Saturday, July 22, 2017

Movie Review: "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets" (2017)

Director: Luc Besson
Year: 2017
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hours, 17 minutes

Major Valerian and his partner Sergeant Laureline are sent on a mission to retrieve an almost extinct creature that may play a key role in saving the giant intergalactic space station known as Alpha.

"Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets" is a sci-fi action adventure movie written and directed by Luc Besson, who is known for directing the films "The Fifth Element," "Leon: The Professional," and more recently, "Lucy." It is based on the French graphic novel series "Valerian and Laureline" that ran between 1967 and 2010. The film stars Dane DeHaan as the titular Valerian, and joining him is Cara Delevigne as his partner Laureline. They are two special operatives in charge of keeping the peace. Their latest mission is to retrieve a piece of government property, a creature known as a 'converter,' which is the last of its species. It is believed this creature can play a key role in saving the massive space port called Alpha, which is home to 30 million life forms from across the galaxy.

The one thing abundantly clear right out of the gate is that "Valerian" is a gorgeous, creative film visually. It is full of imaginative creatures, interesting costumes, and vibrant, bright colors. The look of this film is very similar to Besson's "The Fifth Element" in this respect. We had high hopes for this new sci-fi franchise, hoping it would have interesting characters who go on some great adventures. Unfortunately, "Valerian" is very much style over substance, and the same can be said for the bulk of Besson's career. It's a flashy car driven by a man who has no sense of direction and not the slightest idea where his destination even is.

The film starts out fine enough, but the longer it goes on, the more it flounders. We also didn't dig the banter between DeHaan and Delevigne. The two didn't really have much chemistry, and it doesn't help that Delevigne can't deliver her lines with much passion. We really can't understand the fascination with her as an actress, but really, DeHaan isn't doing much better here. There are times when the dialogue is clearly meant to be quippy and humorous, and these instances fall flat most of the time, in large part due to their lack of timing. There are a few scenes that are absolutely extraordinary in terms of their sci-fi wonderment, but what goes on in between each of these moments is an incoherent mess that seems to have one goal: fit as many unique and different looking aliens and cool visuals into every single second. It's like Besson looked through all the comics to find the scenes he wanted to adapt the most and created a weak narrative in an attempt to connect them together.

We would like to say we could recommend "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets," but it falls just a little bit too short in the story department and is a bit too messy for our liking despite its outstanding and beautiful visual spectacle.


My Rating: 5.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 5.5/10
IMDB's Rating: ~7.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: ~54%
Do we recommend this movie: Meh.

3 comments:

  1. Rigolo ! Le film "La menace Fantôme" de Georges Lucas sortie le 19 mai 1999 (aux États-Unis)avaient reçu une critique très défavorable. "... Les professionnels se disent las de la course aux effets spéciaux, quand d'autres érigent déjà des bûchers pour immoler Jar Jar Binks, un alien clownesque particulièrement agaçant de bêtise. Alors quoi, c'en est fini de Star Wars? Pas vraiment. Avant même d'atteindre les salles françaises en octobre, l'Épisode I avait déjà multiplié sa mise par quatre. Next!" Donc, Luc Besson a toute les chances de gagner son pari ! :) Fun ! The film "The Phantom Menace" of Georges Lucas released on May 19, 1999 (in the United States) had received a very unfavorable criticism. "... Professionals are tired of the special effects race, when others are already erecting pyres to sacrifice Jar Jar Binks, a clownish alien especially annoying with stupidity. So, what's the end of Star Wars? Not even before, even before reaching the French theaters in October, Episode I had already multiplied by four. So Luc Besson has every chance of winning his bet! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fun ! The film "The Phantom Menace" of Georges Lucas released on May 19, 1999 (in the United States) had received a very unfavorable criticism. "... Professionals are tired of the special effects race, when others are already erecting pyres to sacrifice Jar Jar Binks, a clownish alien especially annoying with stupidity. So, what's the end of Star Wars? Not even before, even before reaching the French theaters in October, Episode I had already multiplied by four. So Luc Besson has every chance of winning his bet! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi there!

      We hope it does, Ronan! The special effects are worth seeing on the big screen, but in terms of story, we found ourselves disappointed. Hope you enjoy it!

      Delete