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.
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.