Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
Belga Films | Release Date: July 21, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
51
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 45 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
22
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
RogerEbert.comPeter SobczynskiJul 20, 2017
It's a film filled with humor, charm, excitement and so many memorable images that many viewers will find themselves struggling to keep from blinking so as not to miss any of the eye-popping delights crammed into each overstuffed frame. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinAug 3, 2017
Valerian is a film to wallow in, not follow, and if you’re tuned to its extra-terrestrial wavelength, you wouldn’t cut a second. Read full review
80
Village VoiceBilge EbiriJul 11, 2017
Valerian is at times so mind-meltingly beautiful and strange that I’m still not sure I didn’t just dream it all. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzJul 20, 2017
This is a movie that will make you scream – in confusion, in delight, in anger, in ecstasy. Sometimes all at once. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubJul 19, 2017
A movie for science fiction fans who wish every minute of “Star Wars” was the cantina scene. Read full review
75
The Film StageJose SolísJul 18, 2017
Are there rules on how to make a space epic? If there are, Luc Besson has certainly never heard them because in Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, he takes the genre upside down, gives it a shake and rattle, and delivers one of the most positively bonkers films of the year. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineSteve MacfarlaneJul 14, 2017
The difference between the film and its equally expensive contemporaries is Luc Besson's playful, childlike naïveté. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinJul 20, 2017
As a mogul, Besson doesn’t worry about pleasing his corporate masters. He and his visual effects supervisor, Scott Stokdyk, can expend all their energy on topping themselves and making each other laugh. The movie is like a wave that makes you want to yell, “Cowabunga!” Read full review
70
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeJul 11, 2017
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets might well represent the apotheosis of Besson’s singularly loony brand of filmmaking. It’s bonkers and gorgeous and confusing and thrilling and tiring and overflowing with ideas. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeJul 10, 2017
“Valerian” manages to be both cutting-edge and delightfully old-school — the kind of wild, endlessly creative thrill ride that only the director of “Lucy” and “The Fifth Element” could deliver, constructed as an episodic series of missions, scrapes and near-misses featuring a mind-blowing array of environments and stunning computer-generated alien characters. Read full review
68
IGNJim VejvodaJul 14, 2017
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets showcases plenty of cool creatures and ideas for sci-fi fans to savor, but if only the movie's central characters and their relationship were as exciting and interesting as all that impressive eye candy. Read full review
67
ConsequenceRandall ColburnJul 20, 2017
In building worlds as detailed and vivid as he’s done here, Besson has essentially allowed the setting to do what’s typically reserved for characters and stakes, and that’s to make us care. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyJul 14, 2017
The longer action scenes may not always rank with Besson’s early ’90s highlights (Léon: The Professional, La Femme Nikita) or the mania of the more recent Lucy, but there isn’t a moment in this ludicrous, lushly self-indulgent movie that doesn’t feel like its creator is having the time of his life. Read full review
67
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJul 10, 2017
The first 25 minutes of this movie should be mounted as an installation at the Louvre and played on an infinite loop. Only then can our planet know peace. Read full review
63
ObserverThelma AdamsJul 25, 2017
In the end, Besson’s Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is a mixed bag: a ripe visual adventure of limitless imagination hamstrung by an undercooked plot propelled by lackluster heroes. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJul 20, 2017
On a purely visual level, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets deserves mention among the most technically accomplished works of those three. But as a complete motion picture experience, it falls considerably short. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrJul 20, 2017
In short, Besson builds a dazzling alterna-universe — a bit of Terry Gilliam, a dash of “Blade Runner,” a smidgen of “Star Wars” (which, to be fair, was probably influenced by the original comic), and a lot of extra-strength Besson-ian whimsy. And then he strands us with the two least interesting people there. Read full review
60
SlateSam AdamsJul 20, 2017
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is a luxurious, appealingly daffy spectacle, a true vision unchecked by the standards of good taste, and that in and of itself is a quality worth savoring. But its design is pixel-deep, without the underlying thought that makes great science fiction worth revisiting. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangJul 20, 2017
Besson, an industrial-strength entertainer and the reigning maximalist of the European film industry, isn’t selling originality so much as volume. He has made a madly overstuffed Mos Eisley Cantina of a movie, one that surveys its diverse alien constituencies with the wide-eyed wonderment of a small child and the attention span to boot. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfJul 12, 2017
This is welcome summer fare; if we’re going to have space operas, let them sing in the strangest accents possible. Read full review
60
ScreenCrushE. Oliver WhitneyJul 10, 2017
