Review of Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) by Djnicey — 26 Nov 2017

The film is visually stunning and has some great ideas, with better actors and a cohesive plot it could have been fantastic.

Unfortunately most of the movie is cringeworthy, firstly you are expected to believe a couple of wimpy high-school kids are super tough intergalactic heroes. Quite why they have teens piloting the spaceships, and a whole galaxy depending on them, when a whole host of better suited people are around them is never explained. Then you are also expected to believe that the lead actor is some sort of lothario, and that his partner is besotted with him, but they both are completely wooden and there is no chemistry between them. The story then muddles around for a bit without purpose and Rhianna pops up for a cameo appearance to plug a song in a sequence that should have been left on the cutting room floor. The final act has no surprises and you can see what is coming from a mile off, it ends with a bizarre conclusion, and the fakest most unconvincing love scene I've ever seen in a film. Cara Delevingne rolls her eyes and acts bratish a lot and Dane DeHaan very unconvincingly plays the tough guy. Such a shame as I thought the concept had a lot of potential.