The Polar Express (2004) is a film about some children who take a ride on a magical train to the North Pole to visit Santa Claus and his elves.
It was the first film I ever saw in an IMAX cinema. I went to the drum-shaped BFI one at Waterloo, which has the biggest screen in Britain. This was my Christmas treat for 2004.
I think that this was the first time I ever saw 'uncanny valley' CGI characters too, so there were three new experiences in one outing.
The snowy landscapes in The Polar Express were beautiful, but the film as a whole was rather eerie; it had a weird and dreamlike atmosphere that made me feel uneasy. I did not like the hybrid animated/human characters either: they gave me the uncomfortable, something isn't right, feelings that some robotic people in this world do, people who seem neither dead nor fully alive, people who seem more like ghosts or zombies than real people.
The film was in 3-D; the roller-coaster swoops of the camera made me dizzy!
The friend who came to see the film with me had much the same opinion of it: the IMAX experience was great apart from the times when we had to close our eyes because the vertical drops made us feel seasick, but parts of the film were rather disturbing.
With hindsight, even the 'normal' scenes in The Polar Express, children in their homes for example, seem like fantasy; they look like an alternate version of reality similar to the one in the film Coraline (2009).
The Polar Express polarises people. Some suspend disbelief, take it at face value and think that it is a magical masterpiece and a wonderful Christmas classic for all ages, while others think that it is unconvincing, disappointing, slightly sinister, gives some wrong messages to children and has some puzzling but unexplained aspects.
Some people even see a Christian message behind the film, others see something diabolical: Santa versus Satan! Some liken the scene at the North Pole where the elves go wild and Santa Claus makes a big entrance to a Nuremberg rally!
Perhaps the fans are feeling people and the critics thinkers. Perhaps some of the people who like the film when they first see it cool off and see some flaws once they are familiar with the story and the novelty of IMAX and the glamour of the snowy scenery have worn off. Perhaps it is just growing up or growing older that causes some people to become disenchanted with the film. Perhaps some admirers have second thoughts when they come across critical reviews; some people will see nothing wrong unless and until others show them the way, point out some inconvenient truths and break the spell for them.
For first-timers, The Polar Express is best seen in IMAX 3-D. It is sometimes shown on television at this time of year; it is also shown in conventional cinemas, which to me seems the worst of both worlds.
I might take another look the next time The Polar Express comes on TV just to remind myself of the sinister aspects, but I would never go to see it in a cinema again.
