LaFountaine

“Valiant” Cartoon Movie

Today I saw the cartoon movie “Valiant”, which featured the voices of : Ewan McGregor, Ben Kingsley, Jim Broadbent, Rupert Everett, Hugh Laurie.

The storyline involved the following: “Valiant follows a young carrier pigeon anxious to prove all of his naysayer friends and family wrong by making his way to the Royal Homing Pigeon Service (RHPS) in World War II London. And this is an animated feature. The young pigeon's name, of course, is Valiant (voiced by Ewan McGregor), an indulgent, thinly veiled metaphor that, clearly, the filmmakers assumed they could tautly wrap the obligatory thematic lesson around an all-encompassing character name. Valiant flies away from his mum, against her wishes, and sets off to fulfill his duty of serving crown and country during the war. On his way, he befriends a mess of a pigeon, Bugsy (voiced Ricky Gervais), who hasn't taken a birdbath in eons. When they reach the pigeon boot camp, as it were, they are greeted by the misfits with which they will hone their skills. But Valiant has a more (insert synonym for brave--that starts with a ''v'') conclusion in mind. In the end, Valiant earns his sky cred and then some, and he even gets the girl, er, bird for good measure.”

I give this movie a “C+”, and it is the worth of an admission ticket, a small popcorn and a small soft drink. I enjoyed the animated film, but the movie lacked a good script. World War II was not a good background for the movie, and the movie lacked likeable characters.

posted by Frank LaFountaine @ 12:50 PM