Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is a sci-fi/action movie based on French comics and directed by Luc Besson. There's plenty of fantasy violence, with futuristic guns, shooting, and fighting, but virtually no blood. An alien character is strapped to a chair and questioned (possibly tortured). The main characters eventually kiss, and one spends the movie asking the other to marry him. There's a red-light district with flirty characters and a woman doing a sexy dance involving a stripper pole. Language includes one possible use of "sh*t" (it's partly obscured by noise) and uses of "ass" and "damn." Though the movie is very long and quite silly, it's also bright and dazzling and fun, with messages about courage, teamwork, environmentalism, and helping the less fortunate. And the main female character (Cara Delevingne) constantly challenges her position as the male's sidekick.
The film is directed by Luc Besson, well-known director, producer and scriptwriter responsible for films of great commercial success, as for example the saga Le Transporteur (2002), action franchise that it raised to Jason Statham or the saga Taken (2008), series of action films Starring Liam Neeson. In his facet as a director, the first serious work he performed was the short film "L'Avant Dernier" (1981), science fiction film with Pierre Jolivet and Jean Reno in which he already expressed interest in his stylish aesthetic and his Talent to create atmospheres. Two years later he directed his first feature film "Le dernier combat" (1983), a science-fiction intrigue in a post-apocalyptic environment that was re-enacted by Reno and Jolivet again. Isabelle Adjani and Christopher Lambert starred in the thriller "Subway" (1985), an urban film developed in the Parisian subway. His next work was the film of maritime adventures Le grand bleu (1988), a film that won several prizes César, among them the one of better music for Serra. Luc Besson's wife at the time, Anna Parillaud, was the protagonist of Nikita (1990), an action thriller that was remade three years later in the United States with Bridget Fonda in the lead role. The following year he directed the documentary "Atlantis" (1991) and two years later Léon: The Professional (1994), film that marked the race of Natalie Portman internationally. The film deals with the relationship between a hit man played by his fetish actor, Jean Reno, and an adolescent who has been orphaned. One of Luc Besson's greatest hits came with The Fifth Element (1997), futuristic sci-fi with costume design by Jean-Paul Gaultier and starring Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman and Milla Jovovich. The film grossed more than 200 million dollars throughout the world, one of the highest records of European cinema of the decade. Two years later he directed Jeanne d'Arc (1999), a historical drama based on the character of Joan of Arc, a French heroine, military and saint who played a leading role during the Hundred Years' War. After "Jeanne d'Arc" (1999), Besson remained out of the direction quite a few years before his return with Angel-A (2005), romantic fantasy with the protagonism of Jamel Debbouze and Rie Rassmussen. Later, as director, he premiered adaptations of his own children's books starring Arthur et les Minimoys (2006), and a version of Jacques Tardi's comic book Les aventures extraordinaires d'Adèle Blanc-Sec (2010). The following year he directed the biopic The Lady (2011), based on the famous Burmese activist Aung San Suu Kyi who was deprived of his freedom in 1989 to lead the opposition to the military dictatorship of his country. His is also the comedy starring Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer and Tommy Lee Jones titled The Family (2013). The film tells the story of a mob boss and his family moving to France under the witness protection program after hitting a tip. She also directed the science-fiction thriller Lucy (2014), a film starring Scarlett Johansson in the role of a jonky who acquires subhuman powers after ingesting pills that modify brain power.
WHAT'S THE STORY? it's the 28th century, and agent Valerian (Dane DeHaan) has a strange vision about an alien race. He and his intrepid partner, Laureline (Cara Delevingne), are sent on a mission to a huge, interdimensional black market to retrieve a miraculous little creature that can multiply matter with its body. Then, returning to Alpha (an interconnected series of ships populated by thousands of races, aka "the city of a thousand planets"), the heroes discover that it's under attack, with a strange radioactive zone spreading from its core. Eventually, Valerian and Laureline discover that there's a connection between Valerian's vision and the threat. Worse, they discover that there's a huge cover up and it goes all the way to the top.
MOVIE INFO Rating: PG-13 (for sci-fi violence and action, suggestive material and brief language) Genre: Action & Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction & Fantasy Directed By: Luc Besson Written By: Luc Besson In Theaters: Jul 21, 2017 Wide Runtime: 137 minutes Music: Alexandre Desplat Cinematography: Thierry Arbogast Studio: EuropaCorp / STXfilms Principal Cast: Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne, Clive Owen
