Movie Review: Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Some movies transcend "cinema" and enter the realm of art. "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets" is just such a movie. (Note: No spoilers here, so feel free to read if you haven't seen it yet.)

Starting with the cinematography, which may be the most outstanding of any movie ever made. If cinematographer Thierry Arbogast doesn't get bogged down in awards for his work here, then it is a sin. I would be tempted to buy a tv to put this movie on autoplay continually, because it is a visually incredible moving work of art.

The visuals will draw comparison to the movie "Avatar", but Valerian delivers on the unfulfilled promise of "Avatar". Avatar's planet Pandora is almost ripped off here by Valerian's planet Mül, although Mül is a bit more of a tropical beach paradise, as opposed to the rain forest planet Pandora. But both planets feature alien races living in perfect harmony with their planet's environment. Where the movies part ways is in Valerian's "James Bond"-like plotline, as opposed to Avatar's "hit you over the head" environmental message. Basically, Valerian is just more fun.

That is not to say this movie is flawless. The most glaring flaw is the leading man, Dane DeHaan as Major Valerian. This role screams for a Han Solo-esque character, but Dane is more like Luke Skywalker trying to act like Han Solo.

Fortunately, Cara Delevingne's Sergeant Laureline, Valerian's partner, is a Carrie Fisher for the 21st century. Delevingne does this "tough as nails but still a woman" role to perfection. This movie could easily be called Laureline instead of Valerian.

The rest of the cast is acceptable, with a special appearance by singer Rihanna as an alien shapeshifter named Bubble. Kudos to Rihanna, who showed some real acting chops with this one, making Bubble lovable in a limited number of scenes.

Since a good villain makes a good movie, this leads to Clive Owen's Commander Arun Filitt. He was dislikeable enough, but I would prefer a bit more scene-chewing from him. Fortunately, there are a few other villains that carry the scene-chewing, like Igon Siruss, voiced by John Goodman perfectly.

Overall, Valerian falls just short of "Star Wars" among epic science fiction films. I would give Valerian 3.8 stars out of 4, but that still leaves it as a must-see movie this year.