Valerian and the City of 1,000 Planets

Valerian and the City of 1,000 Planets July 23, 2017

Luc Beeson is a visionary director, and this movie has been his pet project for almost an entire decade. If at times it looks like a movie deeply indebted to previous Star Wars movies, and even more clearly to the Fifth Element (check the director of that movie) this is no accident. Like Avatar, this movie tries to immerse you in another world in the future and also like Avatar it is very strong on the visuals, but not so much on other elements in the movie. This movie however has more of a sense of humor (again like the Fifth Element) than Avatar. As for the acting, it’s o.k. Clive Owens is quite good and the young leads are alright, but the shocker was seeing none other than Herbie Hancock, the great jazz musician as being the leader behind the scenes in this film. This movie was overwhelmingly made in a studio and relies on stunning CG to carry us along. Many of the opening scenes on the planet of the pale people were very beautiful, and many of the aliens were interesting to look at. As for the plot, well it has some virtues, not the least of which is it keeps you guessing who really are the bad guys in the movie. I love a good sci fi movie, and this is a good one, not a great one. It’s perfect as a summer popcorn film, and it does not rely solely on too much violence to carry the action along. At two hours and seventeen minutes it may seem a bit long to some, but mostly one gets so caught up in the visuals that story and acting seem secondary for the visuals, especially in 3D, are captivating and even at times overwhelming.


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