Amidst a sea of prequels, sequels, spin-offs, and remakes this summer, there sits Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. The latest film from director Luc Besson (Leon: The Professional, Lucy), it’s a brand new space opera not unlike his 1997 opus, The Fifth Element. Considering that I find that particular film to be among the best movies released in the ’90s and one of the greatest science fiction films of all time, it should come as no surprise that I am entirely on board with Valerian. That held true before the first trailer, it definitely held true after it, and it sure as hell remains a fact after this new one…
It’s like a classic Moebius drawing come to life. The colors, the whimsy, and imagination. Also a great cast, including still unseen turns by John Goodman and Ethan Hawke (as a space pimp!). Besson appears to be firing on all cylinders in a way that he hasn’t since The Fifth Element hit 20 years ago. Not that he’s made terrible films in the interim, but nothing he has put out since then has measured up for it. It looks like this one might just do the trick. As someone who has pined for The Fifth Element sequel we were initially promised and never got, I will absolutely take this is a massive consolation prize.
It looks fun, fresh, and energetic. The only question now is whether or not audiences will feel the same way when it comes out this summer. Will they flock to it as something at bit different amidst the summer’s other offerings? Or is it a bit too weird and offbeat to pull people in? My heart is hoping for the former, as I’d love this to be the start of a series, if it’s good. My head is telling me the latter. I hope that, for STX Entertainment and EuropaCorp’s sake, the international grosses are great. There’s a lot of ambition riding behind this film and I’d hate to see someone go down for it after having the balls to greenlight it.
This looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is an adaptation of the classic comic series, Valerian and Laureline, created by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mezieres. The picture is written and directed by Luc Besson. It is produced by Besson and Virginie Silla. The film stars Dane DeHaan as ‘Valerian’, Cara Delevigne as ‘Laureline’, Clive Owen as ‘Commander Arun Filitt’, Rihanna as ‘Bubble’, Kris Wu as ‘Captain Neza’, Ethan Hawke as ‘Jolly the Pimp’, Sam Spruell as ‘General Okto Bar’, and Alain Chabat as ‘Bob the Pirate’. John Goodman, Mathieu Kassovitz, Herbie Hancock, Alexandre Nguyen, and Rutger Hauer also appear.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is slated to arrive in theaters on July 21st, 2017.
