DVD Review: The Flight Before Christmas

Movie Info:
Cast: Andrew McMahon, Norm MacDonald, Emma Roberts, Carly Baker, Patrick Fitzsymons, Morgan Jones, Susan Slott, Alan Stanford, Paul Tylack, Susan Zelouf
Rating: G
Studio: Weinstein Company

Release Info:
DVD Release Date: October 25, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $10.99

Going into a movie knowing that parents were complaining about it made me somewhat wary when I popped The Flight Before Christmas into my DVD player. I’m not one to listen to the crowd, but everywhere I looked on the web, I was warned. DO NOT LET YOUR YOUNG CHILD WATCH THIS. I’m always intrigued by what parents consider inappropriate for their kids. Apparently, most parents think The Flight Before Christmas is one movie young kids shouldn’t watch.

Well, after watching this, I can’t exactly agree. Seriously. The issue for most parents is that The Flight Before Christmas contains a theme in it that might make young kids cry. Apparently, a group of cartoon wolves want to eat Santa, take over Christmas and then eat little children when they visit their houses in Santa’s place. The latter part (you know, about eating children) doesn’t seem to be the troubling part. Parents think their young kids will cry because the wolves want to eat Santa.

You know what? I’d let my four year old nephew watch this. I don’t think he’d cry. In fact, since you can safely assume (this is a kids movie) that no Santa was eaten in this movie, it’s about as harmless as watching Wile E. Coyote try to capture and eat the Roadrunner. Look at all the hunters who try to catch/eat Bugs Bunny. He’s a pretty lovable yet kids realize that the bad guys probably aren’t going to catch Bugs. It’s just common sense. So, I don’t know why the prospect of cartoon wolves eating Santa is absolutely terrifying, since it’s pretty much the same concept.

One woman watching The Flight Before Christmas claims her three year old screamed and cried throughout the entire movie. If that was my kid, I’d do the smart thing and turn it off. If your kid is going to scream why make them endure an entire movie they obviously hate? The reason, she claims, for little Billy crying is because Santa was going to be eaten by wolves. The movie was dark and scary. Yeah. I thought it was terrifying, too. Catching my sarcasm?

Seriously, The Flight Before Christmas fails for so many other reasons, such as the annoyance factor of Wilma (played by an untalented singing-wise, Emma Roberts) and the snooze factor for this vewy scawy movie. I can see why Weinstein decided to send this one straight to DVD. I can’t imagine what would have happened had The Flight Before Christmas made it to movie theaters. I assume it’d bomb and parents would try to get it shut out of theaters, but that’s just a guess on my part.

The Plot
While I am not exactly sure why parents have a problem with this movie, I am surprised more don’t have a problem with the apparent fact that young Niko is an illegitimate reindeer, born during a fling his mother had with one of Santa’s flying reindeer. That’s at least what his mother tells him, and truth be told, the flying reindeer team propagates the idea of infidelity and affairs outside marriage, when none of them know if they could possibly be NIko’s father. Of all the things to complain about, I think this would be the one, but apparently wolves eating Santa is more threatening to families than illegitimate born children…er reindeer.

The plot of The Flight Before Christmas revolves around a precocious reindeer named Niko (Andrew McMahon). Niko knows he is the son of a flying reindeer but no one in his village believes him. As he tries desperately to fly despite a bad case of vertigo, the other reindeer enjoy making fun of him for his efforts. This is true except for the girl reindeer who likes him and the flying squirrel, Julius (Norm McDonald), who is the only father figure in Niko’s life.

Despite warnings from the adults in the community where he lives, Niko goes off outside the village to practice flying, away from the kids who pick on him. He unknowingly attracts the attention of hungry wolves (the predators of reindeer), who have not been able to find the hidden reindeer village. After Niko leads them back to the village and they almost kill one of the leader reindeer, everyone blames Niko for the entire group having to leave the village to find a new, safe place to live.

Niko decides to run away to find Santa’s hidden village where he can meet his dad and live with him (he hopes). When Niko’s mother, Oona (Sysan Slott) discovers he is missing, Julius promises to go after him. However, he discovers Niko won’t be returning and the wolves have decided to follow him instead, since he’ll make a nice appetizer. They also have kidnapped a poodle that has lost her way, though one of the rogue wolves likes her.

After Niko and Julius escape death thanks to a singing weasel named Wilma (Emma Roberts), the wolves regroup, and under the tutelage of their leader, Black Wolf (Alan Stanford), decide to follow Niko to Santa’s village. There they can eat all the flying reindeer, Santa, and take over Christmas. While Niko learns the journey is far and finding his dad wasn’t what he expected (and he discovers whether he really is a flying reindeer or not), he also learns that maybe his true family was closer to home all along.

Truth be told, the best thing about this movie was Norm MacDonald. Julius was a pretty cool cat (uh…squirrel), but obviously that’s not saying much. Your kids might like this, but it is a bit of a snoozer for adults. Plus Wilma sings ALL the time and Emma Roberts cannot sing. I wanted earplugs for all her scenes. It’s very annoying to say the least. Ultimately, this movie is a ‘rent first and buy if you like it’ kind of flick.

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
The visual quality for The Flight Before Christmas is pretty much the best thing this movie has going for it. I’m not a lover of CGI animated films, but I really liked the quality of this movie. It’s sharp with bright natural colors and really no noticeably problematic animation or visual errors. Colors look natural with a wide color palette, while blacks are sharp and leveled nicely throughout the animation. The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen picture would have been complimented by a better story.

The audio for this movie is also pretty good. It’s Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. The dialogue is dynamic and the movie makes the best use of its speakers, when it can. Of course, this movie isn’t loaded with music and special effects so the audio track can only go so far. There is the option for English subtitles once the movie begins.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
You won’t be surprised to know that The Flight Before Christmas is devoid of all special features. I’m not exactly sure if this is a blessing in disguise or not. Fans of the movie won’t be happy about this though.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
The Flight Before Christmas is a take it or leave it DVD offering from Weinstein. I didn’t really enjoy it, but kids might. It’s boring, predictable and somewhat annoying in parts, but it really isn’t scary. In fact, this movie even has a happy ending. So, I think young kids can watch it, as long as you’re not offended by wolves being evil, not that you’d want to watch it since it suffers from problems with the plot, oddly annoying characters and it made me want to go to sleep. Either way, decide if you want to buy this or let it be. The choice is yours!

Overall Rating:

Technorati Tags: DVD Review, The Flight Before Christmas, animated, Emma Roberts, Norm MacDonald, Weinstein

Written by Dominick Evans - Visit Website
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Dominick is in his late 20s. He lives in Michigan with his life partner, Ashtyn, their 14 year old son Robert, and their Shih-Tzu, Oliver. Dominick is a writer and the head editor for both LI Kids and Literary Illusions. He enjoys composing music and is an aspiring director/screenwriter. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his family, playing and watching sports, playing video games, watching movies, and singing.