Sometimes the most thrilling parts of movies are the quietest of times. When reading �The Polar Express,� I always imagine everything being so quiet. Books are really nice that way, with letting your imagination change how you think the scene should be. When I say scene when referring to the literature of �The Polar Express,� I basically mean one page. The quietness of the boy�s bedroom didn�t exactly make you frightened, but excited, rather.
The smooth movements of the �camera� in this computer animated film, which did give you the animated look, but the scenery, everything around our computer animated characters seemed so real. The sound effects were the first thing I noticed though. I mean, the look of the film was quite beautiful already, but the sound effects gave it a different feel. Even with something as little as the sound of the boy�s footsteps which carried him to the window was awesome, but not nearly as awesome as the rest of the movie got.
The �camera� went all over the place and the first time I got to notice this was the camera angle from in a book�s page. The words appeared to be in the air as you could see the Hero Boy through them.
Sara, the sister, is tucked into bed, and we, the audience, are introduced to the theme of �believing� from the �Hero Boy�s� having his sister lay the cookies and milk out for Santa. Soon after, we, the audience, are allowed to sit back comfortably in our seats as we see Hero Boy lay down to sleep. But not for long�
More than half an hour passes�in movie time, of course�and the time stops at 11:55pm. Five minutes until Christmas day. Hero Boy awakens to see the time because of a little disturbance in his sleep.
Two minutes later of a thrilling train stopping in front of this boy�s house, we are introduced to the Conductor, played by the talented Tom Hanks. We all know that our Hero Boy is going to get on the train, but now it is time to be introduced to other characters, like the nerdy boy who is a little too greedy to be on this train ride, and the girl who Hero Boy communicates with the most.
But the film hasn�t yet introduced the best characters in this story. Now, an express train showing up in front of your house would definitely make you think twice about how �magical� it is and how mysterious it is. The film makes you wonder about a lot of things. That�s what magical stuff does to you, makes you wonder.
Not long after getting on the train, does the screeching metal stop for another boy who looks a lot like Haley Joel Osment�s character in �Forrest Gump.�
Who is this boy and why does he choose to sit away from everybody else in the train?
Before we get to find out, the movie changes into a musical number of �Hot Chocolate� where there are many bus boys and chefs who dance in and out of the train�s car to serve hot chocolate, which, in the book, is described as melted chocolate bars.
The next scene has the Conductor checking tickets that have magically appeared in everyone�s pockets. One girl doesn�t have hers, so the Conductor takes her away. Hero Boy sees her ticket, but loses it out of the window and we are taken on a ride to see where this ticket goes�past wolves�down water falls�and back onto the train tracks in a scene that reminded me of the feather in �Forrest Gump.� Let me remind you that Robert Zemeckis was the director behind not only �The Polar Express,� but also the director behind �Forrest Gump.�
The theme of this movie is the believing of Santa Claus, which we are reminded of when Hero Boy chases down the conductor onto the roof of the train because he has taken the girl away for not having her ticket. We are introduced to a new and very mysterious character, the Hobo who makes Hero Boy think about the situation he�s in. He�s on a magic train? No, this is a dream. How can anyone believe in Santa Claus?
�Do you believe in ghosts?�
The movie takes a kid�s ride to the north pole and creates a roller coaster of a movie. It is an exciting movie. The directing is mysterious, the movie is fun to watch. It is visually awesome. One of my favorite shots is from inside the house where the kid is looking out his window after being dropped off by The Polar Express. Now, I saw this movie in 3D at an IMAX theater, and maybe that makes everything a little different. I can imagine watching this on any TV, though, it is a fun and entertaining movie.
The Haley Joel Osment boy is a character you feel sorry for. Christmas just �doesn�t work out� for him. The little emotion this movie gives you is mostly from him. But one of the greatest scenes is, of course, when Santa comes out to give the first gift of Christmas. Talk about introducing a character. Now is the first time when the Hero Boy notices he cannot hear the bell, and he starts telling himself that he believes�and then he can hear it. Now I don�t want to put this movie down or anything, but this is the only part I didn�t like�because how does he know that not believing is the reason he can�t hear the bell? Maybe I missed something.
If you read the book and watch the movie, there is a lot of stuff that happens here that didn�t happen in the book. The movie has so many scenes and so much stuff happens that it seems quite long, but you don�t want it to end. I would recommend this movie to anybody and this movie is even a big step in movie history. Is it the first time this kind of animation is used for a whole movie? I mean, we have plenty of computer animated films, but this one was different because the way everything moved was how the actors moved. If you look close enough at the father of Hero Boy, and you will be able to see him in the end, he looks exactly like Tom Hanks. Tom Hanks plays not only his look alike character, but also the Conductor. When Hero Boy gets on the roof of the train and meets the Hobo, Tom Hanks is disguising his voice, but his voice is so familiar to all of us that everyone can tell that it is Tom Hanks. His most disguised voice, though, is Santa, where it is a deep voice that is well done.
�The true spirit of Christmas lies in your heart.�
I give the movie an A- because there was no conclusion to the Ghost dude, he just seemed to be there for one scene in which he saved the Hero Boy�s life, the music, to me, seemed to be overused, even though it was awesome music. I�m talking about the main theme, though. But that�s it. It is a fantasy, action/adventure film that is visually exciting and very entertaining. See it, it is rated G and anybody would like it�I don�t know how you wouldn�t.
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