The Final ‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets’ Trailer Is the Best One Yet

Luc Besson has already dropped two fantastic trailers for his new space opera, but the final trailer for Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is the most jaw-dropping yet. The first look looked super fun, and second trailer, which I was lucky enough to watch twice in 3D in theater before chatting with Besson himself, was totally dazzling. But this third trailer secures the Fifth Element filmmaker’s latest project as one of the most anticipated movies of the summer.

The final trailer does a great job of taking the most salients parts of the plot shown in the first two trailers and shaves them down to a succinct two minutes while teasing the movie’s CG eye candy and action. It introduces Alpha, a city hosting myriads of planets, teases the cute creatures and various alien species, and sets up the narrative: special agents Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and Laureline (Cara Delevingne) have 10 hours to save the city of Alpha from an unknown threat. There’s some new scenes here two, notable a sequence tracking DeHaan’s character from behind as he jumps off a cliff, blasts his way through some type of alien harvesting cave, and swims underwater. Maybe it’s just the use of the chroral music from Coolio’s “Gangster’s Paradise” that has me loving this trailer, but it’s got even more excited for whatever wackiness Besson has envisioned.

Valerian also stars Clive Owen, John Goodman, Ethan Hawke, Herbie Hancock, and Rihanna as a shapeshifting dancer. Fans of The Fifth Element can expect something even grander than the beloved sci-fi film; this movie will have more than 13 times the number of special effects. Besson told me earlier this year that while his 1997 movie has 188 shots with special effects, this one has 2,734.

Whether or not Valerian turns out to be any good, or even half as brilliant as Fifth Element, it’s bound to be gorgeous. Fingers crossed we get the full Coolio track in the movie. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets hits theaters July 21.