Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)

Dir: Luc Besson

A few years ago, Netflix helmed a documentary named Jodorowsky’s Dune which investigated the spectacular collapse of one of most ambitious adaptations in film history. Interviewing the man behind the proposed adaptation, the Chilean surrealist director Alejandro Jodorowsky, he details the scope and grandeur of his lifelong project. And while the poignancy reaches critical as the animated eyes of Jodorowsky lessen as he retells the film’s ultimate collapse, the suggested absurdist brilliance would have been something to marvel. Luc Besson’s Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets treads a similar line. A project in the works for well over a decade, Besson scrounged through his and of many independent production companies pockets, along with many Kickstarter campaigns, to fund his most ambitious film to date. Adapted from the science-fiction comic series Valerian and Laureline, Besson delivers a visually stunning and textured virtual reality. The film follows the title character Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and his partner Laureline (Cara Delevingne), two special agents working on the space station Alpha (The City of a Thousand Planets) in the 28^th century. After the destruction of an alien race however, Valerian and Laureline become entangled in a plot of mystery and deception in the Alpha space station, leading the audience down many twists and turns through the labyrinthine cityscape.  

Besson’s Valerian arguably has some of the best visual and computer-generated designs since Avatar. The esteemed director offers a lucrative mixture of species and habitats all within one gigantic setting. The dedication and effort from Besson and his crew, is clear from the opening shot to its last. The Alpha space station is something of significant beauty. Comprised of thousands of species attaching onto the free-floating metropolis over hundreds of years, as the opening twenty minute montage capturing the space station’s growth, is a wonderful short film in its own right. As the space station grew with more interstellar explorers from across the universe, the assortment of creatures is extraordinary. The cityscapes composition offers an extreme case of virtual reality, compelling the viewer to experience the space station and explore its nuances and diversity. Similarly to Zootopia (Zootropolis) and San Fransokyo (Big Hero 6), the backdrop provides such a level of detail it cannot be ignored.

Unfortunately the gorgeous backdrop to Besson’s epic is somewhat quashed by the two lead performances. Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne operate as a will they/won’t they relationship. With a Solo/Leia dynamic in mind, the actors never achieve a morsel of interest or passion. DeHaan’s clear lack of investment in the role becomes apparent the second he announces his first line of dialogue. However his coma inducing performance has nothing on the excruciating acting (if we can call it that) by Delevingne. She brings a level of monotony to the role, it is not too far to suggest whether her acting coach was the infamous C3-PO. While I understand both actors bring a youthful and attractive edge to the role, their plight is clearly to carry the plot from one set-piece to the next. And this is all well and good, but when one looks over the catalogue of Besson’s work such as Leon, Lucy and The Fifth Element, a film that in hindsight acts as a prototype to Valerian, they all provide interesting lead characters that the audience can invest in, especially his female leads. Besson’s progressive style of casting for example, kick started the career of Milla Jovovich in The Fifth Element, as well as providing solid performances by Natalie Portman in Leon and Scarlett Johansson in Lucy. All these films blend a level of clunky screenwriting with preposterous enjoyment, and those moments of absurdity in films such as The Fifth Element are over-looked by the audience as the characters charisma propels the narrative forward over the narrative clunks. As Valerian drew to a close I was contemplating over what could have been. If Besson had a compatriot to cinch down the screenplay but more importantly casted actors with a degree of charisma that would have thrusted the film onwards.

Valerian will divide audiences, some will hate it and some will love it, just like the Besson greats of years gone by. It falls somewhere in the middle for me as I did enjoy this terribly brilliant space opera. While the screenplay is clunky and the acting may send you into temporary narcolepsy, Valerian should be seen on the biggest screen possible to experience this beautifully textured cityscape. Besson’s determination to bring his vision to the big screen should be championed and fortunately Besson does not have to suffer the notion of what could have been like Jodorowsky. We know through his endeavour what his definitive vision is: a beautiful mess.