![]() ![]() She does her best with a sadly underwritten character. Dane DeHaan channels a lot of early Keanu Reeves into his flat performance as Valerian, while Cara Delevingne acquits herself a bit better as Laureline. I guess the flick is based on a series of European graphic novels, and Besson gives his film that comic-booky feel, filling every corner of the screen with visual flourishes and pushing the action forward at a fast, fun pace. The world that Besson has created here is uniquely fantastic, though, especially an early sequence in which Valerian is trying to steal from a virtual bazaar called Big Market. Those pearl-loving aliens from the beginning are all wrapped up in a wild conspiracy that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. The convoluted story revolves around the agents’ attempts to combat some mysterious malevolent force growing inside Alpha. Valerian is another eye-popping example of Besson at his best and worst. “You love me because I’m a bad boy.” “Well, maybe, but let’s go over our mission one more time.” “Will you marry me?” Ugh.īesson’s abilities as a storyteller and writer have never been able to keep pace with his dynamic visual sense (see The Fifth Element). We’re then introduced to our two heroes, space peacekeepers Valerian and his partner Laureline, via some of the most clumsily-written exposition dumping you’re ever likely to encounter. All of these dialogue-free segments tell their stories with subtlety and gracefully gorgeous images, instantly enveloping you in Besson’s future world. ![]() We’re then introduced to an exotic alien race with some kind of pearl-based economy and watch as it gets destroyed by foreign invaders. The flick starts with a dazzling, almost wordless prologue in which we see the International Space Station grow from its modest beginnings into Alpha, a futuristic hub for space travelers from throughout the galaxy. ![]() Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) – The first fifteen minutes of Valerian provide a perfect encapsulation of why director Luc Besson can be so infuriating. The Movie Diary Marches on! Get it? March? Anyway, here’s what I saw during the first couple weeks of March. ![]()
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