Review of Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) by Jake A — 01 Aug 2017

Luc Besson has had a varied directorial career with his post-90's work being mostly unremarkable, that is until this film came along. Now it isn't perfect by any means but in terms of visuals and the world upon which it is set in it is utterly unique.

Firstly some of the flaws; it is somewhat cliched, narratively the second half is a tad predictable and there is plenty of exposition along with a few parts of the script that didn't quite work for me.

It is however visually stunning as every shot that establishes the setting of each scene is a feast for the eyes, the uniqueness of each species and cultures that they inhabit are utterly engrossing and I can't fault the special effects at any point.

The score by Alexandre Desplat is incredible along with the accompanying soundtrack which helps make the visuals all the more enjoyable. The cast is also solid with the chemistry between the two leads helping to make up for their lack of depth but despite that they are clearly having a great time in this ludicrous and mad world that Besson has brought to the screen.

The action scenes are also decent (though they do pale in comparison to say The Fifth Element) as well as being filmed with plenty of energy and exuberance while also being coherent. The ending however wasn't all that satisfying but despite that the film overall was a joy to watch and makes me want to see more from this incredible and bonkers insane universe though judging by the box office takings that is looking unlikely which is a shame because there isn't a film like it out there right now or from this year.