Movie Review: Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets *** ½ / *****

Directed by: Luc Besson.

Written by: Luc Besson based on the comic by Pierre Christin & Jean-Claude Mézières.

Starring: Cara Delevingne (Laureline), Dane DeHaan (Valerian), Elizabeth Debicki (Haban Limaï), Ethan Hawke (Jolly the Pimp), John Goodman (Merchant), Clive Owen (Commander Arün Filitt), Rihanna (Bubble).

 

Can I tell you that Luc Besson’s Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is a good movie? No, I cannot. Can I tell you that it is the kind of absolutely visually bonkers film that also has a real sense of fun that kept a smile plastered on my face from beginning to end, even as I knew that the film was particularly good? Yes, I can. This is the type of film that only someone like Besson could make – and only someone like Besson would want to make. From a storytelling point of view, the film is an absolute mess – I’m not sure I could tell you what anyone was doing at any particularly point of time in the movie, or why they were doing it. I also didn’t much care, because I was having so much fun anyway. And that’s before Rihanna shows up and does a shape shifting dance routine, that I won’t say is the most fun I’ve had in a theater this year, but I won’t not say that either.

 

The story, such as it is, centers of Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and his partner Lauerline (Cara Delevingne) – who work for some sort of intergalactic police force (I think), who is tasked with recovering a strange, small animal – the last of its kind – who can replicate anything you give it (again, I think – don’t quote me on any of this). First they have to get it from a crooked merchant, located in some sort of market, only accessible while wearing strange googles, where you have to carry a large box in order to smuggle in weapons. Then they have to bring it to Commander Filitt (Clive Owen) for reasons that I am currently unclear of. It doesn’t much matter though, because Filitt is abducted shortly after Valerian and Laureline arrive. In the aftermath, Laureline has to go and try and rescue Valerian, and then later, he’ll have to rescue her – and somehow this all ties in with the peaceful alien creatures and their pearls that look like they got lost on their way to Pandora, who then watch as their planet is destroyed.

 

Let’s be honest though, the plot doesn’t really matter here – and nor does the dialogue (thank god) which at times feels like it was written in another language and then put through Google translate into English. Valerian and Laureline’s first scene is particularly awkward, as he tries to confess his love for her, and she shoots him done. It’s a problem that unfortunately I don’t think Dane DeHaan ever quite manages to overcome – he’s not goofy or funny or charming enough to really pull off this role. Delevingne however is just about perfect as Laureline – delivering a fine comedic performance, that reminded me a little of Emma Stone (and made me feel better about liking her so much in her first film – The Face of an Angel – and the rethinking after she was perhaps the worst one in Suicide Squad – not that it was really her fault, you try hula dancing in front of a CGI portal and not come across terribly).

 

The reason to see the film though is because Besson overstuffs every frame of this film with something to look at – and not just something, something different. I think one of the biggest problems with many CGI driven blockbusters today is that they all look the same – either because directors lack the ability or will to push special effects to deliver them something unique or because the tight timelines many of these movies run on don’t give them time. There is as much CGI in Valerian is there is in any movie you’ll see this year – but it is wholly on its own thing, its own style – and that style is all Luc Besson.

 

No, the film doesn’t hit the heights of something like Besson’s The Fifth Element – the best moments, especially Rihanna’s dance sequence – come very close, but the film doesn’t quite go that far into over-the-top brilliant madness. But it’s not for lack of trying – and I for one am all for someone like Besson, taking $200 million, and just going nuts with it. Honestly, I’m not sure if this is a good movie or not. What I do know, is that I had a hell of lot fun with it, and I’m pretty sure that was the point of this movie in the first place.

Movie Review: Lucy

Lucy
Directed by: Luc Besson.
Written by: Luc Besson.
Starring: Scarlett Johansson (Lucy), Morgan Freeman (Professor Norman), Min-sik Choi (Mr. Jang), Amr Waked (Pierre Del Rio), Julian Rhind-Tutt (The Limey), Pilou Asbæk (Richard), Analeigh Tipton (Caroline), Nicolas Phongpheth (Jii).

I wanted to like Luc Besson’s Lucy much more than I actually did. It’s rare to encounter a would-be summer action blockbuster that has this many ideas, that goes in such strange and unexpected directions and is as visually daring as this film is. Yes, the premise of the movie is based on a fallacy – that humans only use 10% of their brain power, which scientists everywhere agree is just not true. But what Besson does with that premise is still inventive, original and different. Besson himself has probably given the best shorthand to describe the movie – the beginning of Besson’s own The Professional, the middle of Nolan’s Inception and the ending of Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. I also couldn’t help but think of Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life at times in the movie. Blockbusters in 2014 typically do not draw comparisons to Kubrick or Malick – but Besson’s does. But another description that I’ve heard often about Lucy also stands out – “it’s either the dumbest smart movie of the year or the smartest dumb movie”. I’m still not sure which one is true.

The movie opens in China, with party girl Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) with her new boyfriend outside a hotel. He wants her to go inside, ask for Mr. Jang and deliver a suitcase to him. She doesn’t want to go, but soon the choice is no longer hers, and in she goes. She is taken up to a large suite, where she meets Mr. Jang (Min-sok Choi) – who is soaked with blood, and clearly doesn’t trust Lucy. Inside the case are a few packets of blue powder. They tell Lucy it’s a new drug – and it’s clear they expect her to be one of several mulls who are going to smuggle it into Europe. They open her up, and sew it into her intestines. However, before she leaves, the bag bursts – and it has a strange impact on her. She becomes smarter, she has abilities she never had before. She escapes – and seeks out Professor Norman (Morgan Freeman) – a scientist who has spent decades studying the brain and coming up with theories   about   what would happen if humans had access to  more than 10% of their brains.  He’s in France, and she wants to get to him – but of course Mr. Jang and his immense gang isn’t going to just let her get away.

