Not going to lie: This is a tough one for me.
No, not in the sense that I want either of these movies in 3D (or at all), but the fact that I must condem the lack of a domestic BluRay 3D release for either "The Emoji Movie" or "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets." Neither of these movies are very good. One is clearly a little better than the other, but neither of these are movies I want to buy. I don't even want to rent them. Heck, I don't want to stream them. Not getting domestic 3D releases of these movies should (in theory) be no big deal because these are movies I don't want to watch again. I did see both of them in 3D in theaters and felt the effects were nice, but since the movies were terrible it was all a moot point. "The Emoji Movie," in particular, is a movie that is bad in such a unique way that you can't help but wonder how it got off the ground in the first place.
"Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets" is at least directed by Luc Besson, who has a huge following as a visually good director (though I must admit I find most of his movies to be boring and logistical messes at the end of the day). It may be why this movie is being released in 3D in the UK as an Amazon.com exclusive. I need to warn people that there is no promise of this being a region free disk, so buy at your own risk (if this exclusive version is made available in the US I will make note of it). For me, it's disappointing that fans of these movies don't have much in the way of a choice if they want to see the movie in 3D. I might not want to buy these movies, but there are some people who do, and they should have the right to do so. For that matter, I did not buy "Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie" this week because of a lack of 3D release (even though it is something I clearly want to watch again).
I'm starting to think that the movies that get 3D releases and those that do not are being picked by throwing darts at a board. That's all I can go by these days, because very little is making sense anymore. Right now I'm just thankful that "War of the Planet of the Apes" is getting a domestic BluRay 3D release. I mean, yeah, that's a good movie that deserves to be bought in 3D, but who the heck knows what the criteria is for making that decision anymore?!
For those curious, I DID write a review for "The Emoji Movie" that can read here!
If Valerian is not released in 3D in the US, or if the import cannot play on my player I will be VERY disappointed! I am a Besson fan, and while I did not enjoy the film as much as I hoped I would, I get the feeling this will be one that will get better on repeat viewings.
Besides, many of the films released now in 3D do not really NEED to be in 3D, nor have a 3D vision in mind. I felt that Valerian was intended for 3D from the get-go, to not have it released in 3D is a travesty.