Visually beautiful. Plot was less exciting. Overall a good movie.

Amazing visuals do their best to compensate for a simple and obvious plot. There is no suspense as to who the bad guy is and some of the dialogue is chuckle-enducingly bad. However there are some great character designs to go with the colorful screen palette eye-candy.

Special effects were good

Absolutely beautiful and full of amazing, creative creatures, set pieces, and tech. Best lifelike CGI characters since Avatar. The dialogue is choppy, and the direction seems less interested in how the actors do what they're supposed to, and more interested in just getting them to the next visually stunning section. Dane Dehaan seems to be doing a Keanu Reeves impression the whole time, even though his look is probably close to how a French audience would expect Valerian to be, and Cara Delevigne seems a bit frustrated that her character constantly has to drag Valerian along to get things done. Rihanna's Bubble didnt earn the death scene - she wasn't there long enough for the audience to care about her tragic backstory. The climactic battle at the end of the film was less exciting than escaping the market, but overall it was satisfying. I will want to see this multiple times to get everything, and it does have the same potential for cult status as Fifth Element (and same flaws, cheesy acting from the human characters, and brilliant touches). Luc Besson should probably not write the sequels (his dialogue and transitions are groan-worthy), but stick to directing the massively creative world-building, where his humor and imagination really shine. I definitely want to read the books these are based on.