Ewan McGregor, Ricky Gervais, Tim Curry and John Cleese lead an all-star, all- Brit cast of vocal talent in this animated period piece from the producer of the “Shrek” franchise. The triumph of the underdog storyline is as by-the-numbers as they come, but what “Valiant” lacks in originality it compensates for with considerable charm and impressive design.
The titular character is an undersized pigeon from the English backwoods (McGregor) who dreams of joining the elite Royal Homing Pigeon Service and serving his country in World War II. McGregor deserves credit for bringing an infectious enthusiasm to the proceedings. He arrives in London determined to earn his RHPS wings, and immediately hooks up with a wisecracking vagabond bird named Bugsy (Gervais) who reluctantly follows Valiant to basic training. The carrier pigeon forces have suffered major casualties at the hands … er, talons of German falcons led by the insidious General Von Talon (Curry, chewing it up in every scene), so it falls upon Valiant’s “Squad F” to deliver a top-secret message across enemy lines and to rescue a POW (Cleese, in the film’s funniest role). The movie’s most glaring deficiency is the short shrift given to the love story. By downplaying the romance, first-time director Gary Chapman wastes an opportunity to raise the stakes for Valiant. (Rated G. Running time: 109 minutes)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 19, 2005. Read the original PDF.