"Valiant" (Walt Disney Pictures)
Everything about “Valiant,” the new animated film from Walt Disney Pictures, is so mediocre that you can’t even say the moviemakers made a valiant effort. The animation, the story, the characters are all one step below what you expect from the Disney folk.
The story of the film concerns a homing pigeon named Valiant (voiced by Ewan MacGregor) who lives in England during World War II. Inspired by the heroic efforts of other homing pigeons Valiant decides to join the Army and become a courier pigeon.
Before he can get into combat he has to undergo training. He is joined there by his friend Bugsy (Rocky Gervais of “The Office” fame). Bugsy is not gung-ho like Valiant but he muddles through just the same. After graduation it is time for their first mission and it requires them to be dropped behind enemy lines in France. There they get a message to take back to England.
On their way back two huge falcons come after them and try to capture them. It is at this point that Valiant’s heroism must come through.
If all this sounds interesting, it isn’t. The characters never really come alive and the story drags too much in places. Plus some of the scenes are much too intense for little children and they would be the key audience for this movie.
Not every movie can be a “Shrek” or even a “Madagascar” but this one is not even in the league with those films. This one is more of an also ran that would have been better off going straight to video.
The movie is rated G for general audiences.
Poor Ewan MacGregor, he hit rock bottom with “The Island” and now he can’t even have his voice in a hit film. He had better sign up for “Moulin Rouge 2” quickly.
“Valiant” will be mildly entertaining for the kiddies when it comes out on video/DVD. You would be smart to wait for that to happen rather than spend your hard-earned money for a big screen showing.
I scored “Valiant” a pigeonholed 4 out of 10.
