Review of Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) by Gavin L — 22 Jul 2017

Besson has always been a visual pioneer. Story has been his weakness. And he doesn't even have the high level success of another visionary director, Tim Burton. Burton has as many misfires as hits (Miss Peregrine's School for Peculiar Children, the planet of the apes failed reboot). But even Besson's "hits" are often full of holes. Here it is again, AND we get Delevingne who is a mediocre actress at best. Again, visuals over substance. How about Gadot, Steinfeld, Blunt, Lawrence or even Elle Fanning? People who reference Lucy or The Fifth Element either didn't watch those films, or fell asleep. Lucy, despite Johansson and a promising first act, was a mess. A convoluted ending was more "I don't know how to wrap this up" than layered storytelling. The Fifth Element boasted Willis (usually very watchable), Jojovich and special effects that were state-of-the-art at that time. The acting, story and cheese factor DO NOT age well. Re-watch it. As a counterpoint, watch Minority Report. The special effects don't all look quite as convincing as they may have years ago, but the story, acting and direction are still engaging.

Remember a little movie called Avatar? That movie was eviscerated by the same critics that are hailing Valerian. They pounced on the Pocahontas storyline, and the ecological heavy hand. But here's the thing... regardless of the simplistic plot, Avatar had a coherent story that was basic enough that it didn't confuse an audience that was being blown away by cutting edge visuals.