Review of Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) by Wayne M — 04 Aug 2017

Lets get it out the way - I really enjoyed this movie. However, it doesn't mean it is without its flaws and problems.

Overall I did not quip over the casting choices make by Besson, as I don't have anything against Dean DeHaan, if not rather liking him as him in my opinion one of the only good points to 'the Amazing Spiderman 2' and very much liking his other film from this year, 'a Cure for Wellness'. Neither did I have anything against Cara Delevingne, if not also quite liking her and certainly nothing against Rihanna as she has proven herself to be very much a rather strong actress multiple times.

Much to my expectation, the cast was neither perfect nor trash, if not thinking the performance coming from Delevingne proving to people she can really act and much deserves a acting career as most.

The world-building, character designing and execution of the CGI earns itself to be the strongest point to this feature earning its way up with 'Avatar'. Each design for characters, being main, supporting and background all deserve mass applause , the idea of Bubble (Rihanna) being what I felt like to be one of the strongest, despite the fact, her performance scene to be more comical than it should have been also the addition of the adorable threesome of the Doghan Daguis very strong, adding humour and also looking very much the part and aesthetic of the planet Mul and indigenous species from there also being spectacular.

The sheer originality and the idea this came from someones imagination is beyond me, each character being so different and original, each world explored being mind blown, visually gorgeous and beyond aesthetically pleasing (also being the same for the different species seen).

However, there seemed to be missed opportunities and areas to improve.

The simplicity of the plot came with its up and its down. The plot was necessary but was silly, I felt it could've been taken in a different direction, in a less predictable way.

Not enough development came to the characters, this could be viewed in two different lights, and yes this is a action/Sci-fi film and spending any length of time of character development may have become too much and cramps the style of the action sequences, but I felt a little more could be necessary, also the love relationship between DeHaan and Delevingne could've been spared but it seemed to not drag the quality of the film down.

A major missed character opportunity was missed, not having more Igon Sirrus, which would have sorted out the plot problem adding it onto the end of the film I felt would've been a much fitted ending and could have avoided the cliche *spoiler* of DeHaan and Delevingne sharing a rather long kiss.

Overall, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is extremely original and engrossing watch, with mind blowing visuals but sadly a plot and character development that doesn't quite match how strong the originality and visuals are.

Final verdict - 7.8/10 or B+.