Valiant 720p - (2005 Lang: English)

Great visuals cannot disguise a thin story

I saw this film at the World Premiere in London. It has an incredible all star British cast including Ewan McGregor, John Cleese, Ricky Gervais, Jim Broadbent, the list goes on. It's a simple story of a smaller than average pigeon who decides to join the Homing Pigeon Service. The animation is first rate and the characterisations are excellent. Smaller children may be a little scared of the scenes with the hawks, but this is only a minor foible. It's a thoroughly British story though and there are only English accents and voices. I hope our American cousins aren't put off by this, after all we Brits watch a lot of American movies, be they cartoon, CGI or live action. It's fun and it has a real feel good factor about it and tells a wartime story about animals being the heroes for a change, which is nice. Go and see it, you won't be disappointed.

Valiant is a 2005 British computer-animated film produced by Vanguard Animation and Odyssey Entertainment, and released by Entertainment Film Distributors in the United Kingdom on March 25, 2005 and by Walt Disney Pictures in the United States on August 19, 2005. Set in May of the year 1944, it tells the story of a group of war pigeons during World War II. Reviews of Valiant were mixed but largely negative. The film is based on a story by Jordan Katz, George Webster and George Melrod, and inspired by true stories of hundreds of pigeons that helped the soldiers in the war.

In May 1944, 5 years since the declaration of World War II, three Royal Homing Pigeon Service war pigeons are flying across the English Channel with the White Cliffs of Dover in sight, carrying vital messages to Great Britain. Despite the poor weather conditions the pigeons have nearly reached their destination. They are, however, suddenly ambushed and attacked by a German enemy peregrine falcon named General Von Talon; two of the pigeons are instantly killed, yet the third, Mercury, is taken as a prisoner of war.

Elsewhere, a small wood pigeon named Valiant is watching an Allied forces propaganda film in his local bar (an overturned rowing boat) in West Nestington. Wing Commander Gutsy, a war hero flies into the bar, informing everyone that signups are scheduled the next day in Trafalgar Square, London. In General Von Talon's lair, Mercury resists interrogation by his captors. Valiant flies off to London, bidding his mother and Felix, the local barman, goodbye. In London, Valiant meets an unhygienic slacker pigeon named Bugsy, who is being hunted by two thugs, after having tricked them at a shell game. In order to escape the thugs, he signs up with Valiant.

The recruits, Valiant, Bugsy, Lofty, an intellectual red pigeon, and Toughwood and Tailfeather, two muscular but dim-witted twin brothers, form Royal Homing Pigeon Service Squad F, and are sent to a recruit training facility. Under the command of Sergeant Monty, who declares that he will toughen them up for the RHPS, the training begins. Meanwhile, Von Talon and his henchmen, Cufflingk and Underlingk, try numerous attempts to discover the message's departure location. However Mercury refuses to tell, despite the tortures inflicted upon him, such as irritating him with yodeling music and injecting him with truth serum, before Mercury accidentally reveals the location: Saint-Pierre.

Throughout the training, Valiant develops a crush on Victoria, the camp's nursing dove. Eventually, Gutsy arrives and tells the Sergeant that the recruits need to leave the next morning, despite their training being vastly incomplete. Bugsy, however, decides not to go on the "highly dangerous" mission and flees the camp that night. The next morning, Valiant and the others prepare to leave and start to board the plane headed for France, but not before Bugsy shows up at the last second. The journey quickly becomes dangerous, as the plane is caught in the midst of dogfight. Their plane sustains heavy damage and the pigeons soon have to bail out, in boxes equipped with parachutes. The pigeons are dropped from the plane; however a technical malfunction causes Gutsy's box to fail to deploy. The plane goes down in an inferno of flames, presumably killing Gutsy in the resulting explosion.

In France, the pigeons meet Charles de Girl and Rollo, two mice from the French Resistance, Mouse Division, the latter being an expert saboteur who lead them to Saint-Pierre, where they receive the message they have been ordered to deliver. They soon come under attack by Von Talon's henchmen, resulting in Bugsy and the message being captured. Von Talon takes the message from Bugsy and decides to lock him up and kill him later, planning to personally deliver the message to the German High Commander himself. Valiant and the troops follow Bugsy to the falcon's bunker, where they discover that Gutsy has survived the plane crash. Valiant takes advantage of his small size and sneaks into the bunker through the gun barrel, retrieves the message, and frees Bugsy and Mercury. Unfortunately, the falcons witness the escape and give chase. As Gutsy and the others fight off Von Talon's henchmen, Valiant flies to London to deliver the message, followed by Von Talon.

After a climactic chase by the falcon, Valiant hides in the cottage where he lives, where he is caught by Von Talon again. With the help of his mother and Felix, Valiant outwits Von Talon by getting a giant hook caught on his medals, leaving him to be beaten senseless by the water wheel. Valiant delivers the message, and upon receiving it, a change of plans is made; they land in Normandy. After receiving the Dickin Medal, Squad F returns to the local bar in West Nestington, where Valiant reunites and shares a kiss with Victoria.

This is an animated comedy of a British Valiant-pigeon who enlists to "The Royal Pigeon Message Service" of the World War II. Falcons represent German's Luftwaffe and French animal resistance is in the hands of mice! Overall impression is quite like with Chicken Run, only this is made with computer animation.

It has come to be a habit for animations to contain loads of references to other movies and general pop-culture so that adults can have their own fun while their descendants laugh at animation characters' slapstick. This film makes no exception in that sense. But it does this mixing superbly. Additional credit has to be given to makers because the WW II might be considered a-bit-harder-than-usual subject for a kid-flick. The cast is excellent. Especially Ricky Gervais' character Bugsy felt so much alive that I almost waited him to break through the shell of an animated character and become visible on-screen. This comes not only from the voice but from delicately characterized animation, though.

There are no songs disrupting the storytelling and there is some mild violence (well, in war there is, right?), so this might be not the best choice for the very youngest children? Not Shrek, but a quite hilarious little film for adults and children alike!