Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is the latest effort from creative visionary Luc Besson. The man behind films such as The Fifth Element and 2014’s financial success, Lucy. Valerian is a mid-summer blockbuster that has been granted the “biggest box office bomb of the Summer” the moment the initial trailer released. Unfortunately, it seems to have lived up to that claim by raking in a whopping 17 million dollars, but with a 180 million dollar budget (excluding marketing from the equation) combating that. Thus making the surprising (by my expectations) 17 million a total bomb, which is extremely saddening considering how awesome Valerian really is. Right from the first scene of this movie, Besson takes us away on one of the most adventurous and inspiring blockbusters of our time. It’s grand in scale, epic in visuals, and shot tremendously by a man on a mission to deliver one of the coolest blockbusters on this side of the 2000s. Actors Dane Dehaan and Cara Delevigne lead the film in really fun roles as Valerian (Dehaan) and Laureline (Delevigne). Their chemistry together more than makes up for the lack of acting ability that Dehaan brings to the table, but Cara honestly surprised me considering her most recent role was that of The Enchantress from WB’s Suicide Squad. I heard lots of chatter of this being her best role yet and I would agree that Cara manages to bring a charm to the magical universe that she and her cohorts inhabit. In a film bombarded with dazzling visual effects and spectacular sound design, it’s easy to lose track of your characters as a director, but Besson manages to make sure that the technical achievements don’t swallow his characters whole. As mentioned, this movie is a beast in terms of technological achievements. It’s the most integral part to the experience and it’s clear that this was the priority in making this movie. Even if sacrificing an exhilarating narrative was the piece necessary to deliver Valerian the way that it was. There was never really a jarring moment of CGI, and I was constantly in awe at how Besson and his team managed to make these images a reality. I could imagine looking at the concept art in pre-production and telling Besson, ”There’s no way that you’ll be able to do this convincingly”, and yet he said, ”Hold my beer.” Obviously the special effects team deserves a huge round of applause, but it’s Besson’s heightened senses of being able to know which shots to pick and which ones to ignore. He is by far one of the most creative visionaries we’ve ever seen, and it transferred over to Valerian extremely well. Narratively, Valerian sort of flops around like a fish out of water. Alive and kicking, but only for the time being. It’s about as basic a narrative and plot as you can find, and it certainly harms the experience overall. So much so that you find yourself being distracted from the artistry on display and wondering, “Where are we trying to get and what are we trying to do again?” It’s incredibly forgettable, super predictable, and Valerian’s weakest aspect by six light years. I know many moviegoers will instantly put Valerian towards the bottom of the year list since the narrative is the most important part to a film, but Valerian does enough outside of that to make you forgive it’s biggest offense. As Valerian came to a close I became slightly frustrated and remembering how this movie has been received overall, before and after the release. I, and a couple others would contend that Valerian showcases the lost art of the Hollywood blockbuster. By that I mean we see so many basic, safe franchise starters (and continuers) that end up receiving more money and attention because it seeks to appeal to the largest demographic possible. With Valerian I see a film that reminds me of a Star Wars and various other sci-fi/fantasy classics that released in the late 20th century. Films that weren’t concerned about trying to fit in with the modern Hollywood landscape, but films that wanted to change the game by being a product of the visionary behind the lens instead of manufactured on an assembly line. Valerian was always fighting a losing battle and is a movie that if released in a non-MCU era it would be lauded as being one of the best blockbusters of our time. Valerian doesn’t seek to try and be a familiar world, it seeks to take you on an adventure to a thousand. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets gets an 84/100