Ok kido's who here has seen Leon, The Fifth Element and Lucy? Well I have but these movies are all pretty old (ok Lucy not THAT old but still) and I feel that the target group of this movie has never seen them, please correct me if I'm wrong.
Experience a spectacular 3D event, been there done that and it was all the same, hell I even paid the extra mile to go and see it in ultra laser 3D with Dolby atmos or whatever.. still not impressed.
So yeah I guess you already know where I'm going with this, it seems like with Valerian you either hate it or love it. I found the story long and sometimes boring.. I do not need to have 2 teenagers tell me about love...WTF they are just out of their diapers for crying out loud what do THEY KNOW about love??
I was pleased with Elizabeth Debicki being in this movie.. when you watch the trailer her pleasant voice speaks to you... UNTIL.... she was playing a MAN??? wtf??? not that you could recognize her but she played the emperor??? And also DO NOT EVER MAKE HER SAY THE WORD GUARDIAN ... unless you are willing to follow it up with : OF THE GALAXY!! That was such a let down...I am so used to her saying and now nothing... UGH
Was there anything good about this movie?? ...... Ok yes I have to admit I AM IN LOVE with the Mül Convertor XD That thing is soooo cute, I bet you that when I go to Comic Con next month and I see one (and it's not too expensive cause all my money will prolly...no not prolly...will go to Guardians of the Galaxy stuff) I will buy it.
Melo The Convertor
So should you go and see Valerian...though one, I for one wasn't blown away buy it, it promises a lot but it doesn't deliver, oh yeah Rihanna is in it too...Enough said about that... Also nice to see Ethan Hawke again. I am sure that if you see the movie in 2D it will be the same, unless you have never seen a 3D movie in your life..
It will be a good movie for those rainy Sunday afternoons where you have nothing else to do.
I give this movie 6 out of 10.
I guess I am going to disagree both with the critics, wich of course is not at all unusual, as well as with a lot of the actual viewers of this movie by saying that I really liked this movie.
I guess that I can to some extent understand that some viewers are disappointed. That would be the viewers that have read the comics that the movie is based on. Unfortunately someone in the production team decided to take bits and pieces from several comic books and mash them together as well as change some key elements. It is really annoying when that is done. It is usually an indication that somewhere some dumbass who did not understand, and certainly did not respect, the source material had way too much influence on the production. It is really a shame since the comic book from wich the core of the of the story seems to be taken is certainly more than good enough to stand on its own.
Well luckily the mashup that they produced is actually bloody good. Something wich in my experience is quite rare. The Valerian comics lends themselves very well as a base for some spectacular sci-fi with plenty of weird creatures and spectacular scenery. Add Luc Besson to the mix and you have to spell spectacular in all caps.
This is definitely a Luc Besson movie. Plenty of action, spectacular (yes I repeat myself but this movie deserves it) scenery, a fair amount of weirdness. In short a lot of stuff this particular viewer likes.
The mashed up story is not too bad. It is predictable as hell of course, even though it is not following the comics, but it is making a decent job of tying together all the action and FX and the action and FX is really the main reason to watch this movie after all.
I have to say that I think most of the characters were pretty okay. It seems that the performance of the two main characters where generally not so well received by a lot of people. I guess I can somewhat understand that but I still cannot refrain from saying: Read the fucking comics! Okay it is a French comic and there are probably few people outside of France (or at least outside of Europe) that have read them. Me being one of the few of course. Anyway, Valerian and Laureline are supposed to be somewhat weird, silly and a little bit childish. Personally I think they did a fair job of interpreting the comic book characters the way they should be. We probably have Luc Besson to thank for not getting a some Hollywood, thirteen on a dozen, characters.
I do miss some bits of the real comics though. The transmutation animal played a much more visible role in the comic and so did the three information peddlers wich gave a much more professional impression in the comic book by the way. I also think it was a shame that they changed the story of the Muh so much. Their role in the comic book was much more impressive to me.
Still, most of the bits and pieces that is taken from the different comic books and mashed together are quite faithfully reproduced, at least visually and the results turned out really really good as far as I am concerned.
