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.

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.

There is a very important moral and the two main characters learn a lesson fro each other: Niko learns that there's no need to look for your real dad if you are surrender people who love you. Julius learns not to be too cautionary toward Niko. And it's the Christmas spirit (and a hilarious weasel called Wilma) which will teach them to appreciate each other. The animation is not the best, I mean, it's very good for five minutes, then it gets bad, then good for other five minutes and then bad again, because the animation has been created by more than 3 different studios set all over the Europe, and the directors weren't able to keep animation homogeneous all movie long. You can easily find out each animator's style and this is horrible because all the characters take turn to be badly animated, and this is sad. But graphics, score and story are gorgeous. I would have rated 9 if animation was better. Dave

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.