also didn’t applaud the decision to have Tom Hanks voice all the male adult characters It’s not the worst Christmas show I’ve ever seen, but it wasn’t as good as I hoped. Mildly amusing