‘Valerian’ Offers Up New Clips As Early Screening Reactions Arrive

Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets is a gamble for director Luc Besson (The Fifth Element, The Professional). Will the most expensive independent film ever made, based on an influential comic that’s unfamiliar to many Americans, draw a big enough crowd to justify the $200 million budget Early screening reactions suggest the film needs to be seen on a big screen, an opinion which makes sense when you consider Valerian has 2,734 special effects shots compared to The Fifth Element‘s 188.

— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) June 29, 2017

mixed on Valerian, BUT: this movie is god damn SPECTACULAR to look at. if you're going to fork out extra $ for 3D, do it for this.

— e. oliver whitney (@CinemaBite) June 29, 2017

#Valerian embargo is up. I really liked it. A fun, visually stunning sci-fi adventure. We need more space operas that are this colorful.

— michelle buchman (@michelledeidre) June 29, 2017

it's driven by the same good-hearted, humane philosophies that drove THE FIFTH ELEMENT. and every single set piece is wonderfully baroque

— David Sims (@davidlsims) June 29, 2017

Not surprisingly, considering the clips below, some thought Cara Delevingne stole the show:

— William Bibbiani (@WilliamBibbiani) June 29, 2017

It wasn’t all positive, though, with some critics calling the dialogue and romance “hella clunky” and others saying the movie “runs out of steam eventually.”

— ErikDavis (@ErikDavis) June 29, 2017

Valerian is as gorgeous & epic a sci-fi adventure as you are expecting. However, the story & characters often get overshadowed by the world.

— Germain Lussier (@GermainLussier) June 29, 2017

The first half of #Valerian is visually stunning, gleefully inventive, unpredictable and bonkers insane….

— Peter Sciretta (@slashfilm) June 29, 2017

Each sequence is filled w/ creatures & concepts you’ve never seen before. #Valerian's 2nd half becomes more formulaic, far less exciting…

— Peter Sciretta (@slashfilm) June 29, 2017

Despite its problems, #Valerian needs to be experienced in 3D on the biggest screen possible. I want to experience more of this world.

— Peter Sciretta (@slashfilm) June 29, 2017

To give a sense of what those critics saw, EuroCorp has released five clips from the film, including the escape scene above and these two clips which introduce some of the world-building on display:

And to give a sense of how Cara Delevingne may have stolen the show, here are a couple clips of her reacting to criticism of her piloting and of her interacting with three characters collectively known by one name, Doghan Daguis, who distribute their knowledge base in partial segments among themselves, which seems like quite a potential weakness when Laureline (Cara Delevingne) threatens to shoot one of them.

Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets opens July 21st.