The Polar Express

Sometimes I can be very stupid and stubborn, I get an idea into my head and won’t budge. I guess I take after my Grandfather who long before I was born insisted he didn’t like tomatoes till it was discovered he had never tasted one. After his first bite he fell in love with them. And so I have to confess for thirteen years I have refused to countenance watching The Polar Express. I didn’t like it. Quite how I can justify that opinion having not seen it is best left to others to explain.

I sat down and despite frustratingly numerous interruptions I saw it all over four hours, more than twice as long than the actual film. At its heart is a simple moral tale of a young boy learning about himself on Christmas Eve when he is on the cusp of not believing in Santa Claus.  Tom Hanks plays numerous roles in this strangely filmed story, a mix of animation and live action filmed as animation. If that sounds weird watching it will make it clear.

The train journey to the North Pole and the start of Christmas Day is a fun filled and occasionally ever so slightly frightening journey. Filmed in 3D there are many scenes designed to have it pop out at you in the cinema.


It was a thoroughly satisfying film, a really good addition to the Christmas staples. The film features in the Guinness Book of Records as being the first all-digital capture film. I don’t profess to understand the complexities of its production but it does feel like no other film I have watched. It has a slightly creepy feel about it as many critics noted but the story is a cut above the usual schmaltz. For me it was a Five Star Wonder.

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