cirnelle_telperien

(2012-04-22 10:22:05)

Britishly Comical.

Although this may not tickle the fancy of non-Brits, Valiant is alight-hearted comical little tale (it's quite short) of an even littlerpigeon with a big personality who wants to be in the RHSP as a wartimecarrier pigeon. The characters are well defined and work together wellwith a generously simple plot. Bugsy (Ricky Gervais) is hilarious andmost of the voices provided were perfect, although it would have beenbetter if I didn't have a constant mental image of the actors whilelooking at their animated aliases. Occasionally there are moments of dialogue or actions that are quiteobviously meant to be funny and aren't but these are generally glazedover by silliness. A must-see for animation fans/Brits, but perhapsmore laughable for the younger generation among us.

John Monaghan

(2012-04-21 17:54:57)

Even young viewers will recognize Valiant as second-tier Disney.

MattsMovieWatchingWorld

(2012-04-15 09:59:15)

One of the least interesting movies I've seen in a long time.

Valiant is the story of a small pigeon named Valiant who volunteers forthe military during WWII. He joins the RHPS (Royal Hoping PigeonService), which specializes in delivering messages across longdistances. The message that Valiant and his small group of pigeonfriends is taken responsibility over is one that could affect theoutcome of the war. In this case, the obstacle that the pigeons mustface is not Hitler or the Nazis, but pigeon-eating falcons.The setting (1944 war-time Europe) is (to me) one kind of a boringsubject (no offense to you WWII fans), but it's a setting that Disneycovers sometimes, and the way it was used from a pigeon's point of viewwasn't too much of a problem.Valiant's voice (voiced by Ewan McGregor) is a grown man's voice,although I assume Valiant is a very young pigeon. In addition to thisvoice problem, it seemed that the same voice/accent was used to voicealmost every character in the movie. I had slight difficulty throughoutthe movie trying to distinguish the characters and identify whichactors were voicing.Valiant is one of the least interesting movies I've seen in a longtime. There was almost nothing going for this movie. If it weren't forthe fact that I almost never fall asleep in movies anymore, I probablywould have fallen asleep in this movie. The reason I give it 4 out of10 instead of 1 or 2 or 3 is because the animation was pretty good(although average compared to computer animated movies these days), thestory was alright, and the ending did have some interestingsignificance.

Victor Field

(2012-04-14 21:50:06)

Not a turkey, but not a patch on the last cartoon involving war and messenger pigeons - in other words, "MUTTLEY!! DO SOMETHING!!!"

Until "Thunderbirds" came along, the worst movie to involve Sir BenKingsley was "Freddie As F.R.O.7." a tale about the adventures of aFrench frog (voiced by Gandhi himself) working as a spy for HerMajesty's Secret Service which singlehandedly set back British animatedfeature films 10 years; to this day this movie has never been shown onterrestrial television (though Sky did run it about 100000 times)."Valiant," the UK's first CGI animated movie and the first genuinelyBritish animated feature in a while - "Chicken Run" was co-financed byDreamWorks, and doesn't really count - is unlikely to be sounfortunate, but it's not terribly memorable either.In spite of our plucky pigeon hero having his name in the title,Valiant is upstaged for the duration by his dodgier, funnier and moreinteresting friend Bugsy (what with this and "Robots," Ewan McGregor -as opposed to Jim Broadbent, who's also in both movies - might want toreconsider his voice-over career); and the story's simple but maybe alittle too simple, not to mention never managing to hit a good balancebetween comedy and adventure (it's simply not funny enough for theformer or exciting enough for the latter). It's not fair to expect theanimation to be brilliant on its budget, but it's not really anythingto write home about either for the most part, and some work on thescript would have helped; too little story and too many bad puns (theFrench Resistance leader is a female mouse called Charles de Girl) donot a family movie make.The movie's voice cast pulls its weight (with special kudos to RickyGervais as Bugsy, John Cleese as a pigeon captured by the German falconvillain, Tim Curry as said villain, and Hugh Laurie as a heroic captainin the Royal Homing Pigeon Service), the climax does have its moments,and it's by no means as dreary as "Back To Gaya" or "Shark Tale" - butit just seems a bit too bland to really come off. (And WHY is there asong from Mis-Teeq in there?) It's not a disaster, but Pixar and StudioGhibli won't be quaking in their boots.

