Review of Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) by Dubeau — 24 Jul 2017

Valerian is a stunning visual fest. Precise in terms of image and framing. Colourful and with effects that are nothing short of perfect. The acting is unequal because you feel that Cara and Rihanna have the best lines.

Valerian is miscast but to be fair, the actor is given a succession of one liner in the style of Han Solo. Valerian is not that kind of character in the comics, and it doesn't fit well with DeHaan. The succession of fast action doesn't give us the time to enjoy the characters or the amazing locations that much.

Because the action is fast you have no time to reflect on what you see (exception of the movie beginning). The music is sadly forgettable and classic. For a movie about aliens, the music should have followed in that path by being a tad strange.

After the Rihanna section the action scenes are becoming too short, almost like they have run out of money. I though that the presence of Rihanna was good, but looking back...it was a big distraction to the story.

This movie would have benefited from more interactions between the characters. The original comic isn't short in dialogues, but somehow the movie deviated a lot on that point. Otherwise Valerian is joyful ride and a visual délice.

Surely an action flick. I give it a 70% but sadly you won't get to know much about the two main characters or feel for them.