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Niko - lentäjän poika (2008)
American family entertainment
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.
M.D.C. - Maschera di cera (1997)
Love the music
While I agree with most of the other comments here - that the film has a lot of potential but unfortunately doesn't quite live up to it - I would like to mention that I really like the soundtrack for this film. Composed by Maurizio Abeni, it could be called "romantic horror film music". That is, very dramatic, melodically rich. It sounds a bit like Ennio Morricone and Danny Elfman put together. I feel the music brought a whole new dimension to the film. Without it, I would have shrugged the movie off as yet another horror flick.
For those who have frustrated themselves trying to order the CD from Amazon com, try Googling around. There are some retailers in Europe that sell it. I got mine from discPLUS.ch.
Angela Anaconda (1999)
Gets repetitive
Whenever I read an editorial review of this series, they keep huffing and puffing about how remarkable the cartoon is in teaching kids to just be themselves. They think it's incredible that "Gina Lash is heavily overweight, but she doesn't give a damn because she's also the smartest". Woo hoo, if they find *that* remarkable - and can't find anything else remarkable about the show - I just guess there isn't. It's spoon-feeding you values with just a slightly different spoon.
The show was fun for a while, but then it started getting repetitive and annoying. Next!
Dark Angel (2000)
Weird gender-related double standards
Reading what other people have commented on the show, it seems this series is a rather mixed bunch, trying to cater to many audiences but apparently satisfying only few.
Female viewers are offended because Max is pretty and portrayed as such a sex object in every turn, but love the series because watching a girl kick (male) butt strokes their egoes.
Male viewers are offended because almost all the male characters are useless, impotent losers who (deservedly) get insulted and their asses kicked, but love the series for the action, and the hot lead character.
Pschah.
The series has an intentionally controversial message - with nothing substantial to say. It doesn't seem to offer much besides the usual endlessly expandable treadmill of standard cliche plot twists. I lost interest after the first couple of episodes.
Aeon - Countdown im All (2000)
Disappointed
This mini-series was total baloney, with added bratwurst flavor.
Tired acting, predictable (and heavily prejudiced) plot that teeters on the edge of unintentional comicality, expensive-looking but poorly executed special effects. A safe no-brainer that'll keep you glued to the screen for, what, 15 minutes as you skip through the story in fast forward. Yes, it's simple enough to grasp at 15x normal speed and not miss anything important.
But a thumb up for making something this ambitious outside Hollywood. At the same time, a big thumb down for the producers for adapting and resorting only to the most worn-out cliches in the book.
Need just a few more attempts to get it done right. Maybe in the upcoming trillennium we will finally see a decent European Sci Fi flick.
Dragonslayer (1981)
Pleasantly sinister for a Disney movie
Unlike most Disney movies (the film was released by Disney and Paramount), this is a very gritty fairy tale indeed. The characters teeter in vague areas of morality, and the dragon is not only seen as the villain, but also as a bit of a victim. I like the sinister atmosphere of this film. Disney tried to market it as a childrens movie, but quite obviously this isn't one.
As an interesting side note, this film stars the early Peter "Biscuit / Ally McBeal" MacNicol in the lead role.