Arlis

(2012-04-12 15:14:04)

Disney is just running out of ideas

I have to admit that Disney cartoons have always been my least favoriteand although they have a few that are really good, most are a bitboring.My problem with Disney was that their animation was dull to me. Some ofthem like Snow White and actually most of the pre 1980 animatedclassics were nicely animated but then they seemed to get dull andboring.Even though I am not the biggest fan of Disney it still bothered me tolearn they had shut down the animation department a while back. I thinkthat was crazy and they will eventually bring it back.Computer animated movies have taken over the last few years andalthough I dislike CGI in live action films, I do love it in cartoons.Movies like TOY STORY and HOODWINKED are very fun to watch, very crispand neat.I thought this movie was beautifully pieced together, but it lackedstory and excitement. The characters left much to be desired and its nowonder why I left a vote of 5 and so did almost everyone else who hasrated this movie. It is a middle of the road average movie. It willshut the kids up, but keep the adults and older lads bored out of theirmind.I will never watch the DVD again and I would not recommend it toanyone. There is a lot more out there to watch so don't waste your timewith this.One positive note, The vocal talents were great, especially EwanMcGreggor and John Clease.

(2012-04-11 21:22:18)

AWSOME MOVIE!

I SAW THIS MOVIE TWO TIMES BECAUSE I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. EWAN MCGREGOR WAS THE BEST WHEN HE STARRED AS THE HERO, VALLIANT. I GIVE THIS MOVIE A THIRTY IF I COULD.

raveen_10

(2012-03-27 20:58:26)

Brilliant! A masterpiece of Trash!

THE SCOOP: This animated movie portrays the life of a small littlepigeon with a big heart named Valiant.Wanting more out of his life hedecided to leave the nest and join the Great Britain's Royal AirforceHoming Pigeon Service in world war 2. But life was never gonna be easyfor the little pigeon in the army but he proves that spirit and heartis all one needs to be a hero! ( How convenient....) R-eal View: How soso very disappointed i was after watching this movie. I was expecting aclassic British movie especially after seeing top profile actors suchas Ewan McGregor,Tim Curry and Hugh Laurie as the voice cast.Okay okayill admit that the animation was quite good but everything from thestoryline to the script to the lack of the typical British witt in aBritish movie shut my whole system down.It was not funny nor was itentertaining. And for those of you who say that this is a movie thatONLY kids would enjoy...i seriously doubt it! What they love are thecute lil' pigeons....come on. I enjoyed snow white and the seven dwarfsbetter.Really really disappointing.The moral of the story was intended to be that it isn't the size ofyour body that matters but its the size of your heart and spirit.But ithink most of the audience must have been thinking..."The size of myfist on the screen is what matters" i know i was thinking it...Still...its not the WORST movie i have ever1 seen...but it certainly iswithin the lowest of the lower ranks...which is pretty darn low.

Steve Rhodes

(2012-03-27 09:27:28)

Will engage your little ones minimally while in the theaters but will leave them without any desire to get the DVD later in order to see it again.

patchesdf

(2012-03-19 03:49:32)

Totally uninspiring

Rice paper thin story and non-existent character development. Despitethe fact the story took place in a potentially rich environment therewas nothing rich about it. I don't even understand why some characterswere even in the film. John Cleese's "Mercury" seemed to only exist toprovide shlocky sight gags for Tim Curry's gang of Nazi Falcons.Yoddling is a torture technique, oh my, hilarious, my sides are justsplitting.Sorry, kids are more sophisticated than this. This is entertaining forno one. Oh, and the animation? Dull. Lots of work with a reallypedestrian results. Look like a college student's first film. Lottawork and technique, but little inspiration. This is definitely aproduct of Disney's long trip down the hopper.

Josh Larsen

(2012-03-18 11:24:31)

A lame-duck movie about pigeons.

Sean McBride

(2012-03-18 17:55:30)

modern kids won't get any of the World War II references, and to be honest, the rest of the adventure is mediocre at best.

(2012-03-17 20:04:19)

Educational and your kids will love it!

