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Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

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Aikouka said:
I heard quite a bit about how the acting was the weakest part of the movie, so when I went to see it, it's one thing that I focused on. I mentioned it above, but I don't think the actors were really at fault here. Do I think there could've been a better casting choice that would've been naturally better? Yeah. However, I think the cast was capable of handling it, but the two things that screwed it up were the poor script and apparent lack of direction. ...and guess who was in charge of both of those? The director and screenwriter, Luc Besson. I mean... the script provided a bunch of poor dialog for Valerian and Laureline to the point where Valerian came across as a total creeper. I mentioned above how I think the movie would've been better if it spent more time actually introducing the characters to us... even if it acted as more of an "origin film". The movie spent more time introducing Alpha's origins than it did the main cast. 😛

As for the direction, there were a few bits of dialog that stood out to me during the movie. I thought that the dialog was okay, but it just wasn't delivered well. Well, to be fair, the delivery was fine for how the characters were made in the movie, but not for how you would expect this Han Solo-esque character to act. I really think Besson should've directed the actors differently. I wonder if the reason why Fifth Element works so well is because of Bruce Willis. The guy is known for being picky about things, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was willing to improvise or go his own way. After all, Corbin Dallas was pretty much just John McClane in space.
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I agree that the writing had plenty of issues which probably accounted for a good chunk of it, but the delivery of Valerian himself was so bad I can't just blame the writing. I guess if he was told to act it that way and didn't have the stones or knowledge to realize how it came across that could explain it, but in the end it's still bad.

I guess if you really start to dig into it you can get a George Lucas with the prequels vibe... good visuals and action during those scenes but when it comes time to write good dialog and interesting characters, it all falls apart.
 
I read the newspaper about this movie and it said the movie is still not open in other markets such as Europe where France is a huge market for this comic/movie. Hopefully, it will make more money oversea to break even or better.
 
They should have pushed this release out a couple weeks.

This thing going up against Dunkirk, Girls Trip, Planet of the Apes, and Spider-Man was not going to end well.
 
Some movies don't last long in theaters these days. Last day for Valerian is this Thursday in the major chains in my area.
 
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Thebobo said:
Some movies don't last long in theaters these days. Last day for Valerian is this Thursday in the major chains in my area.
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I think the writing was on the wall a bit with this one. When I went to buy my ticket, I had an option of about 3 showtimes, which is pretty bad for a brand new release. Although, it's not a huge surprise given the number of big releases right now. I think Spider-Man: Homecoming had the largest availability of showtimes, and then Dunkirk also saw a lower amount than normal, but movies from the past few weeks were still available.
 
The trailers for this remind me way too much of the dead eyed natalie portman and hayden christensan romance disaster that was Star Wars Episode II. Basically 2 actors with no chemistry in front a green screen. Might as well just make these movies entirely CGI and skip the actors.
 
Finlay got to see it and I liked it a lot. Some of the criticism folks had such as no chemistry and convoluted plot I disagree with especially when they haven't even seen it yet. I was able to easily follow it all the way the through. And the two main characters to me had a chemistry that worked and they played their parts well. The visuals were stunning and the soundtrack and other sounds were nicely done. There were beeps and other noises that I thought were coming from somewhere else in the space around me. And most importantly the story which I thought was interesting and entertaining. Overall I would of give it a 8/10. Of course a lot of that is seeing it on the big screen.

What was sad was there was no others in the theater . As others have said they did release it at a bad time. Hopefully it will do better in other markets.
 
6/10

There were so many contradictions and inconsistencies in the plot that I stopped trying to catalog them all. For example, in the market scene, that was obviously happening on multiple levels but all you saw were people walking around on the sand. They tried to gloss over this by having a couple of shots where Valerian used some prop or obstacle in the physical world to do something in the virtual(?) world that he only had limited ability to interact with.

I don't normally look to pick at small plot issues. The only time it bothers me is when you have things that are so egregious that it pulls out of the story and forces you to do a facepalm.

That issue aside, I loved the graphics and sfx. That's the only reason I give it a 6. Otherwise it would be more like a 4.

The plot moved along pretty well but you got the feeling that a lot of the scenes were just filler and didn't really relate to the overall plot. That's not really a big deal if you do those sorts of asides for a good reason, but I would have to watch it again to decide it they had good reasons. At this point I wouldn't be too charitable.
 
Fritzo said:
What do you mean "hardly"? Teens put into adult roles and making adult decisions in a unrecognizable future? It's the trope of all these types of movies, trying to market to the sub-25 set.
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I think you speak from ignorance about Valerian as it's following the original comic book series as they are booth young adults not teens.

Valerian-Movie-and-Comic-Book.jpg
 
Well, that was disappointing. It could have been a good movie, but it would need some major script revisions and new lead actors.

BudAshes said:
The trailers for this remind me way too much of the dead eyed natalie portman and hayden christensan romance disaster that was Star Wars Episode II. Basically 2 actors with no chemistry in front a green screen. Might as well just make these movies entirely CGI and skip the actors.
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I'm glad to see I'm not the only person who had that thought. Amazing CGI, a good enough plot, and a cringey male lead.
 
ViRGE said:
I'm glad to see I'm not the only person who had that thought. Amazing CGI, a good enough plot, and a cringey male lead.
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Eh, I still think that if we're to put blame where it appears blame is due, then I'd say the script is the biggest offender and character direction is second. Give Valerian some better lines, and he doesn't come across as a creeper. Give them some proper direction, and maybe they'll stop acting like they're loudly whispering their lines. 😛
 
Let's cast a waif-like fashion model who's got that Christian Dior pedophile "I'm 15 years old" look, then give her molded DD breasts out of leather. Let's make sure we prominently display those leather boobs on every advertisement. That'll sure enhance the story line.
 
Pulsar said:
Let's cast a waif-like fashion model who's got that Christian Dior pedophile "I'm 15 years old" look, then give her molded DD breasts out of leather. Let's make sure we prominently display those leather boobs on every advertisement. That'll sure enhance the story line.
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So you judge a movie by an actresses breast size? Maybe in the future men don't judge womans abilities by their breast size. And as a famous man once said, "more than a mouthful is wasted."
 
Aikouka said:
Eh, I still think that if we're to put blame where it appears blame is due, then I'd say the script is the biggest offender and character direction is second. Give Valerian some better lines, and he doesn't come across as a creeper. Give them some proper direction, and maybe they'll stop acting like they're loudly whispering their lines. 😛
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I just saw him in the cure for wellness and he wasn't great there either. Better, but still has some issues with proper delivery
 
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