To kick things off, this review isn''t about how children will like "The Polar Express." Sure, while adults may find it simple,
boring and downright creepy, some children will find "The Polar Express" entertaining, or at least awe-inspiring, as a magical train journeys into the north pole. Unfortunately, I am not a child, and you probably aren''t either - let''s just say that after watching "The Polar Express" you''ll want to stick in a copy of "Christmas Vacation" just to get your brain functioning again.
"The Polar Express," which of course is based on the classic child''s tale by Chris Van Allsburg, follows the adventures of a boy (voiced by Tom Hanks) as he journeys to the north pole to see Santa (voiced by Tom Hanks) on a mystical steam train. The conductor (voiced by Tom Hanks) offers helpful advice along the way, but that may not be enough as the train runs into all kinds of problems that could interfere with getting everyone to Santa on time. Even when they do make it the north pole, the kids encounter more difficulties in actually making it to where they need to be on time.
Now, there''s nothing wrong with a simple plot for a holiday movie. Plenty of holiday movies have simple plots. But when you take a children''s book and stretch it into a full-length motion picture, you''re generally going to have problems, and "The Polar Express" has many mind-numbingly long scenes where pretty much nothing happens. It''s probably not fair to compare "The Polar Express" to other CGI films as this one clearly has other intentions in mind, but I''m not always fair so I''m going to compare it anyway. Compared to just about any CGI film, even some of the bad ones like "Shark Tale" (maybe not "Robots"), "The Polar Express" lacks the excitement and comedy that is necessary for any kid''s "cartoon," especially one that is supposed to transcend the age line and appeal to adults as well. "The Polar Express" takes itself seriously, and really offers little in the way of comedy. That''s all fine and good, but the movie never is very exciting either, even though it tries to be at times. Maybe kids will think differently, but I''m not so sure.