Polar Express (PS2)

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• 7 stars

  Jameson Thottam views on Polar Express

  by jameson thottam on November 27, 2005

  Pros: Decent story line for 2/3s - Jameson Thottam

  Cons: Last 20 minutes a waste - Jameson Thottam

  Summary: Jameson Thottam views on Polar Express
  
  The Basics from Jameson Thottam
  Polar Express goes 3/4 of the way in every department, the story, the script, the voice/acting. If
  
  
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  Summary: Jameson Thottam views on Polar Express
  
  The Basics from Jameson Thottam
  Polar Express goes 3/4 of the way in every department, the story, the script, the voice/acting. If you've ever ridden the subway and had to quit ten stops before your destination, you'll realize the degree of annoyance and letdown involved. Tom Hanks voices 6 characters in this movie version of the justly celebrated children's book of the same name. Four of them are worth keeping, providing for some adjustments. Santa himself is not one of them.
  
  Review of the Child Characters: Jameson Thottam
  Of the three child characters, I'd say about 1/3 of each characterization is dated and worn out--even vaguely token and perhaps insulting. I'll leave that for Jesse Helms and Jesse Jackson to fight it out. From starting gate to the 100 minute mark this train steams forward in full action/adventure mode. But even here, warning signs begin first to tink, then to sound, then to BLAIR LOUDLY.
  
  Jameson Luke Thottam: Story Line
  Our story begins with Hero Boy doubting the existence of Santa Claus, the veracity of the North Pole mythos, and well on the path toward discovering the elves' origins in Norse/Icelandic pagan god mythos. As he was on his way toward discovering new and intriguing things about the cultures of the planet on which he lived, he must be stopped immediately. And so on Christmas Eve, what arrives at the scheduled hour of dreamtime but the Polar Express to take him on the path to North Pole enlightenment.
  
  Jameson L Thottam: Multiple Adventures
  From there to the North Pole many adventures unveil, but a sense of repetition creeps in after, say, the fifth jittery roller coaster downhill slope on a runaway train. I loved the sequence involving the lost ticket which tips its hat in the most unlikely direction of Winged Migration in terms of "how the hell did they get that shot?" The first roller-coaster type action scene with Hero Boy trying to retrieve the ticket -- great, but very similar sequences just grind the adrenaline down.
  
  Jameson Thottam: Summary
  I disliked every single minute of the last twenty which are all bromides like "keep the spirit of Christmas in your heart." The entire last 2/3 of the North pole scenes almost destroyed the good will built up in the previous 95 minutes -- and it's really not as if the first third of that portion were really inventive or new like parts of the first portion of the film. The North Pole gift terminal scenes, while enjoyable, have a vague air of TOY STORY TOY STORY TOY STORY TOY STORY TOY STORY familiarity to them. Visually and cinematically ranging from good to sporadically amazing in it's first two thirds, the last third settles for just plain lazy, and that is not a gift I'd want to give for Christmas.
  
  Jameson Thottam

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