My kids (3 & 5) loved this movie - they laughed at all the requisite potty humor and goofy pratfalls. But I loved it too and i'll tell you why. If you are like me you bought Baby Einstein and try every which way to help your kids get excited about learning. My kids had a great time at this movie and loved learning that carrier pigeons had a role in WWII. The movie also teaches valuable lessons in friendship, loyalty, teamwork and above all believing in yourself. I was happy that my kids were exposed (in a non-objectionable way)to a very important part of world history. We saw Madagascar and the only takeaway my kids got was shaking their booty to "move it, move it." Cute - but if they're going to watch the same movie over and over i would rather they learn something historical.

(2012-03-15 10:45:41)

Flat Everything

My Dad Took me to see this back in August.It was cool.Starring (Robot's) Ewan Mcgregor.It is hilarious.I am going to get it for christmas this year. Awsome movie.I Love animated movies.I wanna see Wallace & Gromit The Curse of the were Rabbit.

Mary-Liz Shaw

(2012-03-15 05:30:09)

Valiant is a movie that is trying to be an homage but winds up a pale imitation.

nogo-3

(2012-03-09 03:33:00)

Just Like The Old Days....

I enjoyed this film very much. I liked it allot (which is not asurprise because i am a big kid) and the younger kids loved it twice asmuch. I really do love allot of the pixar films and all that (exept ididn't really like Shark Tale that much,but I don't think it's PixarANYWAY), but deep down I really miss the old Disney films. They wheremeant for kids, kids loved them, adults loved them even if theypretended not to. The Bad Guy, The Falcon(Tim Curry, great bad guycartoon charachtar voice), was one of the things that really gave awaythe hint towards the old Disney, I think. Thats Probably why I lovedthis movie,it reminded me so much of the old ones, just betteranimation, and no songs. I kind of miss the songs though.I really think it's worth a look! * 8/10 *

ccthemovieman-1

(2012-03-08 21:38:15)

Absolutely Beautiful Visuals, But Story Needed More Humor

I can see where this Disney animated feature film really never made itbig-time. It offers some really good things but overall, it just isn'tfunny enough to be a hit.It certainly has the visuals to be a smash. Man, this is a beautifulfilm. The colors are bold and brilliant, scene after scene. It's avisual feast. For that reason alone, I give it seven "stars."Some of the humor is funny and very clever, but not enough of it. Thestory is a takeoff on old World War II films which kids will never"get." Too much of the gags involve slapstick as one of the pigeonsflies into a wall or falls down, making a loud noise or that "Bugsy"belches and farts a lot. That happens frequently and wears thin fast.The laughs come more with the subtle stuff.Story-wise, it's the usual little guy or misfits-being-heroes story, socommon in films. Valiant is the little pigeon who really shouldn't evenbe in the Royal Homing Pigeon Service because he's too little, but hegets in, along with his aforementioned smelly friend "Bugsy" and theninspires everyone while also wooing a pretty nurse.Once again, though: hats off to the artists. This is onebeautiful-looking animated movie.

(2012-03-08 10:47:43)

Inspiring Animated Fun

This is a great family film. Even my son, age 13, enjoyed it. The pidgeons were courageous and funny. I especially liked that it was based on events the actually happened in World War II.

Marjorie Baumgarten

(2012-03-07 20:26:51)

The movie's takeoffs on old war-movie and RAF-flyboy cliches will certainly not connect with the knowledge base of America's current youngsters, which will only cause Valiant to seem that much more foreign.

Christopher Smith

(2012-03-06 05:01:43)

A computer-animated movie from Disney about the contributions of carrier pigeons in World War II. Good topic, fair animation, but the story quacks like a duck.

lgboex

(2012-03-05 22:21:04)

Stunning cg art, but ...

Valiant is beautifully done. Stunning.BUT ... - the story is very predictable. (In fact, it feels like manyBritish war movies from the 60s and 70s -about humans- that have beenin reruns a bit too much). - The characters are sadly very stereotypedand 2-dimensional: the scrappy little pigeon who could, the slob bestfriend, the fighting brothers, the pretty nurse who falls in love withthe scrappy little hero. - The voices are a bit annoying, and in somecases don't really fit the character. Especially Ewan McGregor's voiceseems ill-cast, too grown-up manly to suit little Valiant.There are quite a number of funny one-liners along the way, and severalfunny and surprising scenes, but they cannot make up for the weakstoryline.