The latest from the French filmmaker is a dazzling feast of spectacular visuals and exhilarating set pieces. It’s Besson’s most ambitious film to date, and the most original big-budget adventure you’ll see on screen this season. But such ambition doesn’t always come without flaws. Read full review
55
The VergeAdi RobertsonJul 20, 2017
Valerian isn’t a movie about plot, characters, or action; it’s a movie about places. True to its comic book roots, the larger arc exists to draw viewers into the beautiful, far-flung corners of Alpha. This makes it strangely episodic for a film, but also refreshingly light on complicated lore. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJul 20, 2017
Seldom has such a glittering wagon been hitched to such dull stars. Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonJul 20, 2017
Valerian has some cool visuals. But there’s more to science fiction than pretty pictures. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter TraversJul 20, 2017
It's as gorgeous as anything the French filmmaker has made and as empty as a Trump tweet. Read full review
50
Philadelphia Daily NewsGary ThompsonJul 20, 2017
The story is ridiculous, the digressions many, but it’s all intended to be part of the fun. Like Besson’s "The Fifth Element," we’re mainly meant to enjoy the sensation of watching wacky green-screen worlds unfold before us. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJul 20, 2017
Besson's commercial instincts for sleek, violent fantasy are often sound, but "Valerian" is more sedative than show. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghJul 20, 2017
At its best, it hits the gut with the free-fall feel of a theme-park ride. But it’s a long and winding path back to the gate, and “Valerian” loses its way many times, however beautifully. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisJul 19, 2017
The result is a visually fantastic but sometimes exasperating entertainment that (once again) gets lost in its own chaos. It’s one funned-up spectacle of a movie. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreJul 13, 2017
Workshop the story, script-doctor the dialogue and recast the lovely leads with actors who generate a little actual sexual heat and Besson might have had another “Fifth Element,” a minor classic on his hands. Read full review
50
Screen DailyTim GriersonJul 10, 2017
Twenty years after The Fifth Element, writer-director Luc Besson has once again delivered a widescreen, sci-fi spectacle full of rampant whimsy, lavish effects and creaky social commentary, resulting in a nervy, go-for-broke opus whose audacity is more laudable than its execution. Read full review
50
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezJul 10, 2017
Even if the movie is based on an existing property, a beloved French graphic novel, as a producer and designer, Besson should be lauded; ‘Valerian’ is out of this world. But next time, he might want to reread the comic for its characters, checking the little word bubbles to see if there’s actually something there. Read full review
48
Paste MagazineWill LeitchJul 27, 2017
Valerian wants to be weird and sexy but just won’t let itself. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyJul 10, 2017
During the film’s intoxicating first 30 minutes, for example, I couldn’t decide whether what I was watching was brilliantly bonkers or total folly. Then, as the story went on, it came into sharper and sharper focus: Valerian is an epic mess. Read full review
40
CineVueJoe WalshAug 3, 2017
There is no soul, and no heart to the story. A good sci-fi is never merely about the effects, it's about the plot, character and thoughts they bring to life, all of which Valerian lacks in abundance. Read full review
40
EmpireDan JolinJul 24, 2017
A wildly ambitious space opera, but also a self-indulgent narrative morass. Sometimes, it seems, creativity can benefit from a few limitations. Read full review
40
The New York TimesA.O. ScottJul 20, 2017
To say that “Valerian” is a science-fiction epic doesn’t quite do it justice. Imagine crushing a DVD of “The Phantom Menace” into a fine powder, tossing in some Adderall and Ecstasy and a pinch of cayenne pepper and snorting the resulting mixture while wearing a virtual reality helmet in a Las Vegas karaoke bar. Actually, that sounds like too much fun, but you get the idea. Read full review
40
We Got This CoveredMatt DonatoJul 20, 2017
Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets is a fantasy adventure that’s nowhere near as adventurous or fantastical as it should be. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsStephen Whitty Jul 10, 2017
It never stops for a minute, yet it never goes anywhere. And much as it promises to take you to a thousand planets, it can’t find one sign of intelligent life. Read full review
38
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJul 20, 2017
Sure, the pricey special effects are impressive to behold (though, as usually the case, the 3D is nothing to text home about). And yes, at times “Valerian” creates a strange and beautiful universe. Which ultimately means nothing, because the plot is paper-thin. Read full review
37
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJul 20, 2017
"Valerian” is an expensive, handsome but dozy invalid of a movie. Read full review
25
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallJul 20, 2017
Valerian displays reckless imagination and zero personality. Read full review
25
New York PostSara StewartJul 20, 2017
If you’re going to call your sci-fi movie Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, you’d better be sure Valerian (Dane DeHaan) is a guy your audience can get behind. Director Luc Besson styles him as a cocky space rogue, but Valerian is weak sauce. And so is this movie. Read full review
25
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenJul 12, 2017
There is absolutely nothing new under the many suns in Besson’s universe. This is a voyage not worth taking. Read full review
20
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyJul 10, 2017
At no point along the way does the film provide a reason to invest your interest in any of this. Read full review
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