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n. hoop·la fac·tor (h  p lä f kt r)
degree of entertainment attained irrespective of critical worth |
Valiant
 | Year: 2005 |
| Country: UK | |
| Writer: Jordan Katz, George Webster, George Melrod | |
| Director: Gary Chapman | |
| Cast: Ewan McGregor, Ricky Gervais, Tim Curry, Jim Broadbent |
stuart |
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Stuart:Since the post-Christmas releases have been so poor, I found myself wandering into a session of Valiant recently, mainly to escape the greater than 40ºC heat. Ever since Toy Story, CGI animated films have become common as mud, though unfortunately few have been quite as good as that first feature. Pixar has long been ahead of the pack, with generally wittier scripts and more memorable characters, but that hasn't stopped PDI, Disney (in isolation) and Dreamworks from having a go at it. Valiant certainly isn't the worst of offenders (Ice Age may be, however), but it is a strange beast. I can't quite decide why anyone would think that the setting for Valiant would make for a good children's film, other than maybe reminding the kids of today how action packed, exciting and humorous World War II was (err... right). Focussing on the role of carrier pigeons, Valiant is mildly entertaining in a kind of naïve, 50s 'Boy's Own' or 'Lion Annual' kind of way. I kept thinking that maybe if it had been in the least bit satirical, similar to Verhoeven's Starship Troopers, then it may have made me more comfortable, instead of merely squirming at the decades-old evil Nazi stereotypes as they maniacally flew across the screen. We may as well have been subjected to some pith-helmeted British explorers teaching the dim witted natives of the 'Dark Continent' their geography.The voice performances are fine, though Ricky Gervais stands out among the better known Ewen McGregor, John Cleese, Hugh Laurie and Tim Curry as the best performer. The animation is fine, although the dim night-time lighting got to me after a while, and I wondered if they were merely covering up any failings in the rendered work. The action scenes are disappointing, especially after witnessing the brilliant set pieces in The Incredibles. A lot of the time the aerobatics are a little too blurred to truly excite. I did chuckle a couple of times, but there's nothing particularly clever about Valiant. I guess at least I should be thankful it didn't merely attempt to humour me with pathetic spoofs of contemporary movies, à la the very poor effort that was Shrek 2. They also get all the bird puns out of the way in the first ten minutes or so, in a veritable flock of avian punch lines. I guess kids will like it, but the concept's so absurdly old fashioned that it may take a while for many parents to get their head around it. Rating:   Review by Stuart Wilson, 25th January 2006 Hoopla Factor: Mark:is yet to review this film. |
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