Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)

[mar3o]

The timing and handling of the release hurt the film immensely.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottme.../#5e44605a5236

No IMAX screens, 1 3D showing per day at 10:00pm at many large cinemas, and opening against Dunkirk. It didn't have a chace. Then factor in that people claim they want something different but obviously don't.

[cinemaphile]

Originally Posted by mar3o

I disregard any comments that use the phrase "cringe-inducing". It's overused to the point that it means absolutely nothing. I found the dialogue fine.

If you found that flirting dialogue and the over-the-top "meaning of love" dialogue at the end fine, then it's you that doesn't see enough movies, because that was some awful writing, and yes, it actually did make my whole group cringe, so it can accurately be described as "cringe-inducing".
But then, calling phrases overused is itself overused, so perhaps we will all disregard your comments as well.

Was it the worst movie of the year? Not by a long shot. But an extremely disappointing one.

This is why I find the movie section of this site ridiculous

...and yet, here you are


(...and calling things ridiculous is pretty overused, don't you think? )

[Chaotic]

Originally Posted by mar3o

Not by a long shot. I guess originality doesn't count for anything these days. Your loss.

Originality doesn't make a movie automatically good. And the movie is based on a graphic novel.

[NegaScott128]

Originally Posted by mar3o

Not by a long shot. I guess originality doesn't count for anything these days. Your loss.

It's a f#cking comic book movie. It's based on a comic book. It's no more original than any given superhero movie.

I thought it was entertaining enough, though there were some big problems. The main plot was pretty generic, but the presentation was at least interesting. The big issue for me was that the biggest side plot -

[Show spoiler]Laureline getting captured by those weird aliens

- was completely unnecessary and just wasted time. At least

[Show spoiler]Laureline going underwater to find that jellyfish

moved the plot forward, even if the reasoning was poorly explained. I'm of the belief that traditional narrative films should be as efficient as possible, and having a 20+ minute sideplot in the middle of the film was just too much for me. I get that Besson wanted to expand on the world featured in the film, but there are ways to do that without stopping the story dead in its tracks.

I didn't have any major issues with the cast. DeHaan came across like a teenager trying to act cooler than he was, but that kinda worked for the character. Delevigne was surprisingly good, though her characterization was inconsistent. Most of the time she's a competent badass, but there's a couple moments where she acts like a complete idiot for no reason. That's the script's fault, though, not hers. Rihanna was also fine, but she was better when she was physically present instead of just voice acting. The first action setpiece was easily the best, and frankly I wish the movie stuck to that tone rather than go for the "magical natives vs. evil human government" thing. Partly because it's really cliche, but also because the heist style and unique gadgets were a lot more fun.

On a side note, I'm not sure how everyone else's 3D screening was, but mine was kind of a mess. There was a lot of ghosting and some shots had so much depth that it was a bit overwhelming. Considering the projection was off-center and slightly tilted, maybe my theater just screwed up, or maybe I'm just not used to 3D (the last 3D movie I saw was Iron Man 3, for reference).

Overall, I give it a 3.5/5, rounded up to a 4 on the poll. I did enjoy it, but I wished they trimmed the fat a little and focus the story more. Maybe if this gets a sequel (unlikely, but maybe possible) Besson will tighten things up, but knowing him he'll just give it to Megaton and we'll get a piece of crap.

[prozacnation1978]

Gonna go see this wed matinee in 3d


I wanna see 3d aspect. Expectation is very low.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by NegaScott128

It's a f#cking comic book movie. It's based on a comic book. It's no more original than any given superhero movie.

It's the way the worlds are presented that makes it original. It's packed with unique visuals and imagination that many films lack. It's got far more creativity than any 10 random comic book/superhero films put together.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Chaotic

Originality doesn't make a movie automatically good. And the movie is based on a graphic novel.

It most certainly can. Absolutely a film can work in some areas and suffer in other areas while still ultimately ending up entertaining, even groundbreaking in the case of some films.

Many films work best on a visual level, and that's fine. Film is a visual medium first and foremost. Many films use visuals to tell it's story.

[CelluloidPal]

Originally Posted by NegaScott128

It's a f#cking comic book movie. It's based on a comic book. It's no more original than any given superhero movie.

