8/10
There is a mass divide among the audiences and critics whether or not Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is good or not. First let me say I hate sci-fi fantasy movies like this. Second, I have never been a fan of the Fifth Element so Luc Besson’s career had no real effect on my decision. Having admitted all that, I can openly say that I really loved this movie. As the movie unfolded I was amazed with the quality of the special effects. The design concepts for the entire film had to be a thing of beauty, since this story came from someone’s imagination. I’m kinda jealous that the people who created this had their dreams jump off the pages and onto the big screen with such simulating effects. Some people were not impressed with the story itself, the actors, or the alien creatures. I get why some people feel that way, but it’s always the same thing with movies. You either like it or you don’t. Personally, I was never bored and followed the story was ease. The biggest factor that kept me engaged for over two hours was undeniable chemistry between Cara Delevingne and Dane DeHaan. These partners spend the entire movie doing their jobs despite facing an endless list of life threatening situations. Neither of them will give up on the other which is a situation that presented time and time again. I liked these two as people and characters which made me root for them to succeed and actually fall in love. Each of them have a sarcastic tone, a never say die attitude, plus more brains about their adventures than most of their colleagues, which made them great heroes from start to finish. Some people may be disappointed that this entire movie is about saving a species, but that is something that is always overlooked in so many other stories. Bad things happen to good people all the time. Whether they occur by accident or purpose, there is always an underlying tone that some species just feel more powerful and in control than others. Stories like that can be engaging or dreadful. You will never know if you like Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets unless you take the time to catch a glimpse of our possible future, many light years away.
Ten Stars or Less 
They couldn’t have possibly found two worst actors to lead this shitshow.
Maybe their personalities were exactly what was needed for this particular story? I know nothing about the comic books that the movie is based on.
I don’t either but these two had chemistry like milk and bleach and Cara is a terrible actress
I agree, Cara is not a good actress. I laughed at your chemistry comment, I see your point but like I said earlier, maybe their weirdness just meshed well enough for me to enjoy it. They have both played weird characters in other films, so my expectations for them to be normal were extremely low.
Nice review. Definitely a better score than I gave it. I really struggled with several things and never could get past them.
I feel the same way about so many other movies that people love. Guess I just happened to be in a good mood that day and everything clicked, whether it made sense or not, I was entertained.
And that’s perfectly fine. It’s one of the things that make movies great. I’ve been on the opposite end of the majority several times. I remember a few years back with Monuments Men. I adored the film and the throwback style it was going for. It even cracked my Top 10 of the year. Most people though…not fans.
I think my expectations for Monuments Men was really high considering the amount of star power in the cast. I ended up feeling kinda meh about it, not for one reason in particular, just didn’t keep me interested like I had hoped.
A pretty nutty movie. Nice review.
Thanks Dan. Nutty would be a good word to describe the movie, which is probably what I really liked about it!
Great review — I was beginning to think I was the only person who liked the movie. I didn’t have a problem with the leads but then again, I was never a fan of the graphic novels.
We are in a very small group! I’m not a graphic novel guy at all, so whenever a movie gets released, I usually just roll with what they gave me in the movie. Have you gone over to read my Dunkirk review? I’m getting even more flack for that one!
Going to check out your take on “Dunkirk” now.