First of all I cannot number myself among the legions of movie goers ready to offer their unconditional love to the dozens of animated features aimed at the kiddies, but with enough "over the head" bits to keep mom and dad from "just resting their eyes." When they're good (Toy Story, Shrek, Finding Nemo, Chicken Run) count me in, but as for the "genre jumpers" - one of which is sure to be among the titles at the multiplex at any given time - I'm becoming something of a curmudgeon.

Valiant is perhaps the best example of an artless, rush-job that will appeal to the youngsters based solely on the fact that it's animated, but since you're an adult, trust me, mollify little Desmond and Molly with a happy meal, go rent The Incredibles and wait for Valiant to land on the shelf at Blockbuster.

Valiant is the title character of this World War II set feather-fest - a runty pigeon small in stature but big in pluck, who has become obsessed with the desire to join the Royal Homing Pigeon Service. The RHPS is a branch of the war effort populated by heroic pigeons trained to deliver messages of vital strategic information from soldiers operating behind enemy lines. Valiant is given voice by Ewan McGregor, whose over-earnest take on the character was enough to get a couple chuckles out of this reviewer.

Off to London to enlist, Valiant meets a foul feathered friend named Bugsy (Ricky Gervais) whose poor attention span results in his inadvertent enlistment. The odd couple wind up joining ranks with and even goofier collection screwball four f-ers and before you can say "talley ho" the lot of them are pressed into service. And as fate would have it, well before this unit of misfits and dimwits can finish their training, a mission of utmost importance has arisen. It seems that one of the most decorated and esteemed pigeons in aviary history, Mercury (John Cleese) has been captured by the ruthless General Von Talon (Tim Curry).

Naturally a perilous rescue of such vital importance, will necessitate the coordination of other branches of the critter corp. thus this particular mission involves the assistance of two French resistance fighters, who happen to be rats. ( Will the French ever catch a break?)

but enough with the spoiling. As far as the film itself, Valiant looks the part, there's nothing particularly notable about it, but the look of the film is up to par. I will say that the whole production just feels half-baked. The script lacks the typical cleverness that so many of Valiant's superior counterparts offer in spades. There is little to no interesting subtext or inside jokes for the adults and the dialogue feels like it was written under duress. Perhaps a looming deadline or a gun pointed to the head of the trio of writers. As a result none of the characters are not able to connect with the audience in any sort of compelling way, and the narrative doesn't offer any further layers of complexity that would give the film the sort of depth or metaphorical meaning. This sort of cleverness has become standard in such films and even the more mediocre animated fare (Home on the Range et. al) offer much more than just a simple straight forward story.

The film is also somewhat clumsy in terms of establishing exactly what sort of relationship these military animals have to their human counterparts as well as their animal enemies and their non-military fellow creatures. The last thing Valiant needed, lacking as it is in laughs, layers and characters that you could give two hoots about, was to become muddled in this most simple sense. I wish I could leave off by writing that the creators (many of whom were involved with the Shrek films) had given it a valiant effort, but the sad reality is that Valiant not only didn't fly, but it never manages to get off the ground.