Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
Set in 1944, Valiant is a woodland pigeon who wants to become a great hero someday. When he hears they are hiring recruits for the Royal Homing Pigeon Service, he immediately sets out for London. On the way, he meets a smelly but friendly pigeon named Bugsy, who joins him, mainly to get away from clients he cheated in a game of find-the pebble, and helps him sign up for the war.
Valiant is a middling animated wartime adventure that capitalizes on a genuinely unusual premise — carrier pigeons as WWII heroes — which grants it some novelty points for its distinctive setting and concept. However, the plot is formulaic and thin, hitting predictable underdog beats without much originality in execution. The voice cast (Ewan McGregor, Ricky Gervais, Tim Curry) performs competently above the material, but the script doesn't give them much to work with. The 3D animation was serviceable for its time but never visually distinguished, falling short of Pixar/DreamWorks contemporaries. The ending resolves conventionally with little emotional payoff, feeling rushed and uninspired. Overall a below-average animated feature that squanders an interesting historical hook.