Niko - lentäjän poika (2008) Reviews

• Give children a chance to see this movie

  CattyA2008-12-23

  Although I'm a Finn I can see where the negative comments of the American parents come from. You have grown up with the Disney policy of showing children only sugarcoated films trying to protect them from the real world. I am a great fan of enchantment, princesses and cute animals but to make changed versions of world classics such as The Little Mermaid in which the ending was ruined by changing it into a happy one is a sacrilege. The Andersen story is forever spoiled for those who have first seen the film. I don't actually believe that children pay much attention to the one night stand or the macho behaviour of the reindeer. That's there for the grown-ups. The children are drawn to the story and if you don't point the other matter to them, it goes by like a snowflake. On the other hand many children living with a single parent may relate to Niko's situation and find comfort in seeing that he is not an outcast. It would be wonderful if all families had two parents and everyone lived happily ever after but sadly it isn't so. The word bastard should be deleted from the world. Your own goals and resources are what matters, not your family background. As mentioned in another post the animation of snow is fantastic in this movie. Also the animals are drawn well. The reindeer really look like this and the wolves' running rhythm is spot on. There are many local details like the landing light on the runway. They are called lumberman's candles in Lapland.

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• American family entertainment

  Skaven2522008-11-22

  Niko and the Way to the Stars is an animated story of a young reindeer boy Niko, taking place somewhere in Lapland. Niko's father is gone, and his mother tells him dad is a member of Santa's Flying Reindeer Squad. Niko is supervised and taken care of by a flying squirrel named Julius who believes Niko will be able to fly someday, just like his father. The reindeer aren't allowed to go outside the valley because of the wolves who stalk there. After his disobedient visit outside the valley and a consequent incident with the wolves which forces the reindeer to move on, Niko decides to run away and look for his father further north where Santa resides. Adventure ensues. From a Finn's standpoint this film felt a bit odd. It's written, produced and animated in Finland - yet the Finnish version of the film feels like an American animation film that has been translated and dubbed into Finnish. I wondered about this, but a friend explained to me the film is actually primarily intended for the international, mainly American market, and was written and lip-synced accordingly. Considering the country of origin, I was expecting a bit better Finnish translation though. The characters' lines were full of clumsy Anglicisms. Because of this, I have a feeling that native English viewers will enjoy this film more than Finnish viewers. At a standard issue family entertainment level this film performs competently. There's family friendly humor and family values, there are no odd quirks, cussing or violence. It's exciting at times, but not too scary for young children. Perhaps with all this it is a bit bland, but still likable. If you're looking for something to watch with your kids around Xmas, I can recommend this. However, if you're looking for something odd, quirky, eye-opening or original, look somewhere else.

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• Very good movie for kids ... with a couple little flaws

  horacepmctitties2008-12-03

  My kids (6,4,4) love this movie. It keeps them interested and engaged. It's mildly suspenseful, funny at times, and keeps moving at a pretty brisk pace. The animation is very good, and worth the price for the snowfall effects. Maybe I've become overly sensitive to this type of thing, but I felt that the way in which Niko came into the world was a little much for a kids' movie. His mother hooks up with one of Santa's flying reindeer and she never sees him again. I understand that this is how it works in the animal kingdom (minus the flying) but when the characters are personified kids relate them to people. I had to field a few questions about this. Also, the flying reindeer sitting around a bar drinking was a little disturbing. And when they are informed that one of them is Niko's father they react in stereotypical frat-boy fashion. So, Santa's reindeer are a group of drunk, womanizers. Not exactly the Christmas image one would hope for. Again, maybe I am too oversensitive to this. The rest of the movie is spot-on perfect.

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• Good kids movie, not very Christmas-related, have an open mind!!

  eidem2009-12-14

  I thought this was a very good animated movie! However, it didn't really have much to do with Christmas other than the setting and the characters... but the moral of the story, which was to be thankful for and appreciate those who care about you, was very nice. I think it's funny that most of the other comments that users left about this movie talk about how terrible it is that Niko's dad had a one-night stand and didn't know he had a son. He's a deer!!! That's what deer do ~ they have many, many partners and make lots of babies!! And if you are convinced that these characters represent humans since they express human emotion, then you need to consider that this situation is a VERY realistic and common occurrence among people. I think that this movie would be great for kids who do not know their fathers, so they can see that others in their life who are there for them are the ones who matter. Other kids (like my son, and he loved the movie) who have both of their parents, may learn from this movie that other kids may not have their dads, and that's just how life is. Kids have to learn at some point that every family is different. As for the beer-drinking that went on... big deal. The movie was great. We shouldn't be concerned about sheltering our kids THAT much!! Alcohol is shown in Disney movies and other kid movies... I don't know why Americans are so stuck up about these things...(I'm American too, so don't feel bad). We have a lot to learn from the Europeans...

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• Awesome movie

  gatto-sm2009-04-30

  There is a very important moral and the two main characters learn a lesson fro each other: Niko learns that there's no need to look for your real dad if you are surrender people who love you. Julius learns not to be too cautionary toward Niko. And it's the Christmas spirit (and a hilarious weasel called Wilma) which will teach them to appreciate each other. The animation is not the best, I mean, it's very good for five minutes, then it gets bad, then good for other five minutes and then bad again, because the animation has been created by more than 3 different studios set all over the Europe, and the directors weren't able to keep animation homogeneous all movie long. You can easily find out each animator's style and this is horrible because all the characters take turn to be badly animated, and this is sad. But graphics, score and story are gorgeous. I would have rated 9 if animation was better. Dave

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