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
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
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