Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets — Astoundingly beautiful and exciting sci-fi — 10*/10

I'll only denounce the "love is stronger than everything" and monogamy ideas. Beyond that it's perfect. Amazing intrigue, action, story... It's just mind-blowing. One of the best 3D I've ever seen, but not necessary. A masterpiece by Luc Besson.

Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne, Rihanna, Clive Owen, Ethan Hawke, Rutger Hauer and John Goodman.

Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2239822/

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story — A worthy member of the saga — 7*/10

• Overall: Great entertainment with strong special effects and lots of action. Epic adventure with an epic ending.
• Who is it for? Anyone who like sci-fi even a little bit, and, of course, the fans.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3748528/
• Known actors: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Alan Tudyk, Forest Whitaker and Mads Mikkelsen.
• Cameos: James Earl Jones.
• Setting: A long time ago in a galaxy far far away...
• Style: Epic sci-fi adventure.
• Pacing: Fast. Even a bit too fast.
• Intro: One of the weak spots. We jump from place to place without having a good feel of where we are or where we're going. Some emotions are also lost. Beyond that, it's pretty interesting.
• Story: Lots of things happening, but all in a very linear fashion. Still, it's difficult not to get into it and be transported. It made the rebellion and the socio-political framework a lot more real than Episode IV ever could.
• Ending: It's strongest part to be sure. The choices are epic. Extremely satisfying.
• Epilogue: None. Yeah!
• Dialogs: Solid. Nothing imaginative. Loved the new android, although not giving percentages felt wrong for his character.
• Characters: They steered away from the archetypical stereotypes, for the most part. That felt really good. Although it's difficult at first, by the end of the film, you have a great feel for them.
• Acting: I'm not sure if it's due to the fact that things were so compressed that almost no scene, to a few exceptions, really did not allow the actors to show their natural emotional depth, but it gave me the impression that they underperformed. Even though they were satisfactory, I've seen them do better in other movies. It was great to hear James Earl Jones once again, but he seemed to have lost some of this aplomb. His lines were delivered a little more mushily. All of that being said, best Star Wars acting ever, better than Episode VII (read my short review here).
• Visuals: Well done, sometimes breathtaking. The best was the tropical battle.
• Special Effects: Great, to the very notable exception of the animation of Tarkin. The other characters they brought back from Episode IV fared much better. They were more simply cut and pasted.
• Score: Loved the old parts. Not so sure about the newest ones. Hated the new title score, awkward at best.
• Afterthoughts: My initial slight disappointment turned into delighted entertainment and I do not regret paying full price.