"Heroes Come in All Sizes"
None | Light | Moderate | Heavy | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Language | ||||
Violence | ||||
Sex | ||||
Nudity |
What You Need To Know:
VALIANT has a powerful, exciting ending, and a compelling hook. The Christian faith is recognized in the movie. For example, the former con man pigeon has his prayers answered and blesses other pigeons. The movie also constantly affirms good values and Christian virtues. Loyalty, decency, respect for authority, perseverance, compassion, truth, and many other virtues are clearly displayed in this wonderful wartime movie. Children, however, will not focus on the lessons they’re learning; they will focus on this exciting yarn. VALIANT is a tremendous entertainment for all ages.
Content:
(BBB, CCC, V, S, A, M) Very strong moral worldview with very strong Christian values, including a Church becomes a refuge and a vibrant Christian faith is overtly acknowledged, and strong themes about self-sacrifice, loyalty, rising to the task, persevering under all circumstances, helping your friends, and many other virtues; no foul language, but con man pigeon has prayer answered and says “God bless you,” so the implication is slightly ambivalent, although he turns out to be one of the heroes; cartoon action violence in wartime setting, pigeons killed by falcons, pigeon injected with truth serum, nurse injects recruits with large hypodermic needle, pigeons wounded, plane blows up, pigeons battered and bruised trying to escape falcons, threats of violence and other wartime violence; very light references to sex by con man pigeon, plus hero becomes enamored of nurse pigeon; no nudity; drinking bug juice at bar; and, mother pigeon regurgitates food for young, hero pigeon swallows message and regurgitates it at right time, con man pigeon burps on cue, and church becomes a refuge.
More Detail:
During World War II, England used homing pigeons to get messages behind enemy lines to the resistance movements in Europe. At the end of the war, special awards went to animal heroes, and 31 of the top 53 awards were given to pigeons.
VALIANT, an animated family movie about these homing pigeons, opens with a group of pigeons trying to bring back an important message across the English Channel. Falcons from Germany take them out at the last minute. Therefore, a pigeon hero named Gutsy has to recruit a new platoon. One of the young pigeons who signs up is an undersized but brave pigeon named Valiant.
This new Squad F seems to be the bottom of the barrel in terms of the pickings for pigeons. Two of the pigeons, Toughwood and Tailfeather, are oversized muscles, dimwitted in many respects. One is a dirty London pigeon named Bugsy, who signs up to avoid the wrath of some crows he conned. Another is an effete aristocrat named Lofty. When another squad is lost to General Von Talon, Squad F is sent prematurely into battle. They must meet up with the French resistance to get the most important message in the war and bring it home. In the process they are captured, drugged, beaten, and the question is, will they be able to fulfill their important mission?
VALIANT has a powerful, exciting, edge-of-your-seat ending, and a compelling hook at the beginning. Some of the middle is a little slow, which may be due to the fact that the jokes are geared for people who remember World War II than for a broad audience. However, most of the movie works extremely well. The music is particularly good. The animation is very rich. Although it is computer generated, it looks a lot like traditional animation.
Faith is recognized in the movie when Bugsy the con man has his prayers answered and when he blesses others. Of course, his position as a con pigeon makes the answered prayer slightly ambivalent. However, when they get to France, they find refuge in an old church, and the Christian faith is overtly acknowledged.
The movie also constantly affirms good values. Bugsy returns after abandoning his group, doing the right thing in sticking by his comrades. Valiant puts the lives of his friends and their escape as a high priority.
Loyalty, decency, respect for authority, perseverance, compassion, truth, and many other virtues are clearly displayed in this wonderful wartime movie. Children, however, will not focus on the lessons they’re learning; instead, they will focus on this exciting yarn.
VALIANT is a tremendous entertainment for youths and commended by MOVIEGUIDE® for all ages.