The Robbie the reindeer specials produced by BBC are made using stop-motion--much like the much more famous and higher quality Aardman productions (such as Wallace & Gromit or Shaun the Sheep). I liked the first Robbie the Reindeer show. It was a very sweet Christmas special and has a lot to recommend it. While there are plenty of jokes in LEGEND OF THE LOST TRIBE, however, this second installment is pretty weak. Sure, it's watchable but much of the sweetness of the first film has been replaced by goofy situations--too goofy. In fact, this film looks like they tossed a bunch of random plot elements together and had little regard for the spirit of the first.
I knew something was amiss when the show began. You aren't sure exactly where the action takes place, but it doesn't seem like the North Pole. Instead, the ground is a bit bare and it looks more like rural Scotland or Canada. And, there really is no Santa and these reindeer seem to have forgotten how to fly. Instead, they have built a vacation resort that is failing miserably (a vacation resort?!). Soon, Blitzen the evil reindeer is released from prison for good behavior and he returns to his old friends--supposedly a changed deer for the better. However, he and his evil bunny henchman turn all the reindeer into robots and torture them. So, it's up to a group of pacifist Vikings to come to the rescue!
As I said, this all seems amazingly random as well as 100% un-Christmasy. Sure, there are some funny jokes and all, but in only its second installment, it looks like Robbie has "jumped the shark". In other words, the series is in panic mode with the crazy plot devices and it's lost its way.
I knew something was amiss when the show began. You aren't sure exactly where the action takes place, but it doesn't seem like the North Pole. Instead, the ground is a bit bare and it looks more like rural Scotland or Canada. And, there really is no Santa and these reindeer seem to have forgotten how to fly. Instead, they have built a vacation resort that is failing miserably (a vacation resort?!). Soon, Blitzen the evil reindeer is released from prison for good behavior and he returns to his old friends--supposedly a changed deer for the better. However, he and his evil bunny henchman turn all the reindeer into robots and torture them. So, it's up to a group of pacifist Vikings to come to the rescue!
As I said, this all seems amazingly random as well as 100% un-Christmasy. Sure, there are some funny jokes and all, but in only its second installment, it looks like Robbie has "jumped the shark". In other words, the series is in panic mode with the crazy plot devices and it's lost its way.