The classic Christmas kids were accepted because they had nothing else, it’s a terrible movie

by Yonatan Klotz
| published 8 seconds ago

Christmas movies are allowed to be saccharine, bright, colorful and overly cheerful, making them feel good movies to watch every year with the family. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, elf, the Santa Clausand A Christmas Story They’re all classics, but still, for some reason, these days you’ll find The Polar ExpressRobert Zemeckis’ motion capture box office disappointment, considered a modern classic. How anyone can look deep into the soulless eyes of Tom Hanks as the conductor and think, “That’s the spirit of Christmas,” is beyond me because this movie drove straight into the uncanny valley, and the plot must have lost its ticket because it’s nowhere to be found. to be seen

Straight to the wonderful valley

released in 2004, The Polar Express Shot in motion capture, the same style Zemeckis would later use Beowulf and Christmas songEspecially to capture the picturesque quality of the famous children’s book. The book radiates warmth and wonder from its pages thanks to the talent of Chris Van Allsburg, but it is very short and lacks enough content for a feature film. I would argue that the feature film lacks enough content for a feature film, as even when talking to people who like this film, they only talk about the train sequence itself and leave the back half of the film with children Spawn through the Elf Command Center.

The Polar Express About Hero Boy, a young boy (motion capture provided by Tom Hanks) who loses faith in Christmas when the train stops in front of his house, and walks on after being pushed by the conductor, played by Tom Hanks. A journey to the North Pole. Hanks, as the conductor, does not play the role big enough for this type of film and for any emotion to be registered in his performance. The conductor seems like a stern father, he’s not the villain of the film, but he’s also not the kind of happy guide you’d expect on a train full of kids going to the North Pole.

There’s an action scene along the way, made for The Polar Express movie, when he goes off the rails and over an ice-covered lake, it’s the only moment in the movie that feels like it has any real risk or momentum. Outside of this moment, nothing happens. Sure, it ends in a sweet moment with the bell ringing (which goes against the novel’s original meaning), but that moment isn’t worth the journey to get there because of the disturbing CGI, lack of plot, and plot. , finally, the annoying kids.

Classic by default

i know The Polar Express intended for children, but in the 20 years since the film’s release, studios seem to have finally realized that children in films can be fully realized characters that transcend the old style of representation.creating a single stereotype, such as know-it-all, loner, hero and girl; These are the main children of the film. If Zemeckis had any guts, he’d have Billy the Lonely Boy get the first gift of Christmas instead of Hero Boy. Still, instead of subverting expectations, we’re left with annoying dialogue, weird facial expressions, and bad decisions that are obviously there to give the movie something to show on screen.

Still, because the movie was made for kids it’s considered a classic now that those kids have grown up and are looking back nostalgically at the beginning of the Outs. This is the same generation that decided the Star Wars prequels were great, but I can’t judge them as harshly as I thought Three ninjas It was a great movie, and I loved it Claymation Christmas Special. In 2004, there were no big-budget, G-rated Christmas movies that got big releases, which turns out The Polar Express As a generation favorite by default.

When we are children, we have terrible taste, and again I confess my love Three ninjasAnd that’s why no one talks about The Polar Express Outside of “I love this movie”. There is no discussion of great scenes, great moments, iconic lines or classic characters, yet people will speak fondly of the film. It’s because they were kids when they saw it, and they can still hear the bell today, and not because it’s a good movie or even an okay movie, it’s a movie, and when you’re a kid, that’s good enough.

The Polar Express flowing on Disney+and maximumIn case you need a reminder that this is the movie where nothing happens.