Valiant

Brought to us by John Williams (Shrek) and director Gary Chapman, Valiant tells the forgettable tale of F Squad, a flight of British carrier pigeons in WWII.

The story begins as Valiant (Ewan McGregor), a diminutive wood pigeon, leaves his tearful mother to fly down to London to enlist in the Royal Home Pigeon Service. Together with Bugsy (Ricky Gervais), brothers Tailfeather (Dan Roberts) and Toughwood (Brian Lonsdale), Valiant must deliver dispatches from the French Resistance to the Allies concerning the D-Day landings.

Despite boasting an impressive array of comic actors (Gervais, Hugh Laurie, John Cleese) providing their vocal talents, the script provides them with little scope to shine. Once the thrill of hearing efficiently though unremarkably-animated pigeons talk like your favourite celebrities, the jokes aimed at the adult audience are generally disappointing.

There are a few good laughs, though they are heavily punctuated by slapstick visual gags as birds fly into window shutters and such, along with playground humour as provided by Gervais’ character’s bodily functions. While this is going on, entertainment can be found looking for supporting cameos from the likes of Rick Mayall and John Hurt.

On the other hand, from a child’s perspective, there’s a lot going on and the dynamic animated action does well to gloss over the fairly unengaging storyline. Children will also be less inclined to grow tired of bird-based puns as quickly as older members of the audience.

Relative to other animated films we have been treated to (Shrek, Shark Tale), Valiant lacks the budget, leaving those expecting the same standard a little underwhelmed by the effects, which makes the importance of humour even more prominent.

In summary, Valiant is definitely one for the kids, though there is just enough material to keep the adults amused for the film’s running time of 75 minutes.