To start, I want to say that I'm from outside of the Ukraine, I know nothing about it or its culture, and I have no children. So I'm purely reviewing this with an outsiders perspective, compared with many of the other reviews so far.
Funnily enough, I found out about this movie just from seeing the poster. I LOVE all things nature and green, so I looked up the trailer, and it reminded me a lot of my favourite Disney movie 'Tangled' in many ways. So I decided to watch it. I knew nothing of the story or culture it was based on. I just thought 'Forest theme = Yes' and 'Tangled Vibes = Yes'. And I have to say, I really loved this movie.
It's not perfect by any means. There were a few moments I felt were a bit childish, but... It's a kids movie so I can't really fault it for that. Some of the dialogue is a bit clunky, and the editing and placement of scenes sometimes doesn't quite fit. The story is quite thin too. Also, the animation isn't going to be as good as that from the major studios, as its a low budget movie.
And yet, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie: Everything about it. I enjoyed the humorous moments, the weird and over the top characters. The scenery was GORGEOUS, and I just couldn't help but have a smile on my face a lot of the time. The music was beautiful. And I LOVED the design of Mavka. Considering this wasn't a big budget movie, the animation was incredible too.
I think there's a few things mentioned above that should go against it, but they don't. Because it's just too darn charming. I love this movie and I'd definitely watch it again.