Space Is the Place in Latest ‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets’ TV Spot

Everything’s gone haywire this summer at the box office. Big studio-fronted franchise movies are faceplanting, creator-driven products without brand-name stars are raking it in, nobody knows which way is up, and it’s only the second week of June. As with every other facet of life in 2017, it appears that anything goes at multiplexes nowadays, so hey, who’s to say that Luc Besson’s bananas-looking Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets won’t be a smash? The trailers have promised something between the colossal fantasia of The Fifth Element and the CGI wonderland of Jupiter Ascending, and I, for one, am here for it.

How fortuitous then that today would bring yet another glimpse at the film ahead of its July 21 release. A TV spot for the space opera surfaced recently, rehashing the main points of the film‘s plot — intergalactic peacekeepers Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and Laureline (Cara Delevingne) must dispose of a mysterious threat poised to destroy the advanced mecca known as Alpha — while teasing more colorful, eye-popping visuals. (Along with Delevingne’s fashionable and functional high-and-tight ponytail.)

Unfortunately, the trailer cannot hope to convey the enveloping might of the 3D projection that will accompany this film’s theatrical release; it’s one thing to watch an alien that looks like Watto’s roided-up brother make small talk with an internationally recognized model, and quite another to see it happen in three glorious dimensions. Valerian looks insane, but whether it will be in a pleasingly idiosyncratic way or an incomprehensible, deafening way has yet to be seen. One thing’s for certain: this July will deliver something decidedly atypical, and that’s always cause for at least interest, if not celebration.