- Released: October 12, 2012
- Directed by: Kari Juusonen, Jørgen Lerdam
- Running time: 1 h 19 min
- Rating 3.5/5
Synopsis
My Thoughts
God, this movie came out over a decade ago? I feel old. I remember hyping it up when it first came out and the first stills dropped. I downloaded them to my Nintendo 3DS though their shitty web-browser back when.
Another thing I need to clarify before I start this review: I have a huge soft spot for the Niko movies. Those and the Goodtimes adaptation of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Even if my reviews aren't always overly positive, I still love these movies. Probably just nostalgia, but despite how I'm generally not fond of Christmas I do tend to watch these at least once per year and they always make me feel happy and nostalgic.
Okay: plot time. A year has passed since the first movie. Niko is devastated when his mother introduces Lenni and his son Jonni, two reindeer who are to become his stepfather and stepbrother. Niko doesn't like this at all and rejects Jonni as his new brother, which indirectly leads to the younger reindeer being kidnapped by eagles. Niko sees it as his responsibility to get Jonni back and leaves, with the rest of the family also setting out on their own quest to locate him. Niko, later joined by an elderly reindeer named Tobias, manages to free Jonni, and they meet the true villain of the film: White Wolf, Black Wolf's sister who wants revenge on Niko and by extension the Flying Forces for killing Black Wolf. Niko and his family will now have to put a stop to them.
I like this movie, much like the first. It's far from perfect but it's just very charming to me. I like the characters, I like the story, the animation doesn't look all that bad even ten years later. And of course the huge nostalgia factors is as play here.
Honestly I just really like how this movie approaches family. Prancer, despite being Niko's biological father, is still not super present in his son's life other than Niko sometimes visiting him. Meanwhile, Niko gets a whole new found family of his own in this movie. He already got Julius and Wilma in the first movie, and now he gets a free third dad, little brother, grandpa and finally a new little sister. And it makes him truly happy being able to go Santa Speed which is just wholesome.
That said, Prancer really still kind of an asshole and the Flying Forces don't even do much this movie other than needing to be rescued again. Tobias does his fair share of being useless or even making situations worse as well, but he somehow still contributes more than them this film.
The thing I probably like the most about this franchise by now is probably the characters. I like Niko, I like Julius, Wilma, Tobias, Jonni and Oona. I'm just kind of lukewarm on Lenni and Saga, but they're still okay. Honestly, my main gripe once again is just Prancer.
As for the villainous characters... Interesting choices were made. The wolf pack from the last film has been dumped as main villains and I like that, they clearly weren't going to go back to just hunting Santa's reindeer after being scared out of their wits by Niko and the others last film. But the eagles (which weren't around in the first film) do apparently have some old beef with the Flying Forces, so we get them as new villains. And they're kind of weak, but I do like this one eagle who keeps trying to be stereotypical cartoon villain and is constantly interrupted by this other eagle in his monologues. I don't know, it's a super easy joke but it works somehow.
As for the main villainess this time around: White Wolf. The only lupine villain but also the biggest baddest of them. Well, to an extent. She's (apparently) Black Wolf's twin sister who wants revenge for Niko and the Forces contributing to his death. And like, that could work...if there had been any setup for it in the first movie. White Wolf is literally never brought up until this movie, so we had no idea in the first that Black Wolf even had a sister. If they were so close to the point she's willing to kill for revenge, why wasn't she present in his pack in the first film? Or at least alluded to that he had more family? Because right now it just feels like they pulled a new villain out of their ass. Also, White Wolf is literally just a reskin of Black Wolf's model. So my same criticisms for the character design from the first movie apply here as well. Over the top design with over the top features, etc.
I'm also not too fond of how White Wolf got defeated. Black Wolf wasn't a fantastic villain, but he had an admittedly kind of epic death, with him literally trying to still kill and eat Julius in his last moments. White Wolf meanwhile just gets wrapped up with some wrapping paper and ribbon and she's just instantly incapacitated. And if you look at how strong Black Wolf was in the first film you just know that he wouldn't be defeated by this at all. White Wolf is just...weak by comparison. In her defeat but also by the things she pulls off. Black Wolf did the most insane metal shit just to prove what a badass he is. Facing an avalanche head-on. Climbing and rocking a ginormous tree. Breaking ice with his howl. Being able to cling to Santa's sleigh while at Santa Speed. Trying to eat Julius even still in his dying moments. What does White Wolf even do that's cool by comparison? She just feels like a less cooler female version of the first movie's villain who is at the opposite side of the color palette.
I do also have to say that the textures in this movie haven't aged all that well. They don't look bad but the fur looks a bit messy and unkempt on some models. Which works on Tobias, who is supposed to be scruffy as hell but on characters like Oona and Saga (who also had this problem in the first movie) who are supposed to have smoother coats it looks a bit rough around the edges. This isn't a problem on all models but some of the reindeer do suffer from it. It's not something most people would pay attention to but if you look closely you can't really unsee it.
But that said, the animation is still really good. I love the character's movements, the snow looks particularly good and the way this series animates reindeer flying is just my favorite I've seen so far. A lot of other Christmas media have the reindeer just "run" in the air but the Niko movies really have them hover more and shift their weight and leg positions accordingly and it just looks really good and "natural", for as much a reindeer flying can look natural of course.
Another remark: I really think that they should've aged up Niko in this film. It clearly takes place a year after the first, yet he still looks and sounds as young as ever. Reindeer do not age super fast (being adults by the age of 4-6 years) but Niko is still as much of a kid here as he was in the last film. They even could've just made his voice a bit deeper or his antlers a bit larger to imply the passage of time, but that's not the case here.
And I'm going to have to bring up the voice acting once again. The rest of the cast: fine. Niko: once again his voice acting could use some work. I don't know if they got the exact same voice actor from the first or a soundalike, but fact is that the delivery sometimes is awkward or a bit lacking in emotion. Not horrible, I've seen my fair share of bad child acting in movies, but still in a way that leaves much to be desired, especially since he's our main character.
Overall this is not a perfect movie like the first, but I still love it a whole lot nonetheless. Yearly comfort watch in Novemer-December for sure.
No comments:
Post a Comment