nan | 楠木

Polar Express is a festival film. And it’s also a cinema film, cinema emphasized here because you can only get the full experience out of it in a cinema, preferrably perhaps in an IMAX cinema.
But I watched it on my 17″ LCD. And it still proved to be a solid animation.
I tend to give animated features high ratings. Perhaps one reason is there’s only a few major ones released every year. Of last year perhaps only “The Incredibles”, “Shark Tale”, “Shrek 2″ and “Polar Express” were worth mentioning (IMO, I am not into animations that much, and I miss out a lot on Japanese ones, so… I’ll stick to US features.) Of these four films each had some merit. “The incredibles” was definitely the most satisfying on the whole. “Shrek 2″ was good as decent sequel to a fantastic original. “Shark Tale” gave me many laughs, especially with Martin Scorsese humoring himself. For “Polar Express”, the main attraction could be Tom Hanks, in a very likeable role. But he’s not the lead, and it could be said that the special effects even play a bigger role than him.
Which is a shame, really. Tom Hanks has great talent in lending his voice to animations, and his conductor role is far more interesting than all the elves and naughty children and even big Mr. C who makes a brief appearance. Yet his role is more of a guide to the main attraction.
A large part of the feature is reserved for very quick and intense action sequences. I can imagine watching it in an IMAX theatre. Must be a real treat. As it is on my 17″, it’s already a rollercoaster ride, which can be interpreted literally. Mix that up with a lot of the xmas spirit, and you’ve got a recipe that can’t really fail.
Good entertainment for young kids. Adults can find some fun too.
9 out of 10.