The Polar Express HD DVD Review | High-Def Digest

I have to admit that at first I was scared to see ‘The Polar Express.’ Between its images of a seemingly mummified Tom Hanks and all these little computer-generated tykes with their pasty faces and zombie eyes, the trailer quite honestly made it look less like a heartwarming family film and more like some sort of North Pole of the Damned.

But lo and behold, when the family finally dragged me out to see the flick a couple of years ago, somehow I survived the experience without suffering post-traumatic stress disorder. Though I can’t say I found the film as “wondrous” and “dazzling” as its marketing promised, after a while the film’s motion control capture CGI began to blur into abstraction and I was ultimately able to immerse myself in the story. Still, ‘The Polar Express’ remains a film that’s constantly in danger of its visual style overwhelming its subject matter, and the latter only barely ekes out a victory by film’s end.

The story itself should be familiar to many, as it is based on the popular illustrated children’s book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg. Looking back, I suppose the book always had the makings of a classic Christmas movie stamped all over it — simple, universal, full of exciting action-adventure setpieces, and what kid doesn’t love Santa Claus? The story concerns itself with “Hero Boy” (Tom Hanks, performing one of six different roles), a little Scrooge-in-the-making who has no use for Santa Claus and pre-sold holiday cheer. But then, on the night before Christmas, a mysterious locomotive pulls up in front of Hero Boy’s house. Driven by the mysterious Conductor (Hanks again), the train whisks Hero Boy and a dozen other young travelers away on the journey of a lifetime. Overcoming all manner of thrills and spills on their way to the North Pole, ultimately our little Doubting Thomas will come face-to-face with Saint Nick, and will at last learn the true meaning of Christmas.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the film’s target audience, but I’m also not immune to the powers of such fare. Unfortunately, ‘The Polar Express’ failed to cast a spell on me personally. Although the story itself may be enduring, taken in the context of a million other Christmas movies, it’s a bit of a shopworn cliche. In fact, arguably the only thing truly “new” about the film is its technology, and like all effects-driven movies the shelf life of this stuff is short.

Even worse, ultimately the film fails to deliver where so many other modern flicks of its sort excel. Without giving away of the film’s secrets, the moral of the story more or less boils down to the idea that Christmas rocks because you get presents. Forgive me, but I expected something a bit deeper. What about the value of selflessness? Sharing? Caring? Giving without receiving? Quite frankly, the morose, self-involved little brats riding ‘The Polar Express’ deserved to spend their Christmas Day working in a soup kitchen, not walking away with a new iPod.

All cynicism aside, ‘The Polar Express’ is certainly still a fun ride. Though nothing in a home theater environment will rival seeing the film in IMAX 3-D, it’s hard to imagine kids not enjoying the spectacle of this film. The train-as-rollercoaster-scene, the slide ride at the North Pole present factory and the big finale are all thrilling sequences, and overall the film’s visuals are a sight to behold. Though I found ‘The Polar Express’ emotionally hollow, I can’t say I didn’t enjoy taking in the sheer majesty of its technical achievement.