I have just watched Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, at first I was not sure if I was going to enjoy it because of how the beginning started, but as I continued into the movie , it captivated me and I was surprised that I was interested in what was going on in the movie.
The movie is set in the twenty eight century and it begins with Valerian and Laureline two special agents who work in space, they have to keep everything under control in the territory, they get sent to this space station called Alpha, where thousands of different species from all over the universe live, It is like a city made up of different cultures and beings living together, while they are there something bad starts to happen, they get pulled into a big conspiracy, this conspiracy is connected to a species that everyone thought was gone, something bad that happened in the past, at the time there is a romance thing going on between Valerian and Laureline that you can see throughout the movie.
I think people either love this movie because of how it looks or they do not like it because the main characters do not have chemistry, I do not think that is the whole story, Yes the movie looks amazing, the person who made it Besson created an universe with different species and places, there were times when I just sat there and looked at how much detail was put into making this world.. What kept me watching was not just how it looked, It was how the world felt like a character, Alpha is not a background it is a living thing with different cultures and species trying to get along,that is an idea, even with all the action going on.
I can see why people say that Valerian and Laureline do not have chemistry, at first I thought that too, some of their conversations felt a bit awkward like the movie wanted us to believe in their relationship before it was real and as the story went on and they had to work together I started to like them more, it was not because of what they said, but because of what they did together.
What really made me like the movie was how it slowly pulled me in, At first I was not sure if I was going to like it, but as it went on I wanted to know what was going to happen, I wanted to know about the species that was thought to be gone and what happened to them 30 years ago, That is what got me interested, It was not loud or obvious it was gradual, By the time I realized I was interested I was already invested in the movie.
I am not going to say that this movie is flawless, no, the script has some flaws in a kind of way, but I went into it with low expectations and I ended up liking it, that says something, It is a sci, fi movie that rewards you if you are patient, even if the first twenty minutes do not grab you it is worth keeping watching.
So if you are, like me and you do not think you are going to like it give it a chance, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is not a movie I thought I would like but I did, the way it built up my interest by the end is why I would recommend it to people even if it starts slow.
Rating: 70/100