Saturday, October 12, 2019

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets


Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is a visionary science fiction film based upon a visionary 1970's comic book of the same name.  Beneath all the eye candy and rich atmosphere is an action plot that is about average, but there is so much going on that the movie might deserve a second viewing.

The two main stars, Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne, seem too young for their parts.  They look like teenagers.  They are not particularly charismatic and their acting ability is nothing exceptional.  Had the movie been made 25 years ago, it would have been perfect for Harrison Ford and Angelina Jolie.

So why only the 56% rating on Rotten Tomatoes?  My favorite movie critic, Richard Roeper, calls it a bizarre and bloated and clunky pop sci-fi epic.  Actually, sometimes that is enough.  This is a visually stunning film that has much in it that is worth seeing.  Overall, it feels like an interesting movie that didn't quite live up to its full potential.  For this reason, I think that some critics are too hard on it.  It deserves more credit than that.  If it had just a little better story and slightly better actors, it could have been another Star Wars.

Some John Williams music would have been nice too.

I fell in love with these three little alien con artists:




Rating:  B+

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