One of the things that I found most interesting about Valiant is that in the USA, Disney actually picked this up and put it in theatres! The movie was not animated by Disney, but they clearly saw something in it. This is a fun and very “British” animated movie set during World War II that is pretty fun to watch.
How to Download Valiant
You can download or stream the film from a digital platform such as Disney+. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. Check out also our reviews of other animated films such as Chicken Little or Moana.
The Movie Review
Taking place towards the end of World War II, a group of three brave messenger pigeons is on a dangerous mission to deliver a secret message. These brave British pigeons have their mission stopped by the evil Nazi falcon called, General Von Talon who is voiced by Tim Curry. He kills two of them, but takes one hostage to find out where the message was being delivered to!
Meanwhile, in a bar, our hero Valiant who is voiced by Euan McGregor is watching some pro-war propaganda and he decides to head to London to join the training facility and become a carrying pigeon to help the war effort. Valiant is smaller than most other pigeons and you warm to him pretty quickly.
Before he heads to London, he meets another pigeon, a con artist called, Bugsy who is on the run from gangsters. Bugsy joins Valiant and they head to London to see if they have what it takes to help the war effort. We do not get much time with the pigeons training as I would have liked, before we know it they are part of a squad and they are shipped off to France to take part in their dangerous mission.
Of course, that evil falcon General Von Talon wants to stop these pigeons and they are well and truly in his sights! Look, I have to say that the premise and the actual movie are fun. However, a just a little over an hour, Valiant feels like it never really gets time to let things develop. The brisk pace at which it moves does mean it is a fun watch and there is no getting bored here.
However, I feel that it does mean that the movie can be pretty forgettable. Have you ever actually heard anyone talk about this movie? That does not mean it is bad, but it also means that it is not all that memorable either. The voice cast is awesome, the British cast is so much fun, and the pairing of Euan McGregor as Valiant and Ricky Gervais as Bugsy is the highlight of the movie for me.
I watched this with my son and while he enjoyed it for just being a silly and fun action kind of movie. I must admit, I got a real kick out of all of the classic war movie tropes that the movie has. While there is a lot of humor here, I do feel that as this was only distributed by Disney in America and not actually made by them, the people behind the movie were able to go a little darker than you may expect.
If I am being 100 percent honest, Valiant is never going to crack my top animated movies of all time list. However, I do feel that there is a bit of charm to this movie and as it clocks in at around 70 minutes, it is a pretty easy watch. There are not many kids’ movies set during World War II so that does make this a bit different.
