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Many reviews could be summarized by this sentiment: "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets uses sheer kinetic energy and visual thrills to overcome narrative obstacles and offer a viewing experience whose surreal pleasures often outweigh its flaws". Others were less forgiving, labeling it "a nearly 140 minutes slog through poor storytelling, boring characters, laughably bad dialogue, and CGI overload". The Rotten Tomatoes consensus that "the visuals are amazing, but the witless banter recalls Katherine Heigl and Gerald Butler far more than it stirs memories of Stanley Kubrick and Ridley Scott" became a recurring theme in the film's postmortem.
The film's casting also leans heavily into avant-garde pop culture. Rihanna steals the second act as Bubble, a shape-shifting alien entertainer trapped in a futuristic red-light district. Her performance—which transitions from a jaw-dropping, costume-fluid dance routine into a tragic story of an undocumented immigrant alien seeking freedom—serves as a microcosm for the film’s underlying themes of empathy and displacement. Alongside Ethan Hawke's manic performance as Jolly the Pimp, these character vignettes ensure that the universe feels deeply textured and unpredictable. The Legacy of Besson's Space Opera Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets - E...
The central failure, however, lies in the casting and characterization of its heroes. Valerian is written as a cocky, womanizing rogue, but DeHaan’s performance lacks the roguish charm of a young Harrison Ford or Bruce Willis. Instead, his delivery comes across as petulant and uncharismatic, making his relentless pursuit of Laureline feel less like romantic tension and more like workplace harassment. Conversely, Delevingne’s Laureline is competent, sharp, and consistently right, but she is forced to play a reactive role, perpetually annoyed by a partner the script insists is heroic. The pair share no romantic chemistry; their bickering feels sibling-like rather than passionate. This disconnect is fatal, as the film’s emotional core—Valerian’s attempt to prove his love by earning her respect—rests entirely on an unconvincing dynamic. In a genre where audiences connect through characters, Valerian offers two beautiful, expensive mannequins.
The most cited reason for the film‘s failure is the casting of its leads. In a summer blockbuster, audiences expect charismatic movie stars. DeHaan and Delevingne, while talented, lacked the star power and on-screen magnetism to anchor a $180 million epic. As one analyst put it, the film didn‘t “buffer its weirdness enough, either with humor or massive stars”. The absence of a bankable lead made it a hard sell for general audiences. : Recruit and train agents to form specialized
A deeper comparison between the and the film
The narrative structure was criticized for feeling episodic, and the dialogue was occasionally viewed as clunky. A Growing Cult Status Others were less forgiving, labeling it "a nearly
Alpha represents the pinnacle of cooperative sci-fi worldbuilding. Besson divides the city into distinct environmental zones catering to thousands of species:
The main plot kicks off when Valerian has a vision of a lost paradise planet, Mul, destroyed by a mysterious weapon. He discovers that a surviving race of peaceful humanoids, the Pearls, are hiding in the lower depths of Alpha, being hunted by a ruthless Commander (Clive Owen) who is covering up a past atrocity.
Luc Besson’s Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) walks a razor’s edge between cinematic excess and imaginative bravura. It’s a film that refuses modesty — a cartoon of cosmic ambition, drenched in saturated color, kinetic editing, and relentless invention. For anyone who loves science fiction as a genre of wonder rather than merely ideology, Valerian is an essential, if imperfect, modern fable: an argument that cinema can still astonish when it chooses imagination over convenience.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets remains a polarizing masterpiece of visual design. It is a film that values the "wonder" of the unknown over the mechanics of a tight plot. By prioritizing the ecological and sociological complexity of its universe, Besson created a vibrant alternative to the monochrome aesthetics of modern sci-fi, ensuring the film's status as a cult classic for years to come.