Every summer movie season has to have at least one expensive misfire. This summer that title belongs to Valerian. To some degree, this almost has the look and feel of Jupiter Ascending’s younger sibling.
Dane Dehann from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Cara Delvingne from Suicide Squad star as two intergalactic agents named Valerian and Laureline who are assigned to protect an alien race on a lush planet before it faces extinction by another alien race. Clive Owen costars as their commander.
The movie does provide great imagination with its special effects creating original, impressive worlds which look like a hodgepodge of Star Wars, Blade Runner, and a dash of Avatar thrown in. Some of these sights are really beautiful in 3D.
There is one really entertaining sequence in the movie involving Rihanna as a pole-dancing shapeshifter and that further adds to the film’s overall visual quality. Plus, Rihanna is surprisingly good in her role. Besides the visuals, I just wish I could say the same about the rest of the movie.
Based on the French comic book, it’s a visually striking film, but like a lot of films in this genre, it relies too heavily on its visuals and not enough time on telling a compelling story or crafting memorable characters. Instead we get a disjointed plot with mostly joyless energy and there’s little to no chemistry between Dehann and Delvingne.
Director Luc Besson who once created a fun, futuristic world with The Fifth Element is now going through the paces with a story that seems recycled from different and better sci-fi movies.
Grade: C
(Rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence and action, suggestive material and brief language.)
