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
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