Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets Review

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets takes us on a sci-fi action adventure based in the 28th century. The title characters are Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and his partner Laureline (Cara Delevingne). The heroes are assigned to maintain peace in the human territories of Alpha, the ever expanding space station where all species gather to exchange knowledge with each other.

While on their duty, they discover a dark secret that threatens not only Alpha but the universe itself. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, is based on the 1967 comic Valerian and Laureline created by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières.

Luc Besson (Fifth Element, The Transporter) takes the director seat for this film. Besson did an excellent job at telling the story and putting it together in a new way. He introduced enough exposition that the audience will understand what is going on, but not too much as to put them asleep. Only problem with the film is that it had a Fifth Element feel, but mostly just the good parts of it.

The visuals were beautiful, very vibrant and just looked absolutely stunning; all the bright colors gave it a real over the top look. Surprisingly not a lot of music was used, but where it was, it really brought the scene together.

I think my favorite part of Besson’s directing was when Valerian ran through Alpha, showing the different habitats and how well done the CGI was. The casting felt nearly perfect, you could feel the chemistry between DeHaan and Delevingne; as long as their characters were flirting.

It felt like Laureline was overshadowed by Valerian, and never truly got her time to shine. Though with that, Valerian showed some major character development as the film progressed. The supporting cast (including Rihanna, Clive Owen, and Ethan Hawke) did an excellent job bringing the scenes together well; I wish they would have been in the film more.

The Conclusion

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is a beautiful, vibrant Sci-fi action adventure with strong acting all around. The CGI was excellently done, I’m glad Besson waited for technology to catch up before making this film.

The film is definitely worth the watch especially if you like Besson’s other projects. Time just flies when watching the movie, and leaves you wanting more of the Valerian and Laureline stories.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets Review at Theater with Standard Viewing
Screening Provided by Entertainment One

Rating Overall: 7.7