Justin and the Knights of Valour (2013) Reviews

• A kids animated tale, about a young knight with plenty of adventures , fights , action and amusement

  ma-cortes2014-07-18

  Wonderful story about a young boy becomes a man as he embarks on a quest to become a knight , as he wants to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather and join the Knights of the Roundtable . It deals with Justin (Freddie Highmore voice) lives in a kingdom where bureaucrats rule and knights have been ousted. Justin, the son of chief counsel to the Queen, lives in a kingdom where knights have been outlawed, and the land is over subscribed with laws for everything imaginable. His dream is to be become one of the Knights of Valour, like his grandfather was, but his father Reginald (voice by Alfred Molina) , the chief counsel to the Queen , wants his son to follow in his footsteps and become a lawyer. After an inspiring visit to his beloved grandmother and bidding farewell to his supposed lady-love Lara (Tamsin Egerton) , Justin leaves home and embarks on a quest to become a knight. Along the way he meets the beautiful, feisty Talia (Saoirse Ronan) ,and is mentored by three monks Whilst an unlikely candidate for knighthood, Justin must rise to the challenge quickly when banished former knight Sir Heraclio and his army, lead by Sota (Rupert Everett) , return and threaten to destroy the Kingdom . As Sir Heraclio (Mark Strong) wants Justin to join him and fight by his side. When the teen refuses, the king has no other choice but to unleash his flesh-hungry horde of vicious warriors on Justin and his girlfriend. Can he save the Kingdom from impending doom and a few other clichés? . This amusing 3D cartoon has great animated sequences well staged with stylish and vitality , adventure , romance , outstanding final and results to be pretty entertaining . Enjoyable action sequences in castles , monastery , falls , including amusing ending confrontation at the climax of the film and a fun flying croc . Well produced by Antonio Banderas, fresh from providing his sexy Spanish tones for four Shrek films, has clearly decided that providing the voice of a cat in some near decent animated movies has given him all the knowledge he needs to produce similar animated box office gold . While the film has an addictive color and design graphics and 3D computer generator animation itself is extremely attractive, we are in presence of a film too simplistic and Manichean in his story to end. So, unfortunately, not much progress in achieving empathy and convey emotions that excite. Along his quest, the protagonist encounters a slew of quirky characters, a fun plethora of secondaries , as a strange wizard called Melquiades voiced by David Wailians , the handsome Sir Cloirex voice by Antonio Banderas ; the monks : Blucher , Legantir and Braulio voiced by James Cosmo , Charles Dance and Barry Humphries respectively , who teach and test him in the ancient ways of the Knights of Valour . The character "Sota" is inspired in one card of the Spanish deck, which is equivalent to the Jack in the international Deck, and has a very similar look to this character. Also, the name of the villain, Heraclio, matches the best known publisher of card decks in Spain, Heraclio Fournier . Furthermore , this funny movie contains a nice Original Music by Ilan Eshkeri . Colorful and glimmer Cinematography by Javier Fernández .This Spanish motion picture was well written and directed Manuel Sicilia . Worthwhile seeing , better than average . The film will appeal to kiddies and teenagers .

• funny,amusing

  alexhuiberts2013-12-22

  I liked the movie.....maybe not so surprising if you are USED to a flying crocodile??? I don't understand the bad reviews i've been reading here....Okay, Shrek en how to train a dragon would be rated a 9 or 10 but this one still is very amusing! The schizophrenic wizard, the flying crocodile...I had a few laughs! Maybe adults shouldn't rate a movie like this...and kids shouldn't be too small to watch it and understand the humor......but i thought it was worth rating and thumbs up for Anthonio!! The vain fake knight caught in his own greedy web! and now i have to fill my comment up till ten lines...i just wanted to put in a good word for this movie and didn't agree at all with the other comments....

• Good family entertainment

  anatrout2013-09-16

  Watched Justin and the Knights of Valour this weekend with my 8 year old daughter, my friend and her two similar age kids and they absolutely loved it! they were well entertained during the whole film, and I quite enjoyed it too as animation films go. Makes a nice change to see a classical animated story as opposed to dancing animals or the smurfs... And there are nice things in it for adults too: the British voice cast is great (watch out for Charles Dance as one of the monks)and the music was a nice surprise too. Nice simple story, packed with the action that the kids love and with some nice things for parents too.

• An enjoyable tale

  OltionZoto2014-02-16

  While it will not win prestigious awards this animation movie comes as a surprise with beautiful animations and a light plot that brings smiles upon any young heart while delivering a message now almost forgotten: the courage to dream and chose own way in life. The dedication and the work performed on this little gem is visible in the lovely drawn characters and the great voice acting delivered by known artists. Personally I recommend this independent movie as a breath of fresh air in confront of the overrated and overpriced sequels upon sequels delivered by big animation studios.

• I feel confident in predicting that this is a film that will have lasting appeal to both young and old for many years to come.

  geoffgee2013-09-25

  Justin and the Knights of Valour is very well executed and exciting adventure film. In costume and characterisation it has many similarities with 'Tangled', 'How to Train Your Dragon' and 'Brave'. All three last named are films I love by the way. For me Justin and the Knights of Valour is a worthy successor to them all. The artwork is very beautiful and imaginative, the script is intricate (for a children's film) and all the main characters are amusing and likable. They are also nicely voiced. I particularly liked Saoirse Ronan's Irish accented Talia. I'm in my late sixties (male) and saw the film on my own. I wasn't bored for a single second. On the contrary, I found the story to be totally absorbing. I'm also a bit of an unashamed romantic - so I was keen to discover how things would work out between Justin and his (two) young lady friends. There are also a couple of better than average songs I'd like to hear again. As best as I can recall the incidental music is fitting and well performed. (I intend to see the film again soon, so I will pay more attention to the musical score then.) I highly recommend this film and feel confident in predicting that it will have lasting appeal to both young and old for many years to come.