Valerian - The City of a Thousand Planets

The year is 2740: Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and his partner Laureline (Cara Delevingne) work as special agents for the government, always striving to maintain order in the universe. That's not always easy with the myriad worlds and races that inhabit the depths of our galaxy. This becomes more than clear when they receive the order to secure a particularly valuable cargo on the desert planet Kirian. This they must bring then on the gigantic space station Alpha, which is called also city of the thousand planets. Here Commander Arun Filitt (Clive Owen) is already waiting eagerly for what the two agents were able to secure in a daring action on Kirian. But when Valerian and Laureline realize that they have become pawns in a murderous conspiracy, they do everything in their power to ensure that their cargo does not fall into the wrong hands. On a station with many different worlds and over seventeen million inhabitants, that's not so easy.

With Valerian - The City of a Thousand Planets, Luc Besson fulfilled a childhood dream. Not only did he devour the comic book adventures of Valerian and Veronique penned by Jean-Claude Mézières and Pierre Christin as a young boy. The legendary comic book series also inspired his film The Fifth Element. And he's not the only director to have borrowed ideas from the cult comics. After visiting the set of Avatar, Besson knew that now was the time to adequately bring the fantastical comic book worlds to the big screen. And if there's one thing to credit his brightly colored sci-fi adventure with, it's the palpable love for the original that's evident here at every moment.

After a truly wonderful opening sequence in which Besson - accompanied by David Bowie's Space Oddity - traces the time from the first international space station to the first encounter with extraterrestrial life to the time in which the story is set, he immerses the viewer in worlds that are fascinating to behold, one that also makes good use of the possibilities of 3D technology time and again. Playful, colorful, imaginative - that's how this film presents itself. But what is its great strength is also a real weakness - in several respects. On the one hand, despite great effects, it is always obvious that everything was created on the computer. The whole movie seems extremely artificial, which makes it hard to immerse yourself in these worlds. For another, the visuals are so much in the foreground that the story, cobbled together from two of the comic books, fades almost completely into the background.

And so not only does one quickly become completely indifferent to the story, but also to the characters - most notably Valerian and Laureline. Admittedly, model Cara Delevigne plays much better than in Suicide Squad, but the spark between her and Dane DeHaan just won't jump over. Only Ethan Hawke, who clearly had fun with his small role, leaves a really positive impression here. On the other hand, the same can't be said of the usually so reliable Clive Owen, which might also be due to the fact that music and facial expressions already give away after one second that he is the real villain of the story. If Besson had written that on his forehead with a thick Sharpie, it couldn't have been more obvious.

There are some genuinely beautiful ideas, amusing moments and stunning images. But at other moments, again, you wonder what got into Besson. When three annoyingly chattering beak creatures appear, you have to wonder if Besson learned nothing from the Jar Jar Binks debacle of his esteemed colleague George Lucas, who is also said to have been inspired by the comics for Star Wars. The only thing more annoying is the romantic banter between Valerian and Laureline, which you don't buy for a second.

As a colorful, silly, and playful counterpoint to gritty science fiction fare like Alien: Covenant, the upcoming Blade Runner sequel, or even Rogue One, Valerian - The City of a Thousand Planets may work very well. And there will certainly be genre fans who will find the film a welcome change of pace and love Besson's colorful playground. But those who generally have a problem with overly artificial worlds that are too obviously just CGI works, and those who want a story that doesn't just thrive on colorful imagery, might quickly get bored with this comic book adaptation. Opinions will differ on this film - and that's why there is only one: Worth seeing with reservations!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp