July 21, 2017
Dragonlord's Review of VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS (No Spoilers)
Bottom Line: A stunning visual sci-fi spectacle, Valerian is a fun, lighthearted, eccentric, retro space adventure but errs with its male lead casting.
Confession time. Going into
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, I was sort of ready to rip it apart and was already preparing lines in my head like, "This year's
Jupiter Ascending," or "Luc Besson's misguided vanity project," or "One of the worst movies I've ever seen."
I couldn't have been more wrong.
Valerian is a rip-roaring, fun, sci-fi adventure and has a refreshing, retro, swashbuckling vibe from the bygone 1980s sci-fi eras where it doesn't take itself too seriously.
The visual effects are simply astonishing. With a reported $210 million budget (making it the most expensive movie ever made in France), all the money spent can be clearly seen in the final product as the film wows us with top notch, spectacular special effects, dazzling production designs and magnificent set pieces.
If you enjoy watching sci-fi movies or TV shows to see different types of alien life forms,
Valerian has you covered with all varieties of outworldly extraterrestrials filling the screen. Besson has been obsessed with bringing the comic book series
Valérian and Laureline, from which the movie is based on, to the silver screen for decades but now has the technology to properly do it.
If the gorgeous alien landscapes, distinctive set designs, lavish makeup and costumes, stunning cinematography don't win you over, the frantic, fast-paced, thrilling action pieces will.
Valerian also offers a lot of innovative sci-fi concepts and techs that's refreshing to watch. The virtual reality marketplace is so freaking cool and the action that follows is just bonkers.
DeHaan is simply miscast as the male lead Major Valerian. He is a good actor but I just find his natural line delivery to be too wooden. He reminds me of similar stiff actor like Keanu Reeves. DeHaan also lacks the necessary charisma to pull off the role. A younger Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt would have killed it. On the flipside, DeHaan looked good in the action scenes, carrying himself with a cool, confident aura.
Redeeming herself from her last awful performance in
Suicide Squad, Delevingne is adorably cute as the smart and sexy Sergeant Laureline. It’s not going to win her any acting awards but I liked her plucky, resourceful character. Too bad they couldn't figure out how to proceed with her character and basically turned her into a damsel in distress in the second half.
The romance angle doesn't really work, more often the dialogue was cheesy and the scenes came off as awkward to watch. Again, half of the blame goes to DeHaan who just lacks the suave and charm to actualize it. That "love" line at the end was so cringey I could see my brains from rolling my eyes too much.
A couple of big name stars like Clive Owen, Ethan Hawke and Rutger Hauer grace the screen which adds to the overall fun. Besson even got some of his fellow French filmmakers like Louis Leterrier (
Now You See Me), Olivier Megaton (
Taken 2) to cameo as Captains welcoming the alien diplomats.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is a stunning visual sci-fi spectacle that's also a fun, lighthearted, eccentric, retro space adventure with spectacular, hyperactive action. There's so much to digest in one sitting that a second viewing might be in order. I suspect that
Valerian is one of those films that gets better and more appreciated over the course of time.
Rating: 7.5/10