1000 May Only Be Just Enough

Agents Valerian and Laureline

“1000 May Only Be Just Enough”

A Review of Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets by Nick Olszyk

MPAA Rating, PG-13

USCCB Rating, A-III

Reel Rating, Three Reels            

            Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets opens with contemporary images of the International Space Station over the familiar lyrics of the late David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” In a sentimental and humorous montage, the ISS grows as new countries add their contributions. Over the next few centuries, aliens add parts and people to this new intergalactic UN until it is so big that it must leave the Earth’s orbit and become its own entity. This new metropolitan called Alpha houses over 30 million beings from thousands of worlds. It is broken into four Aristotelian sections: a giant computer for robotic lifeforms, an aquatic section for marine life, a gas cloud for lighter-than-air species, and a terrestrial platform for humanoid creatures. Alpha – the city of a thousand planets – represents how beings made in the image and likeness of God ought to operate through peace, harmony, tolerance, and mutual benefit. Yet original sin exists even outside Earth and often things don’t go so smoothly.

That’s why they need Major Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and Sargent Laureline (Cara Delevingne), two special agents working for Alpha’s central government. Like so many cinematic policing partners, they have a strained relationship. While it’s clear they enjoy more than just each other’s company, Laureline is concerned Valerian doesn’t have the commitment necessary based on his playboy past – even after he proposes marriage only minutes into the film. Valerian tries to persuade her as they begin their next mission on a desolate planet. “I’m sure we can find a priest here somewhere,” he says, looking around at the sand dunes. It’s nice to see that thousands of years from now, some will still consider marriage sacramental. Soon they are headed back to Alpha after an unknown attacker has taken over part of the city. Meanwhile, Valerian is haunted by a vision of planetary destruction, having Obi-Wan like flashbacks. Could the two be connected? Probably. Will Valerian and Laureline get together by the end? Certainly.

The most important element of a space opera is visualizing a new universe, and on this level Valerian succeeds by leaps and bounds, making director Luc Besson previous magnum opus The Fifth Element look like a student film. My personal favorite is when Valerian escapes from an alien gang while existing in two dimensions at once. This remarkable ability, which may have been novel once, is now primarily used for tourism. There are also jellyfish that can read minds, scheming duck creatures that would put Ferengi to shame, and cute pets that can replicate any known object. Besson uses the 3D format brilliantly as his heroes jump through worlds, dodge laser blasts, and punch out everything around them. It’s easy to fault the acting, writing, and standard love narrative, but that’s not what 12 year-old boys come for. The one exception is Rihanna’s performance as Bubble, a shapeshifter and victim of human trafficking. It’s a perfect blend of brilliant acting, singing, direction, costume design, and visual effects that has been one of my favorite movie moments all year. Not every comic based film has to be as cynical as Deadpool, graphic as Sin City, or somber as Logan. They can just be fun, and that in itself is a success.

            Looking a bit deeper than green slime and zero-G kissing, Valerian’s narrative is an odd combination of two supposed motifs that seem contradictory yet are usually found together: the evil colonists and the great white savior. The central story involves an evil military group hiding within the human government that committed an act of genocide on some helpless non-human natives, then attempted to hide their atrocity. At least Bresson recognizes that this is only a small faction and not inherent in human nature. Valerian’s visions turn out to be a cry for justice; not only that, but he has the soul of an alien princess living inside him. He and Laureline risk everything and manage to save the last remnants of the race, even going against the protocol they’ve sworn to protect. A final post-modern fault would be Valerian and Laureline’s relationship. He is clearly the leader of the pair while she, albeit with a good deal of frustration, supports him from behind.

            This is the hidden reason I enjoyed the narrative, confusing as it was. The film was based on French comic Valerian and Laureline, which premiered in 1967 and followed story patterns similar to Edgar Rice Burroughs, James Fennimore Cooper, C.S. Lewis, and – above all – Hergé, the creator of Tintin. This was a world that had not yet adopted identity politics. Men were strong and daring, not because they were oppressive but because they sought justice. Women could be both independent and nurturing. Although Europeans were slowly awakening to some of colonization’s serious abuses, they could still see how Western culture benefited the peoples it encountered. Bresson is faithful to this spirit during a time when so many storytellers feel the need to reinterpret every trope of Western literature, which is how a film that appears so cliché on paper feels so rebellious on the screen. This is something to celebrate, not bemoan. After all, the tropes of Western storytelling come from the gospel. For example, the myth of the “great white savior” is really based in Christianity, not the Caucasian race. Jesus comes to humanity as an outsider but becomes one of us. He then shows us how to be more fully human than we could ever imagine.

            My wife once commented that she was fortunate in leaving the film industry because “there are just so many movies made today, do we really need more of them?” It is easy to see how Valerian is like every other sci-fi adventure. The Shingouz are like the Worm aliens from Men in Black. The black balls that stop Valerian on the desert planet are like the ones that stop Mr. Incredible. When so many stories have ripped off the original, trailblazers seem redundant by comparison. We all need pulp entertainment that helps us relax, and Valerian provides is the perfect specimen. Does the universe need this film? No. Yet God allows thousands upon thousands of things to exist that don’t really have to be. I’m glad Valerian was one.