- 9
The Polar Express is a movie for more than one season; it will become a perennial, shared by the generations. It has a haunting, magical quality because it has imagined its world freshly and played true to it, sidestepping all the tiresome Christmas cliches that children have inflicted on them this time of year.
—Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times
- 8
Sure, the digital kids look kinda creepy, but riding these fantastical rails will wow all ages. Not overly sappy or preachy, this movie also has the power make you bawl your eyes out, so pack the tissues.
— E!
- 8
Devoid of 21st-century irony, this visually stunning, action-packed yuletide treat is sweet and, yes, magical in a way that will enchant kids and give older viewers a twinge of nostalgia.
—Megan Lehmann New York Post
- 7
This movie, which aspires to be a Christmas movie classic on the It's a Wonderful Life level, is overwhelming, enjoyable and impressive, without being really entrancing - though no doubt it will entrance plenty of adults and children who love the book.
—Michael Wilmington Chicago Tribune
- 6
Snow, steam and the soft glow of lights in the darkness have rarely been so beautifully realized. But the film's characters, computer-animated over film of flesh-and-blood performers, are as blank-eyed and rubbery-looking as moving mannequins -- the stuff of nightmares, not dreams.
—Maitland McDonagh TV Guide
- 6
Though heartfelt, the film tries too hard to dazzle and thrill rather than echo its own message: just believe.
—Leah Rozen People
- 6
...I only wish there were more of the disorienting -- more of the silently, hypnotically Van Allsburgian -- and less of the flat, linear, polished, technical brilliance with which this big-ticket vehicle runs its route.
—Lisa Schwarzbaum Entertainment Weekly
- 6
...from the beginning, the extremely expressive motion-capture?based animation is distractingly, well, creepy.
—Jessica Letkemann Premiere
- 5
Many moviegoers may find its colors and effects delightful enough to make the experience a thrill. Look beyond the tinsel, though, and you may be disappointed.
—David Sterritt Christian Science Monitor
- 5
Grateful as we are for the good things, when you add in scenes of indifferent slapstick and unnecessary spookiness, it's hard not to wish this film were more of a piece and less like loud music at the wrong party.
—Kenneth Turan Los Angeles Times
- 5
The detail work is impressive, but the film's "live action with 'live' action" CGI effects are more frightening than endearing.
—Ed Gonzalez Slant Magazine
- 5
...another powerful children's story dulled into mediocrity by the worship of technology.
—Ella Taylor LA Weekly
- 4
As a spectacle, The Polar Express looks remarkable. As a film, however, it's the equivalent of an elaborately wrapped Christmas present containing a nice new pair of socks.
—Keith Phipps Onion AV Club
- 4
Bridging the film's beautiful opening and closing, though, are 77 minutes of exhaustive, roller coaster-worthy action sequences, death-defying skids across frozen lakes and approximately 15 harrowing occasions where the beloved Polar Express is inches away from jumping its tracks and killing everybody on board.
—Sean O'Connell filmcritic.com
- 4
Unnervingly smooth, mouths moving in strange, even frightening formations, the Polar people are the least convincing things on-screen, glaring impostors amid the otherwise painstakingly rendered scenery.
—Ed Park Village Voice
- 3
...a grave and disappointing failure, as much of imagination as of technology.
—Manohla Dargis New York Times
- 3
...a failed and lifeless experiment in which everything goes wrong.
—Peter Travers Rolling Stone