This disconnect creates a vacuum in the center of the film. The audience is asked to care deeply about their romance, yet the most magnetic presence in the movie is not the leads, but Rihanna, playing a shapeshifting entertainer named Bubble. Her performance, tragic and visually kinetic, highlights what the main duo lacked: genuine pathos.
For every viewer who watches it for the first time, the reaction is usually the same: confusion followed by awe. You don’t watch Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets for the characters; you watch it to live inside a Mézières painting. And in that regard, it is an unqualified masterpiece. Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets - E...
David Bowie’s haunting, melancholic track is not an arbitrary choice. "Space Oddity" is a song about isolation ("Can you hear me, Major Tom?"), yet Besson repurposes it as an anthem of connection. As the station grows, Major Tom’s lonely fate contrasts with Alpha’s crowded harmony. It suggests that the tragedy of our early space age was isolation, and the triumph of the future is symbiosis. This disconnect creates a vacuum in the center of the film
Valerian: City of Alpha , the official mobile game prequel to the 2017 film, you serve as the architect responsible for transforming a small space station into the sprawling intergalactic metropolis known as the "City of a Thousand Planets." Core Gameplay Mechanics City Building For every viewer who watches it for the
Beneath the neon surface, the film’s narrative is a sharp critique of colonialism and military industrialism. The plight of the Pearls—an indigenous species whose planet was destroyed as collateral damage in a human war—mirrors real-world histories of displaced populations. The film’s refusal to paint the human military (represented by Clive Owen’s Commander Filitt) as a purely benevolent force complicates the traditional "space police" trope. Instead, Valerian argues that the preservation of a peaceful status quo often hides systemic injustices against "lesser" civilizations.
The story follows Valerian and Laureline, two special government operatives charged with maintaining order throughout the human territories. Their latest mission leads them to the heart of Alpha, where a mysterious dark force threatens the very existence of the City of a Thousand Planets. As they dive deeper into the mystery, they uncover a forgotten history and a race of beings whose survival depends on the duo’s ability to see past their orders and do what is right.