I am sure Nolan's name as director is one of the main reasons Dunkirk is doing so well. Personally I think Nolan is a highly overrated director.
While I wouldn't say Valerian is a great movie, it is good and it deserves to at least make some actual money.
I completely agree Nolan is a overrated director...but he got Dunkirk right, even with him being overly clever in telling the story it is a very good movie.
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I didn't like the way the pace of Dunkirk was laid out. It kept going back in time to pick something up with a character point of view that they showed almost happening earlier with another character.
It was kind of hard to follow. I love WWII movies and was really looking forward to this.
I give it 2 1/2 stars.
I didn't like the way the pace of Dunkirk was laid out. It kept going back in time to pick something up with a character point of view that they showed almost happening earlier with another character.
** spoiler omitted **
It was kind of hard to follow. I love WWII movies and was really looking forward to this.I give it 2 1/2 stars.
As I said Nolan was trying to be over clever in telling the story. It is actually three stories being told that intersected with each other at various times. The story of the soldiers at Dunkirk took over a period of a week...the boat took over a period of a day...the fighter pilots took place over a period of a hour.
It is confusing especially if you did not "get it"...
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A "war movie" where people get shot and blown to bits, but no blood is shown isn´t a war movie imo, it´s a cash grab.
Don´t get me wrong, it doesn´t need to be overly brutal, but there has to be some kind of realism.
Also there is very little suspense and i couldn´t really "feel" with any of the actors.
The cinematography was solid, but not spectacular.
So far, this is the least entertaining movie i have seen this year, i was really bored, because frankly i didn´t really care if one of the lead actors died or not.
If you don´t connect to any of the characters, that´s a fail.
I know Nowlan wanted to show that in a war there are no heroes, just survivors, but come on, sympathy needs to be there.
I´ll rater watch "Saving Private Ryan" or "full Metal Jacket", "Apocalypse Now" or even "John Rambo" and see a much better war movie.
In Valerian there was not only Laureline, but even some of the soldiers that died in the beginning were more sympathetic.
Well it looks like Valerian will open in China in the later half of August. So hopefully by some miracle it makes a lot of money or at least it's budget back.
Maybe I should go see it again just to help their proceeds.
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My wife and I saw this last night. Neither of us had ever heard of Valerian before the first trailer dropped a while back, so we didn't have any real expectations going into it, other than looking for a couple hours of kid-free scifi entertainment.
I was underwhelmed. The visuals are nice, but I think I might have seen a spot in one scene where they forgot to add all nine layers of CGI. If they'd taken the CGI just a little further, it would've had almost as much as a Pixar movie.
I liked Lauraline. She was good. Valerian was really boring and one dimensional. I would've found his super awesome special operative character much more believable if he looked older than 18. Also, it was tiring watching him come on to his partner all the time.
I give it meh stars for being slightly more entertaining than doing laundry.
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Man everyone is a critic now a days. I'm going to have to start forcing everyone to give me an example of what they think is a flawless movie so I know what they are comparing it too.
I have seen plenty of good movies bomb horribly, heck even great ones.
I have seen plenty of horrible movies make millions.
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Man everyone is a critic now a days. I'm going to have to start forcing everyone to give me an example of what they think is a flawless movie so I know what they are comparing it too.
There are no flawless movies, if you search long enough for a fault, you´re gonna find one.
In the end, what matters is if a movie entertaines you or not.I found "Valerian" very entertaining, but it´s totally okay if somebody does not.
What pisses me off, is when people say things like "the FX were bad", because they clearly were VERY good.
If somebody says DeHaans acting was bad, i can agree on that i found it bad too, personally.
It´s totally okay if people disagree with critics or one another on how entertaining a movie is.
It´s not okay to say the quality of FX, camera, sound mix etc, are bad, if you are no expert.
You can certainly dislike them personally, though. ;-)
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John Carter ;_;
I really enjoyed John Carter. And after seeing it couple times, even Taylor Kitsch has grown on me. A little bit.
Everyone is blaming Dane for his performance.
Did anyone think that the way he played it was the way Luc Benson wanted him to?
Also, this is also an origin story. The characters will grow.
Remember, Han Solo wasn't a likable character thru most the the first Star Wars movie.
I doubt it was the direction in this case. I had two issues. First, he didn't have the charisma to be a lovable rogue. I couldn't see him as that effective a player and he didn't have the charisma to make him likeable.
The second issue was that I just didn't see the chemistry between the two. Cara was closer to it, but I just didn't feel that there was a serious romance behind it. I could see them as buddy-cops, as flirting, as bump-buddies. But I don't feel like it would go further.
Compare it to the classic trope of a rogue with a sassy heroine - Han and Leia. You root for Han even though you have a good idea that he'll let you down. The first movie you just got the sarcastic flirting, but by the second movie you can feel that these two genuinely love each other. It may not work, but you see the emotions. This one, not so much.
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John Carter, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, Sucker Punch, Tomorrow Land, Kubo and the Two Strings, Big Trouble in Little China, The Princess Bride, etc.
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Kubo and the Two Strings was genius. I still want a Kubo bard archetype.
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Vendor - Fantasiapelit Tampere
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John Carter is a good movie, and also apt to reflect with Valerian.
Both are old scifi classics, revolutionary in their times, that had waited for their movie adaptations so long, that the genre has at this point scavenged. And now that they come out, their once-upon a time uniqueness is gone, and the stuff in them that would be new and different is too weird or challenging to put on a major blockbuster.
