Polar Express Reviews

In this animated tale based on Chris Van Allsburg's children's book, a sceptical boy finds his belief in Father Christmas restored by an incredible journey to the North Pole on board a magical train. Forrest Gump director Robert Zemeckis's fantasy adventure is undoubtedly technically impressive, thanks to the introduction of “Performance Capture” — a new type of CGI that transfers the live actions of actors into a digital format. The process enables star Tom Hanks to take on six different roles, from the young hero to Santa Claus himself. However, as a fast-moving life lesson about faith and hope, the film weaves sentimentality and gentle moralising into every scene. But, though the emotion feels contrived, that's nothing compared to the flashy set pieces and meticulous detail, which do more to flaunt the technology than move along the story.

A technically fascinating movie for its use of 'performance capture' animation techniques to digitally create and alter its actors and sets, this weakly scripted tale about uninteresting characters soon runs out of steam.

Every detail of the beloved children's classic is meticulously reconstructed in the film, with visuals that can only be described as wondrous

In this animated tale based on Chris Van Allsburg's children's book, a sceptical boy finds his belief in Father Christmas restored by an incredible journey to the North Pole on board a magical train. Forrest Gump director Robert Zemeckis's fantasy adventure is undoubtedly technically impressive, thanks to the introduction of “Performance Capture” — a new type of CGI that transfers the live actions of actors into a digital format. The process enables star Tom Hanks to take on six different roles, from the young hero to Santa Claus himself. However, as a fast-moving life lesson about faith and hope, the film weaves sentimentality and gentle moralising into every scene. But, though the emotion feels contrived, that's nothing compared to the flashy set pieces and meticulous detail, which do more to flaunt the technology than move along the story.

A technically fascinating movie for its use of 'performance capture' animation techniques to digitally create and alter its actors and sets, this weakly scripted tale about uninteresting characters soon runs out of steam.

Every detail of the beloved children's classic is meticulously reconstructed in the film, with visuals that can only be described as wondrous

As a complete package, Zemeckis surreal, hallucinogenic adventure is pretty inconsequential. But as a... read more on Time Out

An instant Christmas classic in a league with the original Miracle on 34th Street

This train ride is both majestic and edge-of-your-seat