I thought it was entertaining enough, though there were some big problems. The main plot was pretty generic, but the presentation was at least interesting. The big issue for me was that the biggest side plot -

[Show spoiler]Laureline getting captured by those weird aliens

- was completely unnecessary and just wasted time. At least

[Show spoiler]Laureline going underwater to find that jellyfish

moved the plot forward, even if the reasoning was poorly explained. I'm of the belief that traditional narrative films should be as efficient as possible, and having a 20+ minute sideplot in the middle of the film was just too much for me. I get that Besson wanted to expand on the world featured in the film, but there are ways to do that without stopping the story dead in its tracks.

I didn't have any major issues with the cast. DeHaan came across like a teenager trying to act cooler than he was, but that kinda worked for the character. Delevigne was surprisingly good, though her characterization was inconsistent. Most of the time she's a competent badass, but there's a couple moments where she acts like a complete idiot for no reason. That's the script's fault, though, not hers. Rihanna was also fine, but she was better when she was physically present instead of just voice acting. The first action setpiece was easily the best, and frankly I wish the movie stuck to that tone rather than go for the "magical natives vs. evil human government" thing. Partly because it's really cliche, but also because the heist style and unique gadgets were a lot more fun.

On a side note, I'm not sure how everyone else's 3D screening was, but mine was kind of a mess. There was a lot of ghosting and some shots had so much depth that it was a bit overwhelming. Considering the projection was off-center and slightly tilted, maybe my theater just screwed up, or maybe I'm just not used to 3D (the last 3D movie I saw was Iron Man 3, for reference).

Overall, I give it a 3.5/5, rounded up to a 4 on the poll. I did enjoy it, but I wished they trimmed the fat a little and focus the story more. Maybe if this gets a sequel (unlikely, but maybe possible) Besson will tighten things up, but knowing him he'll just give it to Megaton and we'll get a piece of crap.

It may have been a comic book movie but for me, it's not DC or Marvel and it had more imagination and more creative effort than what DC or Marvel has churned out recently and like Logan, it did not feel like a comic book movie for me. It felt like an old school 80s space opera like The Ice Pirates or Flash Gordon so it worked for me on that level.
The side plots weren't an issue for me. They were at least humorous at times and I understand why they were there.
The DeHaan character worked for me for the reasons you mentioned but Delevigne's character didn't at times. It seems that Besson was afraid to give her any kind of sense of humor or personality. She was so super serious and went too hard to be a badass, she bordered on unlikable. Their team aspect did in fact worked the best while their "romantic" banter was outright corny and annoying.
As for the evil government vs magical natives plotline, to me it was more about

[Show spoiler]one military official covering his ass after screwing up in a battle that would lend him to some major war crime charges.

My 3D showing (suprisingly) went well. I didn't see any ghosting and many scenes had a lot of depth. The sequence involving

[Show spoiler]the dog creature falling from the ship Wile E. Coyote style

sticks out for me and got a lot of laughs from the audience I saw it with.

[Gold Ranger]

I felt bad for that creature...

[Omegaice]

Originally Posted by Gold Ranger

I felt bad for that creature...

LoL! I did too! I must be getting old.

[Sozo]

Originally Posted by mar3o

I disregard any comments that use the phrase "cringe-inducing". It's overused to the point that it means absolutely nothing. I found the dialogue fine.



Not by a long shot. I guess originality doesn't count for anything these days. Your loss.

People who are claiming "worst movie of the year" must not see many movies.

This is why I find the movie section of this site ridiculous (just like imdb was). If you don't like it, that's perfectly valid. But to proclaim it's the worst film of the year?

I'm glad you liked it and wouldn't take that away from you, but I've seen plenty of movies this year and feel confident enough in my own opinion and criteria to call this the worst of the year for me. There's always going to be something better, something worse. But from what I've watched? It's at the bottom. It was so bad I've had to figure out a way to enjoy talking about it, because talking about how bad it is just reminds me how bad it was. And it was frustratingly bad.