Like, there is weeeeiiird stuff in Valerian books. Like how God is a overweight gangster, Jesus is a hippie and holy spirit a vending machine. Hell is literal place, a huge factory and workers go to igloo themed bar to "cool down" and Satan (friends call him "Sat") is just a worker there.
I would love to see that stuff in movies.
Edit// Also I loved Dunkirk because it was so effing well made, beautifully shot movie about desperation, ticking clock and inevitability of time.
I am shocked that no-one has mentioned the nearly perfect Serenity BDM! ;)
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I am shocked that no-one has mentioned the nearly perfect Serenity BDM! ;)
>_>
<_<
Shhh! You'll awaken Kaiju Freehold, who will stomp through the thread, demolishing anything remotely Whedonesque, and freezing us all with his ZeroKelvin Atomic Breath!
I am shocked that no-one has mentioned the nearly perfect Serenity BDM! ;)
>_>
<_<
Shhh! You'll awaken Kaiju Freehold, who will stomp through the thread, demolishing anything remotely Whedonesque, and freezing us all with his ZeroKelvin Atomic Breath!
What? I didn't say a word about ... The Avengers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, or Doll House.
Smells like garbage all of a sudden in here.
I think the Whedon hate response is tied to two things one a general dislike of things that are too main stream over popular and get shoved in your face to much. 2. bitterness that they killed character that you like.
I have not.
I think the Whedon hate response is tied to two things one a general dislike of things that are too main stream over popular and get shoved in your face to much. 2. bitterness that they killed character that you like.
adding one for rysky.
3. some wonder woman pitch
Just asking: Is it known to what level he has written it? Because it happens often and regulary, that a script is rewritten so often that it has next to nothing to do with other versions.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/joss-whedon-leak -wonder-woman-script-sexist-a7800571.html
Here they call it a script and put the possibilty in the room that it was heavily edited "considering how studios disregarded female-focussed superhero flick at the time". So I think we should not get the torches and pitchforks out yet.
Saw it too. It was beautiful. Cara did a great job of portraying the intuitive, kind, tough and bright Laureline. Dane got a horrible script to work with. Having Valerian as a playboy was never a good fit, but once they did, there wasn't much he could do. It also got the rather childish logic of the comics right, which is impressive. Sadly, it then diverged rather heavily from what it should be at the end.
It is a sodding shame it didn't do better. I wonder if a simultaneous release worldwide would not have been a massive advantage. It was absolutely not as bad as the critics claimed. Maybe a somewhat faster rollout could have minimized that particular damage.
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Finally saw it. I like Delevingne as Laureline, though a lot of critics take potshots at her. It was DeHaan I had trouble with because throughout the movie he sounded too much like Keanu Reeves, an actor whose skills I might respect if I felt he actually had any.
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It was DeHaan I had trouble with because throughout the movie he sounded too much like Keanu Reeves, an actor whose skills I might respect if I felt he actually had any.
The youngest went to see it and came back with the observation that his voice 'sounded like he was trying to fake having a deep voice' or something.
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He just looks so young. I think that is what it is. he looks 18 but is 30 I think 31 actually.
Add that to the cutting right into the movie at like the middle of his story made the whole proposal seem like a rushed teenage marriage when really they might have been partners for years and it would make more sense.
Sadly, it then diverged rather heavily from what it should be at the end.
In what way? Apart from the lack of time-space agency and Galaxity, and a tad too much gunplay, I didn't feel it was particularly untrue to the feel of the comics.
It was absolutely not as bad as the critics claimed.There were two reviewers I actually paid attention to, and since Ebert died there has been only one. I find virtually all of them are in no way good indicators of whether or not I will like a movie.
Yeah I have never trusted critics.
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I trust the critical consensus. Its individual friends, critics, and forums like this one that can bring me back. Works out well for me.
You said it yourself: A tad too much gunplay. V&L never was much about violence, and even when it happens, it isn't a good way to solve anything. Threats, bluffs, diplomacy, acceptance, knowledge and so on are, though.
I think the Whedon hate response is tied to two things one a general dislike of things that are too main stream over popular and get shoved in your face to much. 2. bitterness that they killed character that you like.
Realization that he doesn't know when to stop and, long term, things in his hands turn to poo.
My wife and I saw this last night. Neither of us had ever heard of Valerian before the first trailer dropped a while back, so we didn't have any real expectations going into it, other than looking for a couple hours of kid-free scifi entertainment.
Interesting. From the one trailer I saw, I assumed it was a kid (young teen) aimed movie. It gave me a 'Spy Kids' vibe. In jokes for the adults, but mostly there to parlay the young actors into toy licenses.
I never read the comics, so I don't have that point of reference. I liked it overall, didn't love it. I would consider it "lesser" Besson (and I generally love his films). Fifth Element is a far, far better movie.
Things I liked:
- the opening sequence showing how Alpha came to be
- the sequence in the extra-planar market
- Bubble
- the incredible and imaginative visuals (one area where it topped Fifth Element, although the technology advances since then helped a lot)
- the idea of casting Herbie Hancock
- Cara Delevingne's beautyThings I didn't like:
- Cara Delevingne's acting
- Dane Dehaan (as was stated above, sounds like Keanu, acts as well as him too)
- plot was meh
Good summary. It says something when the best acting is done by the supporting character played by somebody who is a singer instead of an actor* and spends half of her time as CGI.
*for that matter, I liked her in Bates Motel and Battleship. I think that she could do well in acting if she decides to switch careers.
I thought Cara Delevingne's acting was good...especially for her. She is still much better then Megan Fox.