Trailerblazing -- Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) -- July 21, 2017 -- directed by Luc Besson -- starring Cara Delevingne, Dane DeHaan, Ethan Hawke, Rihanna, Clive Owen

Over the decades, Luc Besson has given us some incredible celluloid landscapes, both in terms of narrative and visual scope. From The Big Blue's philosophical underpinnings to the futuristic adventure rainbow that was The Fifth Element to the action genre redefined in Lucy, the man has a vision and it is on steroids. Based on a comic book by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières, Valerian looks like another awe-inspiring addition to the otherworldly canon. Combining the talents of DeHaan, who keeps giving rich performances, and Delevingne, who is quickly building an impressive cinematic resumé, Besson seems to have created yet another quirky universe and yet another successful film. Check out those creatures and those ships! Besson's films are always beautiful, so I am hoping for an engaging blend of never before seen visuals and ruminations on human nature and progress. With its avant-garde look and what certainly appear to be strong characters, Valerian looks like a winner on every level.