‘Valerian’ fails to develop characters’ central relationship
Corrin Bond
Argonaut
The trailer for “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” is a science fiction enthusiast’s dream. It includes sweeping, other-worldly visuals, engaging action scenes and the promise of large-scale, travel-across-the-universe type adventure.
The film, written and directed by Luc Besson and co-produced by his wife, Virginie Besson-Silla, was adapted from the French science fiction comic series, “Valerian and Laureline” by Pierre Christin. Besson crowd-sourced and personally funded the project, raising a production budget of $177-210 million. “Valerian” was released in late July in both the United States and France, and has grossed $115 million worldwide.
Although the movie is full of stunning, vibrant visuals that provide viewers with a glimpse into a fantastical universe, various aspects of the film repeatedly miss the mark. The most notable of which being the relationship between Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and Laureline (Cara Delevingne).
In its most basic form, the film is about two intergalactic agents who are young and reckless and good at their jobs. They are dispatched to investigate a problem on Alpha, also known as the City of a Thousand Planets, a former international space station that developed into a diverse cultural hub housing civilizations from across the universe.
On top of this central narrative is a budding love story. Valerian, a happy-go-lucky playboy, has a romantic interest in Laureline, an intelligent, capable professional who doesn’t trust her partner’s ability to commit to monogamy. To prove his willingness to commit, Valerian proposes to Laureline. After she declines, he spends the remainder of the movie trying to convince her to change her mind as they run around Alpha in an attempt to complete their mission.
This is a point that should, in theory, complicate and enhance the plot. Instead, it detracts from the primary action.
Within the first 10 minutes of the film, Valerian and Laureline are characterized as partners whose tongues are equally sharp, but whose relationship, for the most part, is founded upon mutual respect. While their relationship is originally portrayed as fun and witty, it’s an image that rapidly dissolves as the film progresses.
Delevingne and Dehaan lack chemistry from the start — both actors maintain cool, laid-back personas which are largely part of their aesthetic on and off the screen. However, this combination turns what’s supposed to be budding romantic tension into tension created from the awkward, cold interactions between Valerian and Laureline.
The moment the viewer begins to forget about how unnatural their relationship is, the idea of marriage is somehow brought back into the plot.
Beyond that, the plot falls into cliche narrative tropes, especially when it comes to the gender dynamic. Although Laureline is highly educated, more than capable in combat and saves Valerian’s life on multiple occasions, she’s lower in rank than he is, something he reminds her of with frequency. She’s also regarded with less reverence by her higher-ups. Even the title of the film reinforces this off-kilter gender dynamic. The name of the comic is “Valerian and Laureline,” while the film’s title only features Valerian even though both characters share the same amount of screen time and are equally integral to the plot.
There are several other areas in which the film doesn’t quite hit its targets, but the unnatural and often uncomfortable relationship between the two central characters is by far the most prominent.
While the visuals were stunning and the plot was, on a basic level, entertaining, the film was ultimately unable to meet the high expectations promised by its advertisements.
Corrin Bond can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @CorrBond