Film Reviews

Valiant

• Rating:
• Director: Gary Chapman.
• Starring: Ewan McGregor, Ricky Gervais, Tim Curry, Jim Broadbent, John Cleese, Hugh Laurie, John Hurt, Olivia Williams, Rik Mayall.
• Details: UK/ 90 mins/ (U).

That Ewan McGregor must have had a cracking time making Robots, for only a couple of weeks later and he's applying his dulcet tones to another animated movie. This time around, he lends his voice to the title character in Valiant, a shaggy story about a WWII homing pigeon squad. Desperate to help the war effort, Valiant (McGregor) is pining for a chance to shine in an elite bird squad. Encouraged by a veteran (Hugh Laurie) to follow his dream, little Valiant goes to London where he encounters Bugsy (Ricky Gervais) and together they seek to gain admittance into the unit. After weeks of tough training (some of the film's funniest scenes), the pair are given their first and most dangerous mission - fly into occupied territory and evade the enemy's forces, led by a nasty old falcon (Tim Curry, camping up like the grandmaster of a Scout jamboree) while saving one of their fellow feathered friends (John Cleese), who has been captured. While Robots was a technically dazzling piece of work, Valiant doesn't have access to quite the same technology and budget. But what it lacks in aesthetic finesse, Valiant makes up for in pure energy and charm. A pretty sharp, occasionally soaring (sorry) script and cracking vocal performances, especially from Gervais and McGregor, help to neutralise Valiant's limitations. The kids will adore it, but any watching adults should find it rather agreeable, too.

Review by Garreth Murphy