Spectacular visuals, cheerfully silly tone rescue Valerian film

Enlarge / Valerian and Laureline, seen here looking like they're trying their best to imagine a romantic plotline that makes more sense than what they were given. (credit: STX Films)

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets could be the most enjoyable 2017 film destined to win a Razzie award. Some of its disparate elements deserve a "bad," "poor," or even "embarrassing" rating. The film strays so far from its comic source material that you might call it treasonous. And it co-stars Rihanna, which, let's face it, has yet to work out well for a Hollywood production.

Even with those issues, I still had a blast. I went into my Valerian screening hoping to get "Luc Besson sci-fi," with elaborate, beautifully illustrated sequences, tongue-in-cheek schlock, and a weirdly French skew on high-octane cinema. Those expectations were met. I laughed, cheered, and roared both at and with the film. Valerian comes packed with just enough Fifth Element flavor to make it worth a solid, low-expectations trip to the movie theater.

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