I saw Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets yesterday, and I really enjoyed it, even though it has a number of minor problems.
First off, I must stress that I have never read any of the Valerian comics, so I know nothing about these characters and the world they live in except for the things presented in this film.
The story takes place in the distant future. "City of a Thousand Planets" is the nickname of a space station which has grown to humongous proportions with more and more species docking their own modules onto it. The station has become the universe’s centre of political, cultural, and technological exchange, with all species learning from each other. But now it is under threat….
Enter Valerian and Laureline, who are basically a buddy cop duo in outer space. They are working for the federal government, although with this "federal government" (as well as with other institutions and dignitaries appearing throughout the film ("councils", "ministers", etc.)), it is not made entirely clear if they are just the "human" government, or a universal, trans-species government – the former seems more likely.
As you might see even from my rather vague plot description, there must be a very rich history and universe in the source material. And while I was eager to get to know this world and happy to absorb all the visual impressions and all the information I was given, it must be said that this film probably has too much exposition and that this exposition is rather hamfisted at times.
Speaking of visual impressions: this film – as you would expect from Luc Besson – is visually opulent, and almost relentless in bombarding you with great visions and plenty of neat little ideas. The somewhat chaotic space station has a certain Babylon 5 vibe, and the visual styles of this multi-species universe are reminiscent of John Carter, Cameron’s Avatar, and also the Star Wars prequels – not to mention The Fifth Element, of course. Which also means that too much of it is too unreal, too "ethereal", or even too surreal for audiences to be able to really immerse themselves into this world. It looks like a fairy-tale world, not like world you believe real people could actually live in. That is not a problem in itself, but there are also some visual elements (and species) that are just outright silly.
Valerian and Laureline are great characters, and so are the supporting characters (almost all of whom I would have to classify as "minor supporting characters"). As you may have seen in the trailers, much of the film’s easy-going tone is dependent on the interactions and the relationship of Valerian and Laureline. And Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne do a very good job in these roles, and they do have great chemistry together. There are, however, problems with this core duo. In this film, I feel that Valerian is a little bit too pale compared to Laureline . There are a number of contributing factors. In a few scenes in this film the dialogue is rather mediocre, and some exchanges between DeHaan and Delevingne are amongst these scenes. It might also be that Delevingne’s undeniable screen-presence overshadows DeHaan just a bit. In addition, I feel that the arc of their relationship is not given enough space to develop. The relentless pace of the action may be one reason for this, but mainly it has to do with the fact that our leading couple does not spend enough time together, since they are often split up into their own separate story-lines. This has clearly been done in an effort to give them equal screen time in order to demonstrate that Laureline has some agency of her own and avoid the impression that she is just playing second fiddle to Valerian. But it does cause the problem just mentioned.
I also feel that there are a number of pacing issues. The duo’s first mission, which serves as a sort-of prequel to the main plot, is too long, extensive, and action-packed. This makes later scenes appear weak by comparison; and as another big action sequence also appears relatively early in the story, the film feels a bit front-loaded. The longer the film goes on, the more the focus shifts to discussions and decision-making.
In general, there are probably too many ideas stuffed into this film. And the plot, while rather simple in some ways, carries with it a lot of questions about ethics, loyalty, conspiracy, and betrayal – questions that are dealt with in this film but which are not explored nearly as much as would have been possible in an extended format like a TV show, for example. The story and its connected issues would, for example, have worked very well as a multi-episode story-arc on Deep Space Nine.
Despite its many minor flaws, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is a good and very entertaining film. I would normally say that you could wait for the DVD-release or catch this film on a plane some day – but if you want to fully enjoy the visual feast that Besson presents here with this universe (lots of it courtesy of Industrial Lights & Magic), you should of course see it on the big screen.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10