Who doesn’t love a good Christmas classic? While many can be corny and sometimes even downright unbearable to watch particularly if it’s a Christmas rom com, but strangely enough some of the most interesting ones are ones meant for children. They usually allow for simple messages to be conveyed in visual creative ways when people care what their children are watching, but they can sometimes go a bit extreme with an idea that wasn’t stretched to its proper limit and allow for children to witness something in a completely new way, case in point, The Polar Express. Based on the 1985 Christmas book of the same name written by Chris Van Allsburg, the story centres around a young boy (voiced by Daryl Sabara) who discovers on the eve of Christmas that a gigantic locomotive called the Polar Express has shown up at his doorstep with the intent on taking him to the North Pole to visit Santa, who he has recently stopped believing in. Packed with children and hosted by the Conductor (voiced by Tom Hanks), the young boy along with some of his new friends face all sorts of troubles along the tracks on the trip to the North Pole, while the anticipation continues to build as they wonder who Santa will gift the first Christmas present to. Coming out in 2004 and done by Robert Zemeckis’ motion capture technology, the movie was well received at the box office and favorably by critics, even earning itself three Oscar nominations, but when people look back on it now, the cracks in the ice start to shine through when it comes to its issues. The film still has some impressive elements and actually manages to adapt itself very well from book to film, but instead of the movie becoming a Christmas classic through its warrants alone, it feels more like it was custom-made to be a Christmas classic without fully earning the title.

The story is obviously based on a children’s book, in that it’s a very good concept for a short Christmas story; this giant train showing up and allowing kids to meet Santa while also teaching them about believing, it’s a nice sweet tale that works great in a short burst. Thankfully, the movie did lengthen its premise to a movie’s running time, but it managed to do it while still keeping its message in tack and at the focus, like most good Christmas stories do. While it can feel padded in moments when it’s just a flurry of visuals with no actual purpose, the story takes an interesting direction where it turns the belief of Santa into a challenge of faith; overstepping the simple ‘’want to or not’’ argument and making it far more adult and intricate while still making it understandable for kids. The movie is also home to some very nice atmosphere; there’s the typical Christmas cheer and prettiness that comes with the colors and winter environments of a typical christmas tale, but there’s also this great feeling of build-up and mysticism throughout the whole movie. The train itself just feels like a ghost that appears in a dream; its grand in scale but also quiet in nature. So, while the premise is strong and its adapted from a short story very well, the movie fails to hide how much it feels like it is trying desperately to be a Christmas classic without working up to it. Certain moments in the movie feel out of place and pointless, yet are elements that are always featured in Christmas classic; a scary moment, a song about the holidays, a speech involving the word heart, so many of these scenes don’t feel like they impact the story that much, instead it feels like checklist marks needing to be ticked off. Also, the last third feels a bit anticlimactic especially with all the build-up surrounding it, but the movie uses a Christmas bell that not only feels simple but incredibly effective, but also ends the movie on a great note.

At first it may seem strange that none of the characters have actual names, instead they are relegated to being titled just ‘’Hero Boy’’, or ‘’Hero Girl’’, it seems pretty odd. But from a viewing standpoint, the book feels like a story that tries to place the reader as the main focus. Imagining yourself as the kid being picked up to go see Santa, or as the one Santa chooses to get the first present of Christmas, it would be a great feeling to read it as such and that’s what it feels like the movie was trying to do here, leaving them nameless so someone could envision themselves as the kid. With that said, it leaves the characters feeling pretty weak and forgettable. The main kid’s mindset surrounding his belief is interesting enough and there’s even a little kid who comes from a poor upbringing that gets a nice happy ending, though in the context of the movie, it’s never explain why he never got presents from Santa who clearly exists in their universe. The actors themselves are also pretty flat, though since they’re kids, they can get a bit of a pass. Who isn’t allowed to get a pass is Tom Hanks who unfortunately is unable to hide with how many roles he plays in this movie, coming up to about four or five. Tom Hanks is a very good actor, yet it feels like he’s placed in these pretty bland roles that don’t give him anything to work with. Probably his three most stand out roles; the conductor, who is honestly incredibly unsettling and not pleasant to be around, the hobo, who doesn’t seem to have much explanation or even reasoning in the movie, and as Santa, who is a bit of a let-down after the amount of build-up surrounding him. Though he hides himself in the other performances fine, every once and awhile you can hear the Woody coming out of him.

The biggest plus and also con of this movie is weirdly its most stand-out element; its animation. Since this was a different style from most Christmas animated movies, it did have that unique feel to it compared to others, as this animation style tries to be a blend between live-action and CG animation, which unfortunately never really worked out that well. The characters all look incredibly fake and are deep in the uncanny valley; none of them look like real people and the choice to motion-capture different actors from the voice actors onto the model’s faces is just odd and unnecessary, it makes the emotional separation between character and audience even weaker than it already was when it has to pass over three hurdles. With that said, the aesthetics and environments look very good and some of the best moments of the film are solely when it goes visual. Moments when the train first arrives has this great presence to it as it looks pretty legitimate, and most of the colors and locations also look pretty impressive as well. This is a rare movie where it works incredibly well in Imax or in 3D, some of the moments in the movie where the train is going down sharp drops or quicks turns actually gives the feeling of being on a roller coaster, particularly a scene during the middle where it actually becomes one. Scenes like that really makes it worth at least one watch just to experience the rush it gives even without being in the cinema.

For what The Polar Express could have turned out like, the actual end results were better than expected. It managed to take a fairly simple kids’ book with a nice message and take it to the next level so it works as a movie and is used to enhance its message in not only a bigger way but a smarter and more interesting way. The movie is by no means a bad flick as it has many elements going for it like most of the visuals, the atmosphere it creates and a great execution of a great concept, it’s just not to the same levels as The Grinch, or A Christmas Carol or any other true Christmas classic. This is more a Diet Christmas Classic, something that felt made to replicate the effects of a classic rather than be one itself. So for what it offers instead of what it doesn’t, check it out and see if it’s worth believing in.