July 26, 2017 -- Writer-director Luc Besson, after his most successful film ever, “Lucy” (2014) decided to swing for the fences, underwriting the most expensive European and independent film ever made. Valerian cost around $200 million to make, with Besson putting a lot of his own money into it. You can see the money on the screen. It is a work of wonderful visual imagination, but the script and dialog are weak. Based on early ticket sales, Besson will be lucky to break even.

Set in the 28th Century and based on the French science fiction comic book series “Valérian and Laureline,” the film spans a lot of time, space and alien creatures. Valerian (Dane DeHaan of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”) and his partner, Laureline (Cara Delevingne of “Suicide Squad”) are intergalactic secret agent commandos, working dangerous missions for the government.

Early in the film, there is a holodeck scene during which Valerian experiences a dream from afar, induced by powerful thoughts from a dying alien 30 light years away. On his next mission, Valerian comes across some of the very objects he saw in the dream, and suspects it wasn't just a dream after all. That feeling grows stronger on the next mission, when he and Laureline are assigned to guard Commander Arun Filitt (Clive Owen of “Children of Men”) from a mysterious threat on Alpha, a giant city in space, home to millions of beings from a thousand worlds.

The stunning visuals show us strange beings, most of them bipeds, working in a vast range of environments, on Alpha and on other worlds. There is a vast market which is visible only with special glasses, there is a device which allows one person to control the actions of another. There are creatures big and small, benign and savage and alien worlds beautiful and desolate.

There is also some wooden dialog and two heartless main characters who not only don't mind killing a lot of civilians on their missions, but they are also oblivious to the deaths of several fellow agents on a mission. An interesting character, a performing alien, is killed off for no reason shortly after being introduced. At least that alien is mourned, briefly. That sequence is similar to another disposable performing alien in an early Besson film, “The Fifth Element.”

The main plot element in this film is a coverup, and not a particularly believable one. It ought to be impossible to blow up a planet populated by sentient beings during a major space battle without a lot of people noticing that little whoopsie.

There is an interesting mix of actors in this film, including famed musicians, Rihanna and Herbie Hancock, along with actors Ethan Hawke, Rutger Hauer and John Goodman (heard but not seen as an alien's voice). No doubt the hope was to have this film anchor a franchise like the Avengers. Probably not going to happen. This film rates a C+.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

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