Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets 2017

     This film is based on the French comic book series Valerian and Laureline.  The setting film is the Century XXVIII on the space station Alpha.  The station is a city where beings from different planets live together to exchange their knowledge and culture.  In charge of keeping the peace are Major Valerian and his partner Sergeant Laureline.  They are assigned to a dangerous mission to retrieve the last species of converter.  They are able to bring the converter back to Alpha.  Unknown humanoids abduct Commander Arun Filitt and they intend to steal the converter.  The next mission for the Major and Sergeant will be to head to a forbidden infected area.

     This is a very imaginative and colorful film but I think 137 minutes is slightly too long.  Maybe there would've been more commercial success with a reduction in minutes and concise editing?  It’s interesting to see people popular in different areas of media in their roles here.  This could be compared to a more far out Avatar movie?  I originally thought Valerian was the name of one of the planets?  I can see how the concept was derived from a comic book series.  Especially with the magnificent creatures and the extravaganza of color.  Luc Besson began reading the comics when he was ten years old.

137 min, Action directed by Luc Besson with Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne, Clive Owen, Rihana, Ethan Hawke, Herbie Hancock, Kris Wu, Sam Spruell, Alain Chabat, Rutger Hauer, Perter Hudson, Xavier Giannoli, Louis Leterrier.

Note:  Imdb 6.5 out of 10, 49% critic 54% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 3.5* out of 5* with 1971 reviews, Roger Ebert 4*, Metacritic  51 out of 100 with 45 critics 6.4 out of 10 with 494 reviews. Rolling Stone Peter Travers 2* out of 4*, The Guardian Wendy Ide 3* out of 5*.

Special Note:  Filmed at Studios de Paris, La Cite du Cinema, Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France.  There are 200 different alien species in this film.  The director Luc Besson wrote a 600-page book describing all the species in detail.  Actors were required to read the book prior to filming.  There are 2,734 special effects shots.  In an opening scene, Captains are welcoming representatives of each different species aboard Alpha.  All the directors or writers that Luc Besson had worked with previously play these roles.  The final production budget was an estimated $180 million but a commercial failure with a gross of $225 million worldwide and the cause of the ousting of deputy CEO Edouard de Vesinne.  The previous record holder was for budget in France was Asterix at the Olympic Games of 2008 with a budget of $113 million.  Luc Besson also made The Fifth Element of 1997 and it was the most expensive film at that time in France.