Because this is a Luc Besson film – the director behind The Professional, The Fifth Element, La Femme Nikita and others – of course what follows is a bunch of action sequences. There are multiple gunfights, and thrilling car chase, and some hand-to-hand combat sequences – that become increasingly strange, as Lucy gains more brain power, and more power to control people and objects without touching them. These scenes are well handled – if there is one thing that Besson has always excelled at, its action sequences, and Lucy has some of the best of the year in that regards.

The movie’s final act – the so-called 2001 act – is like Kubrick’s masterpiece in that it looks at the nest step of human evolution, and leaves behind much of the typical genre trappings that had dominated the first two act of the movies. Things get strange – very strange – and goes off into completely unexpected directions. They are selling Lucy is an action movie – which is smart, because I cannot help but wonder what sort of audience would be there for this film if audiences knew where it is going. Personally, I found it exciting. I had no idea what was going to happen next, but I wanted to know.

Yet, it order to get there, Besson takes, I think, too many shortcuts. The stakes don’t quite seem very high at times, as it becomes clear that Lucy can pretty much do anything she wants – and if that’s the case, what real danger is she ever in? The movie doesn’t set any real ground rules for Lucy or her abilities, as she seems to be able to do whatever the hell the movie needs her to do at any point in the film. Johansson is great in the early scenes in the movie – scared, paranoid and touchingly human. But as soon as her abilities kick in, she becomes essentially a blank slate. It’s similar to her performance in Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin in some ways – but without the resonance to the audience. She does what the movie requires her to do, but she becomes a not very interesting character as the movie progresses.

It’s also somewhat disappointing that Besson feels the need to wrap everything up in action sequences – right up until the end of the movie, taking an easy way out instead of pushing Lucy in more interesting ways. Yet, as flawed as I think Lucy is, I cannot help but admire it – and Besson for attempting something different in the midst of the summer blockbuster season. Yes, Lucy is kind of dumb. It’s also kind of smart.

Movie Review: The Family

The Family
Directed by: Luc Besson.
Written by: Luc Besson and Michael Caleo based on the book by Tonino Benacquista.
Starring: Robert De Niro (Fred Blake / Giovanni Manzoni), Michelle Pfeiffer (Maggie Blake), Dianna Agron (Belle Blake), John D'Leo (Warren Blake), Tommy Lee Jones (Robert Stansfield), Jimmy Palumbo (Di Cicco), Domenick Lombardozzi (Caputo), Stan Carp (Don Luchese), Vincent Pastore (Fat Willy), Jon Freda (Rocco).

Luc Besson was once a reliable action filmmaker – with films such as La Femme Nikita (1990), The Professional (1994) and The Fifth Element (1997) on his resume – all of which are visually stunning and extremely entertaining. Somewhere along the way though, he seems to have lost his touch – it started with his misguided Joan of Arc film, The Messenger – and continued with three animated Arthur and the Invisibles movies (of which, I have only seen the first) and his rather dull angel film Angel-A. To a certain extent, it makes sense for him to team up with Robert DeNiro – who was once one of the best actors in the world, who has been slumming it for more than a decade now, with the occasional The Good Shepherd or Stone or Silver Linings Playbook to give us fans a glimpse of the actor he once was. The two of them teaming up to make a Mafia movie sounds like good idea to get them both back on track. Sadly, The Family seems like just another paycheque for both.

DeNiro stars as Giovanni Manzoni, once a high ranking Mafia man, who turned stool pigeon and entered witness protection with his family – wife Maggie (Michelle Pfeiffer) and kids Belle (Dianna Agron) and Warren (John D’Leo). They are now living in France with the boring name of Blake – and much to the chagrin of their handler Robert Stansfield (Tommy Lee Jones), they keep getting into trouble and have to be relocated. The Mafia still wants Giovanni’s head – a $20 million bounty has been placed on it – and they are scouring Europe to find them.

The film is essentially a fish out of water comedy, with the brash New York Mafia family running afoul of everyone in their small, provincial French town. The Blakes don’t do anything quietly – and they do not handle rejection well – if you insult Maggie for wanting to buy peanut butter, she just may blow up your little grocery store. If you’re a plumber who tells Giovanni something he doesn’t want to hear, you’ll end up in the hospital. Even the kids behave badly – as Belle sets her sights on an older teacher, and Warren starts his own racket right there in high school.

The problem with The Family is that it wants to be a comedy – but it quite simply isn’t very funny. To give DeNiro credit, he doesn’t seem to be sleepwalking through the film like he has often done in the recent past – he’s trying, and he has a few good moments (discussing GoodFellas with a French audience is a highlight), but this is another role that doesn’t really challenge DeNiro – doesn’t force him out of his comfort zone. The rest of the cast are basically playing stereotypes – one note characters who are not given much to do. Pfeiffer and Jones are pretty much wasted – which is a shame, because at least the film gives DeNiro a chance to play with his Mafia image a little bit (even if he’s returned to that well a little too often) – but the film misses the chance to play with the Pfeiffer of Scarface or Married to the Mob or the Jones of The Fugitive. When you have actors this good, it’s a shame to waste them – but the movie does.

 
Of course the film ends with an action climax – which is well handled by Besson, but also a little too by-the-numbers. Besson did some of the best action sequences of the 1990s, and while he hasn’t completely lost his touch, it does feel like he’s going through the motions. In fact, that is what the entire film feels like – a one joke comedy that doesn’t really go anywhere, and wasn’t that funny the first time.