News: The Polar Express: 3D creepiness?

The Polar Express may have used cutting-edge 3D technologies to tell the tale of a magical train ride to the North Pole, but that doesn't mean the effects are moving, reports the Sacramento Bee. In fact, the movie at times comes across as "creepy", "cold" and "mechanical," says the Bee's Joe Baltake. This is despite the source of the Polar Express's plotline, the classic 1985 children's book of the same name; and the film's experienced Hollywood creators, Director Robert Zemeckis and Actor/Producer Tom Hanks.

Baltake gives a brief overview of "performance capture," a technology whereby human movements (in this case of this film, those of Tom Hanks) are captured, digitized, and incorporated into 3D animation. The reporter admits the effects are "dazzling" (and speculates the impact of some scenes will be even more pronounced in IMAX format) but also describes them as overwhelming.

Baltake mentions the production budget ($165 million, which does not include marketing costs) but doesn't describe the film's so-far poor performance at the box office, caused by competition from two other animated features, Pixar/Disney's The Incredibles and the SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.