And it's at the bottom because the thing is, it should have been at least mildly entertaining. Watching crap like "Chips" and "Monster Trucks" or whatever, you know you're going to get trash. Valerian, on the surface, looks decent enough to be passable. It should have been a fun "watch for two hours and forget it forever" movie, but it couldn't even manage that. It's now "watch for two hours and try to muster up something positive" and the only thing that I sort of enjoyed was the mall scene, and even that was executed poorly. Every facet of this film fails on every level. And I'm super easy to please.

And since saying "cringe-inducing" means nothing, is it cool if I call it wince-worthy? Because, man, it was absolutely wince-worthy. From start to finish.

[cinemaphile]

Originally Posted by Gold Ranger

I felt bad for that creature...

I know! Pretty much every non-human race was treated as disposable. They were abusing and/or killing them (or letting them be killed) left and right! Even species that werent "evil", just doing what they do! (like the ones that almost ate her)

[bluskiff]

had no problem with it at all pretty much what I thought it would be.I did warm up to the leads and some of the visuals were jaw dropping. Day 1 3d blurry for sure. I may see it again was a lot to take in.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by cinemaphile

I know! Pretty much every non-human race was treated as disposable. They were abusing and/or killing them (or letting them be killed) left and right! Even species that werent "evil", just doing what they do! (like the ones that almost ate her)

Well, I haven't seen it so I can't comment specifically. But a lioness could be just "doing what she does" by trying to eat me, and I would still probably try to hurt her or kill her to stop that from happening.

[cinemaphile]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

Well, I haven't seen it so I can't comment specifically. But a lioness could be just "doing what she does" by trying to eat me, and I would still probably try to hurt her or kill her to stop that from happening.

Tru dat

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Sozo

Every facet of this film fails on every level. And I'm super easy to please.

And since saying "cringe-inducing" means nothing, is it cool if I call it wince-worthy? Because, man, it was absolutely wince-worthy. From start to finish.

And people wonder why forum posts aren't taken seriously.

As I said, it's perfectly fine if you didn't care for it. We all have different tastes and what works for one person doesn't for another. But to say "Every facet of this film fails on every level" is complete nonsense. Sorry.

[toddly6666]

So basically the production company gave a huge check to Besson and told him, "Make another Fifth Element/Star Wars like film.

Regardless of it being good or not, the production company ignored the past statistics that these types of sci-fi flicks rarely make big money.

In an opposite spectrum, the same thing will happen with the Blade Runner sequel. It doesnt matter how good it will be, it too will only bank little money - maybe 23 million opening weekend in usa.

I love these financial flop epic sci-fi films - Jupiter Ascending, John Carter, Lost in Space, Judge Dredds - but they dont make huge bank.

[Gold Ranger]

I think it was stupid for Bubble to change into a human for her final scene in the movie.
It would have had more impact in her natural form. But, I guess it's because she was supposedly some famous person, so they had to give her more screentime.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Gold Ranger

I think it was stupid for Bubble to change into a human for her final scene in the movie.
It would have had more impact in her natural form. But, I guess it's because she was supposedly some famous person, so they had to give her more screentime.

I believe she did that because it was the form he was most comfortable with since he's human, and since it is how he first saw her. That's the image she wanted him to remember her as.

[CelluloidPal]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

So basically the production company gave a huge check to Besson and told him, "Make another Fifth Element/Star Wars like film.

Regardless of it being good or not, the production company ignored the past statistics that these types of sci-fi flicks rarely make big money.

In an opposite spectrum, the same thing will happen with the Blade Runner sequel. It doesnt matter how good it will be, it too will only bank little money - maybe 23 million opening weekend in usa.

I love these financial flop epic sci-fi films - Jupiter Ascending, John Carter, Lost in Space, Judge Dredds - but they dont make huge bank.

The Martian and Gravity made bank and were Best Picture Oscar nominees and even Prometheus was a hit. John Carter and Jupiter had bad press going against it, Dredd was not properly marketed by Lionsgate (shocker!), and Lost in Space, despite many bad reviews, it was a modest success.
In Valerian's case, it was a risk because these types of Sci-Fi movies are not made that often and they actually took a chance and got it done but didn't payoff. I do have respect for them for even making the attempt.