Luc Besson’s new brain child looks the part but does it have the personality to match?
Set in the stars above earth, the International Space Station slowly takes shape. As the years pass this conglomeration of nations expands to welcome intergalactic visitors. Soon the weight of this colossal mass of unified space stations becomes too much for earth’s atmosphere. Pushed outwards into space, this giant mass of civilization starts on a mission to bring unification and friendship to the galaxy.
Once the scene has been set, and well set I should add, the daring duo are introduced. Basking in the sun on a virtual beach the pouty pair could easily be on their gap year. We are torn from this very believable scene as Dehan and Delevingne are mixed into a hyper futuristic world as high ranking military personnel. The transition is not dissimilar to the opening of Wallace and Gromit, catapulting the pair into a day to day life that seems far from their natural habitat. Despite the endless gadgets, ever-changing backdrop and actual acting ability, the casting choice never sits correctly. The shaky casting is doubled down as Clive Owen barrels into view. Owen is an actor who has the history of being great in the right role, an observation that continues to highlight the film’s main weakness. The brightest spotlight in the darkness is Rhianna’s compelling performance, introduced with Ethan Hawke as a cabaret act and manager. Filling the boots of their characters with a powerful performance the pair are given more narrative depth in their segment than the rest of the film. Besides the well thought out starting premise for the City of a Thousand Planets, Rihanna is the main reason to watch Valerian.
Visually, Valerian lives up to all the exotic expectations, it is however squandered in part by the rapid scene changes, but still remains one of the redeeming features of the film. The attention to alien species costumes and appearance is faultless throughout, again it is what the movie gets right that shows up the wrong, the costumes and appearance of Major Valerian and Sargent Laureline seem lack lustre in comparison to the other colourful characters. The under arcing story of the Pearls, which is very Avatar reminiscent, offers a wonderful platform for visual storytelling. The lack of subtitles, attention to body acting and visual cues opens up a set of characters and a journey you could really care about. Yet again however this remains as a pointer to the fact that we spend most of the film zooming around on almost unrelated narrative threads.
On reflection there are many redeeming features amidst the morass of ideas and money spent. It is conceivable, that like Watchmen, a director’s cut may in the future unveil an even better movie. It is a shame the emphasis is on Delevingne and Dehan rather than in the lovingly created world, there are clearly many better stories to be told and perhaps will be in the future. It is a graphical feast for the eyes on the big screen, only let down by the lack of emotive character investment than it’s ambition.
Author: Joe, Bath store
