Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Deeply disappointing and one of Luc Besson's worst films. The film has only two good things: the beautiful model-lesbian Cara Delevingne and the excellent five minute performance by Rihanna, which is very little for the most expensive European science fiction flick. The effects are too colourful and fabulous for my taste, there is very little action and above all it is uninteresting, the pace is incredibly slow, the two hours in the cinema dragged unbelievably, somewhere in the middle of the film I looked at my watch and planned my escape, I just couldn't stand another hour, well I did stay in the end, but this just didn't work. It's just not a good movie. 35%. (20/08/2017)

It warms the heart when one sees how Luc Besson's Valerian is for him the true First Element. I may not know the comic book, but the respect for the material and the almost childlike nurturing of everything related to its world brought a smile to my face more than once. Unfortunately, what is being nurtured is not something that can be called old-fashioned, but just outdated. Considering the year of the source material, it's unfair to criticize that we have already seen something similar countless times, but unfortunately, there are no plot twists happening in Alpha. I am also really sorry about that, because the rumors about this having the best visuals of the last decade were not wrong. Every flight, jump, or water trip takes your breath away with every pixel and erases yet another imaginary boundary of digital effects. The fact that this happens in several casually patched episodes that awkwardly drag along the central mundane plot is unfortunately just one big sigh. At the expense of the visual aspect, character development suffers as well, because the central Valerian's apparent task is only to deliver annoying lines and occasional action escapades. Dane DeHaan's unique face even tantalizes antiheroes, but cruelly fails in this case. Cara Delevingne effortlessly rises to the top, and it is perhaps thanks to her natural Laureline that she has moved on to starring roles written for her. (21/07/2017)

After its very promising start followed by playful adventures that sometimes add nothing to the plot (product placement by Hawke and Rihanna targeted at American audiences), Valerian ends just in the way you’ve been expecting since about the midpoint of the movie, without any effort to freshen up all the genre clichés. It seems like Luc Besson used up all of his imagination on monsters, set designs and visual details that are pleasant to see, but he didn’t care whether the viewer would remember anything after his spectacle is over. The only thing I remember is Cara Delevingne, which is thanks to her performance and the work of her costume designer. And does a director with Besson’s reputation really need to have it explained to him that Clive Owen is a bad fit for this type of villain and that the film would have greatly benefited if Owen switched characters with Sam Spruell? (18/07/2017)

When it comes to this film, I agree with the rest of the reviews here. Luc Besson has decided to shoot an epic sci-fi, which he managed perfectly on the visual side. However, the acting and the storyline are a complete fiasco. While it is evident that he holds the original fairytale in great regard and it must have taken him a lot of work to think up all the locations digitally, but what’s the use of it when the leading roles are portrayed by actors who are as plastic as Barbie and Ken. Truly a portrayal of humans in the most glamorous way. Add in the unconvincing story, which bores more than it entertains, and all that is left is to enjoy the colorful imagery, as the creators of the digital effects spared no expense on colors. It’s a shame that what usually bothers me about digital image the most is the digital itself, which in this film crosses all boundaries. I guess I am old-fashioned. So, when it comes to sci-fi films by Luc Besson, The Fifth Element undisputedly wins, as there is really no comparison. I’ve said it many times already, but action actors of the likes of Bruce Willis in the nineties are not born nowadays. Or they do not get good enough screenplays. (25/07/2018)

I liked Jupiter Ascending, I liked John Carter, too, and I think Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is much more similar to them rather than the mentioned Star Wars. It also has something that the two stories mentioned don't have - 100% sympathetic main characters, finally a pair that has spark from start to finish and who is a joy to watch and listen to. Although the film is not original in terms of story (that would be hard, considering this is a 40-year-old book), its workmanship and smilingly adventurous atmosphere playfully make up for it. Perhaps only Alexander Desplat's music didn't make me feel how I would have liked this time. (02/08/2017)