|
Acquired by Disney this CGI children’s fails on almost
every account. The story is empty and the CGI can’t even
compare to Disney’s pale Pixar imitation “Chicken Little”
(itself lacking much of the quirky brilliance that has made
Pixar films the bar against which all other CGI films are
measured) lacking the detail and any sense of personality.
“Valiant” will play well with kids 5 and under they’re a
pretty undemanding group that will sit through just about
anything. I doubt, however, if they’ll remain interested
in this pathetic release from Disney much more than a half
hour. Featuring a top notch cast including Ewen McGregor,
John Cleese, Ricky Gervais, Hugh Laurie and others the voice
talent occasionally saves the day in this dreadful film
but sadly not often enough. *
Despite of all of these flaws, Disney has done a fine
job in transferring “Valiant” to DVD. The film looks extremely
good in this release with accurate, vivid colors and sharp
image quality. The 5.1 soundtrack doesn’t quite measure
up to the visual aspects of the transfer with surround speakers
used primarily to dish out dramatic music and some sound
effects. Dialogue, however, is crisp and clear. It’s mercifully
short but then again even a short period of torture seems
to go on forever to the person waiting for the torture to
begin. ***
Set during WW II tells the story of Valiant a small
pigeon (Ewen McGregor) with larger than life dreams who
enlists to deliver messages for the British Royal Air Force
Homing Pigeon Service. He hooks up with an odd assortment
of other birds not quite up to the task as well such as
Bugsy (Ricky Gervais) a con pigeon so dirty that it appears
it’s the dirt that keeps his feathers on his body. These
recruits are put through the ringer by their drill sergeant
as he tries to remold them into tough messenger pigeons
capable of taking on the Nazi menace represented by Von
Talon (Tim Curry). Von Talon has captured and dispatched
most of the British pigeons delivering messages. When an
important message must be delivered behind enemy lines the
British desperately turn to Valiant and his buddies to make
sure the message gets through to the troops.
|
