source: The Flight Before Christmas

Moviecut—The Flight Before Christmas

This is one of the most twisted children's Christmas cartoons ever...I felt like a fool watching it and letting my kids watch it.

Niko is a brash young reindeer living somewhere in the Finnish highlands of Lapland, brought up by his single mother and a flying squirrel called Julius. Niko's real father is said to be a member of the famed fleet of flying reindeer in Santa's sleigh, thus infusing the young calf with a dream to sail through the skies. His attempts to run the wind end with calamity, as he leads a pack of wolves onto the trail of his herd, thus forcing them to evacuate their haven - a valley hidden between the mountains and trees. Hence fraught with self-resentment Niko decides to leave heading North to join his father as part of Santa's sleigh crew. Along the way he will learn the hard truths of life... Thoroughly engaging, especially for my 5-year old, who was jumping in anticipation, joy and filtering through all the more tense moments, while at times incapable to hold back the emotions. In some ways a far cry from American fare, which shies away from more iffy subject matter (such as Nico's true father turning out to be a narcissistic, high-flying womaniser). Somehow American viewers tend to turn a blind eye at on-screen violence in children's movies, but a slight dosage of reality with blood-hungry wolves and the dissonance between truth and childhood imaginations, suddenly bring about a blow-back. "Niko" definitely treads on dangerous ground, making the movie not as family friendly as expected, given the Santa Claus plot line and the congestion of heavy concepts for youth, but all in all the mix was surprisingly workable with some very nice animation, superb character formation and a sweet tear-jerking resolve that will warm the coldest adult heart.

well, i'm not really into Finnish animated movies, but i make an exception for this one. Not because the main character got my name (lol), but cause it's cute, funny and touching. Ya OK, the animation's good but the story somehow seems weak and lacking. However, it did a pretty good job to entertain me cause i really liked it. In this movie, Niko's always practicing to fly like his dad, but the problem is he never met his dad. So, along with Julius, a lazy flying squirrel, he sets out for Santa's Fell to find him. Like i said, the movie's not bad, it's really funny parts in it, especially when Niko drinks a beer and burps. But it also leaves a really good message about how to not give up on your dream, even if u get into trouble. So, i'm gonna give this movie a 8.5 out of 10, cause i think it was really well done even if the story wasn't really strong.

If you want to see real family issues solved how they must to be solved, without pretending they don't exist, without turning them into a sugarcoated "happy ending", you may like this movie. Considering the movie's low ratings, I expected a silly predictable story with poor animation. I was pleasantly surprised it's not! Sure, if you're spoiled by Disney's animation, you'll notice it's not as perfect, but I watch movies not for their special effects. And let's be fair, it's good enough for today's standards. The story is good. There're a some clumsy moments which adult audience may find too silly, but the story is far from being trivial and the characters aren't flat. When Niko, the main character, finds out not all dads are good for their family, does his dad magically turn into a perfect daddy after a few lectures? No. It doesn't work like this and he has to find a real solution, without Christmas and Santa doing everything magically for him. I adore this aspect of the film. And I absolutely loved how Niko burped. It's not a burp of "I'm turning into a drunk uncaring womanizer like my daddy" kind, it's a burp of "I want to be part of your group" kind. We all do this to be accepted, there's nothing criminal about it. (By the way, was it beer in American version? It was kvass in Russian.) The movie may be a Christmas movie, but the setting doesn't really matter. It's not about Christmas at all. It's about family.

After reading the reviews I must say that how can you judge the daddy reindeer for something he didn't even know to begin with! Yes, he may have had a one night stand with Oona, but Oona never told him about Niko. If Oona had told him it would be a whole different story. You don't know, maybe he would even stopped his job and be a father to Niko. Now you're thinking that "but Oona didn't know where the Santas workshop is", might be, but if Niko found it, then Oona would have found it too, if she would have wanted! Yes, the Santas FlyingForces might be a bunch of womanizers, and to be honest, this was something that caught my attention too at first, but then I actually forgot it because of the story taking me so deep into itself. In spite this little "problem" you seem to have towards the daddy, you have to agree that the movie was Great!

This is excellent movie. This film tells us about dream. Especially, how great it is to have a dream that you want so badly. And, I think it's great to have a super father that can make you dream higher to be in the future. This film also speaks not to give up your dream even though there are many obstacles. And it also speaks that you don't live by yourself in this world. I do catch the Christmas spirit (though I never celebrate it anyway). It's that Christmas will be so much wonderful day ever when we spend it with people who love us and we love them back as well. In the end, this movie "Niko & The Way to The Stars" is really great after all. Worthwatching!

Summary : A little reindeer on a search for his father. Helped by small rodents. Foiled by wolves who look to be copies of the hyenas in Lion King. Family values: The little reindeer protagonist is basically told by his mom that he is the product of a one-night stand. And she tells him that his dad is off working and will not be coming back. So, the gist of the story is that he is basically searching for his dead-beat dad who places work over family or personal responsibilities. We could take the triteness of the first, but not the loose morals of the second. In addition, the voice-over is pretty badly acted. This is not a movie our family will watch again.

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...