The plot: A young reindeer named Niko dreams of flying one day like his father (whom he doesn’t know). Wanting to start a new life, Niko ventures to Santa’s Fell to not only try and find his father, but to maybe join Santa’s reindeer gang. Unfortunately for Niko, a pack of hungry wolves are hot on his trail.

As you can no doubt tell from the plot synopsis, there isn’t much to “The Flight Before Christmas.” The story is simply unoriginal and feels entirely rushed. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was slapped together merely to capitalize on the holiday season.

Another problem is that ‘Flight’ seems to borrow heavily from “Ice Age” at times. Not only are the villains wolves, but the obstacles in the animals journey through an icy landscape are somewhat similar as well.

As for the characters, they are entirely forgettable. Niko the reindeer is rather one-dimensional, as are the villains. I am also quite baffled as to why a poodle is in this movie. Yes, there is a poodle who falls in love with a wolf. Why a poodle was included in a movie about Christmas/reindeer is anyone’s guess. The only semi-decent character here is Julius the caring flying squirrel (voiced by Norm MacDonald) whom is Niko’s best friend.

The lone positive aspect of ‘Flight’ is the animation. The character models, character movements, skies, landscapes, snow all looked crisp and clear. It’s refreshing to see Genius releasing QUALITY CGI animated features for a home video release. I can’t stand seeing these cheap looking animated features from other companies.

Summary: Skip “The Flight Before Christnas” and rent a holiday classic like the animated “How The Grinch Stole Christnas” instead.

The widescreen picture quality is incredibly sharp looking for a DVD. The CGI animation looks nearly flawless here.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track is fine. The dialogue, sound F/X, and music all sounded clear to this reviewer.

The only extras are trailers for “The Reef,” and three “Unstable Fable” animated films “Goldilocks And The Three Bears,” “Tortoise Vs. Hare,” and “Three Pigs And A Baby.”