To wrap it up, to me, this movie was a fun, spectacular, action filled sci-fi extravaganza. A typical Luc Besson movie and I mean that in a good way.
Luc Besson delivers a spiritual successor to The Fifth Element that's equally colorful if not half as deep. Visually rich and mesmerizing on the surface, it easily outreaches Avatar as a sci-fi fan's wet dream; a slick, breathing conceptual powerhouse to rival the cover artwork on so many pulpy, classic paperbacks.
The art direction is a smooth continuation of Besson's earlier work, too, drawing heavily from European design and comic book artwork to set a scene that feels at once futuristically familiar and unsettlingly exotic. Designs for the various species of alien life are similarly remarkable and unrestrained, as are the wildly different habitats that have developed to house them aboard one massive, utilitarian space station.
The opening scene, set inside a cross-dimensional bazaar, is a wonderful mishmash of creative world building and original twists on action movie tropes. But then it gets to the meat of the plot and... suddenly we're dealing with just another dopey laserbeam run-n-gun with a heavy, heavy emphasis on stale human characters and an over-reliance on CG. Forgive the constant comparisons, but it becomes The Fifth Element without Bruce Willis, Chris Tucker, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman or the blue girl singing opera to connect with the audience. Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne, wooden and flat with next to no chemistry between them, simply don't compare and the picture flails aimlessly without a firm leading presence.
It's got humor in small doses and artistic vision in large ones, but without an equal narrative jab to match its creative haymakers, it falls quite short.
I went in expecting this movie to be bad, so at least I wasn't disappointed because of high expectations. Better casting would have improved this movie immensely.
I can't imagine Luc Besson envisioning the role of Valerian and saying, "You know who would be great for this role, Dane DeHaan." Maybe he went, you know type casting? Well, let's do the opposite of that. I would really like to know what he was thinking.
I mean seriously, how in hell did the people making this movie think the pale, sickly looking with the dark circles under his eyes Dane DeHaan could pull off playing a cool, witty, bad-ass action hero? He couldn't & he didn't. I fully expected him to have a nose bleed at any moment. This guy looks like a real-life young Mr. Burns from "The Simpsons". Might as well have Jim Parsons who plays Sheldon Cooper on “The Big Bang Theory” play the role. He would have been about as believable. When DeHaan first started reciting his lines in the movie, I was like, "This guy is talking like he thinks he's a bad-ass. Oh wait, this is for real. He's supposed to be the hero? WTF?" It was awful. Surely they could have found an actor with some charisma to play the lead role. Where’s this generation’s Bruce Willis? And Cara Delevingne, sure she's cute, but come on, she looks more like a high school cheerleader than a bad-ass government operative. There is just no way to buy either of them in the roles they were playing. Among all the other things, they just seem too young. There was supposed to be a romantic relationship between them yet they had zero chemistry. I couldn't feel it and ultimately it was unbelievable.
If it weren't for the stunning costumes, sets, and visuals, this film would have been a total bust.
In the end, I did manage to suspend disbelief just enough to get a modicum of enjoyment, but trust me, this was in spite of the lead actors and weak story line.
Question about the story. How much time was supposed to have passed between when the Pearl Princess released her consciousness into the universe and when she landed in Valerian? The Commander played by Clive Owen was in charge when Mül was destroyed so it didn’t seem like much time at all. The movie made it seem like only maybe a week passed. PLEASE REPLY IF YOU KNOW THE ANSWER. The surviving non-technical Pearl people who lived in harmony with their environment get to Alpha, quickly learn everything there is to learn, and then apparently develop a new technology of their own that no one can penetrate to hide themselves at the core. How is that even remotely believable?
Edit: After watching the movie again, I noticed that twice it mentions that the planet Mül was destroyed 30 years ago.
"Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets" is a science fiction film directed by Luc Besson, based on the French comic series "Valérian and Laureline." The story takes place in the 28th century, where the International Space Station has been relocated and renamed Alpha, a city of a thousand planets with a diverse array of species and knowledge from across the galaxy. The main characters, Major Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and his partner Laureline (Cara Delevingne), are tasked with saving Alpha from an unknown threat while also retrieving the last surviving "Converter" from the doomed planet of Mül. The film boasts stunning visuals and make-up, with a Star Wars and The Fifth Element influence. However, the film suffers from poor dialogue, inconsistent pacing, and uninteresting story choices. The performances by the lead actors, Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne, are underwhelming, lacking charisma and chemistry. Overall, while "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets" may be a feast for the eyes, it falls short in storytelling and character development.
"Valerian y la ciudad de los mil planetas" es una película de ciencia ficción dirigida por Luc Besson, basada en la serie cómica francesa "Valérian y Laureline". La historia tiene lugar en el siglo 28, donde la Estación Espacial Internacional ha sido reubicada y rebautizada como Alpha, una ciudad de mil planetas con una gran variedad de especies y conocimientos de toda la galaxia. Los personajes principales, Major Valerian (Dane DeHaan) y su compañera Laureline (Cara Delevingne), tienen la tarea de salvar a Alpha de una amenaza desconocida y al mismo tiempo recuperar al último "Convertidor" sobreviviente del planeta condenado de Mül. La película cuenta con impresionantes imágenes y maquillaje, con una influencia de Star Wars y The Fifth Element. Sin embargo, la película adolece de diálogos deficientes, ritmo inconsistente y opciones de historia poco interesantes. Las actuaciones de los actores principales, Dane DeHaan y Cara Delevingne, son decepcionantes, carecen de carisma y química. En general, aunque "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets" puede ser un festín para los ojos, se queda corta en la narración y el desarrollo del personaje.
The one review score to fear, a dreaded 1 out of 10, exactly what I gave this movie.
Don't get me wrong, there are good aspects, like the style of the movie, but that is already undone quickly by glitches in the special effects.
So, let me just get to the point which broke this movie complete apart, which was the acting.
I kind of feel ashamed to say that I know several actors in this movie, and includes even one of my favorite actors, and yet, all of the acting in this movie is far below what I could call even valid acting.
The 2 lead actors, Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne clearly should never have been casted as a couple, but even beyond that, they both seemed rather lacking emotion...
Maybe it all was intended this way, I wouldn't know, but this is one of the extremely few movies that didn't keep my interest in even watching...
The fact that the 9 year old I was watching this with was able to guess what would happen about 75% of the time makes it even worse.
(The PG-13 rating is like too often unnecessary for this movie)
It is too bad, as I actually went in with good hopes, but sadly, the reviews found all across the web are right, this is a movie worth skipping.
Review by Galileo5BlockedParent2017-11-05T09:27:29Z
There are movie roles actors don‘t recover from. More often than not it‘s a big budget movie where someone takes a chance on a lesser known actor playing a leading role and that actor has to come through. If he can he is instantly a superstar (i.e. Chris Pratt in Guardians, J-Law in Hunger Games), if he can‘t he‘ll vanish into obscurity (Hayden Christensen in SW Ep 2/3). Sorry to say, Dane Deehan is clearly in the latter category. That‘s not to say that with a different lead this movie would have been a success, but at the very least it would have been watchable. Deehan is as unlikable as you can get in a leading role, his chemistry with Cara Delevingne is non existent and he presents his lines like he is reading off a teleprompter that is lasered into his retinas. He is also committing one of the cardinal sins of acting by acting cooler than he actually is. I have no problem if someone does it in a comedy, making fun of his own character (i.e Chris Pratt in Guardians). But Deehan was dead serious in this movie. I‘m curious to see when and if ever he gets another lead role, but I'm willing to bet it won't be a big budget movie. Indie films maybe. Perhaps a voice in the next Pixar film. TV probably. But the big ship has sailed. I'm not blaming him by the way. If you get offered a role like this, you accept. Whoever auditioned and casted him however should be locked up in prison next to the people who put pineapple on pizza and the guy I saw the other day driving a GREEN Ferrari.