Change Your Image
athari-p
Reviews
Niko - lentäjän poika (2008)
If you want to see real family issues solved, you may like this movie
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.
Siegfried & Roy: The Magic Box (1999)
Definitely worth watching!
I've never been to Las Vegas, I've never seen S&R show, and all my knowledge about them comes from Father of the Pride series. Still, this movie was definitely worth watching and very enjoyable.
By today's standards, the movie lacks in graphics and in scientific approach. I would have so much preferred to watch it without all these ridiculous and silly "effects" which may have been impressive a decade ago, but now look cheap. Special effects should help viewers immerse in the movie, not exist by themselves. But this knowledge comes with time and a decade ago these effects were the way to go, so I'm not to blame the authors. Another problem is that today everyone knows that there's no such thing as a "white lion breed", so what S&R did isn't environment preservation in any way.
But... the way S&R treat their animals and interact with them warms my heart. I don't advocate using animals in circuses, but I know for sure S&R love them and never treat them badly (just google for "Make sure no harm comes to Montecore").
The way S&R portray their childhood memories, children's perception of the world is interesting and fun to watch. This is as documentary as Simba's singing I Just Can't Wait To Be King in The Lion King is. But still, it's fun.
The music, the narration are top notch too.
The sad thing about the film is that there's a very high quality IMAX filmstrip lying somewhere, but we won't get to see it...