Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

An entertaining comic book movie with no greater ambitions. Visually unbelievably well made, maybe on a par with Avatar. It’s a bit over-long, but there is lots to look at. Fantastic music, fantastic Cara. P.S.: You can see the influence of the original Star Wars, but it certainly doesn’t seem like a copy at all. (11/11/2017)

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. (08/02/2017)

I think that despite all the enthusiasm, energy and breathtaking production design, we are all willing to forgive the lack of physical laws, technical fundamentals and logic. But forgiving a stale story full of boring puzzle unravelling and a predictable finale – that's too much. So if we ignore the story filler, we're left with about 50 percent of the whole, i.e. fantastic-looking filmmaking full of funny scenes (Rihanna is incredible), Luc Besson's exceptional imagination of fictional worlds, and the awesome chemistry of the central couple, with the sexy Cara Delevingne playing with Dane DeHaan like anything. The European version of Guardians of the Galaxy. (08/11/2017)

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. (07/25/2018)

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? (07/18/2017)