Robert Zemeckis and William Broyles Jr’s “The Polar Express” is a Christmas adventure film. The film is based on the 1985 children’s book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg.

The film follows a boy, called Hero Boy (voiced by Josh Hutcherson) who has doubts about Santa’s existence. Set on the night of Christmas Eve, the boy is awoken by a magic train called the Polar Express, which is traveling to the North Pole.

This film is one of the first films ever fully created by computer-animated motion capture. As the film is a pioneer of computer-animated motion capture, there are some flaws in the animation.

There are several moments throughout the film that the characters’ animation is stiff and the motion capture on the their faces do not show much emotion.

There is a mistake in the Polar Express train itself, there are several shots outside of the train which show a different set of cars in the shot.

Though there are flaws with the animation, the plot of the movie is enjoyable.

When Hero Boy first boards the Polar Express, he meets a girl called Hero Girl (voiced by Nona Gaye), a know-it-all kid (voiced by Eddie Deezen) and a boy named Billy (voiced by Peter Scolari). The several incidents throughout the train ride keeps the plot fresh and the audience on its toes.

When they arrive at the North Pole the four have another adventure returning back to the train by accidentally dropping into the big sack of presents Santa is delivering for Christmas.

The voice acting in the film showed the talent of the incredible cast. Tom Hanks did several voices for the film, including Hero Boy’s adult voice, Hero Boy’s father, the Conductor, the Hobo, Santa Claus and the Ebenezer Scrooge puppet, bringing a distinct personality to each character.

In addition to voice work, Hanks also performed motion capture for these characters. His performance added depth and warmth to the story, showcasing his remarkable range as an actor.

“The Polar Express” is a classic when it comes to Christmas movies and it will bring entertainment to audiences for years to come.

I give this film 3 out of 5 Mustangs.