Valerian begins with a great title sequence. It depicts the formation of a galactic alliance through a montage of handshakes with delegates of various alien species, to the tune of Space Oddity.
Writer director Luc Besson has built an extraordinary and vibrant universe that could rival that of George lucas'. The list of adjectives that could describe the production design is endless, as is the time that Besson has invested in it. Unfortunately the movie fails because his two leads are not so invested.
Major Valerian (Dane DeHann) and his new partner Laureline (Cara Delevigne) do not have the chemistry that is really the key to the movie being entertaining. In fact the two of them are just down right depressing. Both of them, when they are not fighting, look like spoiled brats who are too lazy to even be capable of what their obvious stunt doubles do.
Delevigne looks so bitter and murky as if she is angry with the production for not giving her a personal manicurist. DeHann, is a bit more engaged but lacks wit or charisma. The script throws him a bunch of 'would be funny' one liners, which he delivers as if there was an off screen gun pointed at his head.
There are two or three sequences of great spectacle which drag on too long, wasting screen time that could have been on the protagonists. One of them features Rhiannon (as an alien), who steps in for an irrelevant burlesque dance number, which is the kind of excess that dim witted studio heads ask for.
Besson choreographs some epic swirling wide shots to take us in and out of his grand colourful set pieces but his action scenes are strangely boring. Part of the problem is that the plot is just so darned confusing and lousy at giving exposition. The characters may understand the physics and laws of his jungle, but we the audience do not. There is a badly edited chase scene that intercuts between Major Valerian in two parallel dimensions on the same planet.
The movie has grown tedious by the time we get to the climax. Laureline gives Valerian a cringe worthy speech about the power of love just before a climactic shoot out begins and then the story drops its love birds on the path that could lead to an unwanted sequel.
Writer director Luc Besson has built an extraordinary and vibrant universe that could rival that of George lucas'. The list of adjectives that could describe the production design is endless, as is the time that Besson has invested in it. Unfortunately the movie fails because his two leads are not so invested.
Major Valerian (Dane DeHann) and his new partner Laureline (Cara Delevigne) do not have the chemistry that is really the key to the movie being entertaining. In fact the two of them are just down right depressing. Both of them, when they are not fighting, look like spoiled brats who are too lazy to even be capable of what their obvious stunt doubles do.
Delevigne looks so bitter and murky as if she is angry with the production for not giving her a personal manicurist. DeHann, is a bit more engaged but lacks wit or charisma. The script throws him a bunch of 'would be funny' one liners, which he delivers as if there was an off screen gun pointed at his head.
There are two or three sequences of great spectacle which drag on too long, wasting screen time that could have been on the protagonists. One of them features Rhiannon (as an alien), who steps in for an irrelevant burlesque dance number, which is the kind of excess that dim witted studio heads ask for.
Besson choreographs some epic swirling wide shots to take us in and out of his grand colourful set pieces but his action scenes are strangely boring. Part of the problem is that the plot is just so darned confusing and lousy at giving exposition. The characters may understand the physics and laws of his jungle, but we the audience do not. There is a badly edited chase scene that intercuts between Major Valerian in two parallel dimensions on the same planet.
The movie has grown tedious by the time we get to the climax. Laureline gives Valerian a cringe worthy speech about the power of love just before a climactic shoot out begins and then the story drops its love birds on the path that could lead to an unwanted sequel.