Editing Luc Besson (section)

===Popular success===
Many of Besson's films have achieved popular, if not always critical, success. Reviews were mixed for ''[[Le Grand Bleu|Le Grand Bleu (The Big Blue)]]''.  [[Kevin Thomas (film critic)|Kevin Thomas]] of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' wrote that the movie was "too long and initially awkward but is clearly the work of a visionary.''"''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Kevin |date=2000-07-28 |title=Besson's Restored 'Big Blue' Proves Mystical, Intriguing |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jul-28-ca-60400-story.html |access-date=2024-08-01 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>
<blockquote>"When the film had its premiere on opening night at the [[1988 Cannes Film Festival]], it was mercilessly drubbed, but no matter; it was a smash," observed the ''[[International Herald Tribune]]'' in a 2007 profile of Besson. "Embraced by young people who kept returning to see it again, the movie sold 10&nbsp;million tickets and quickly became what the French call a 'film générationnel,' a defining moment in the culture."<ref name="iht.com"/></blockquote>

Besson's ''La Femme Nikita'' (1990) is one of his earliest action films, and Besson went on to write and produce numerous films in this genre, including the ''[[Taxi (1998 film)|Taxi]]'' series (1998–2007), the ''[[The Transporter|Transporter]]'' series (2002–2008), and the [[Jet Li]] films ''[[Kiss of the Dragon]]'' and ''[[Unleashed (2005 film)|Unleashed]]''. He also worked on ''[[Lockout (film)|Lockout]]'' (2012).<ref>Sobel, Ian (9 June 2011) [http://www.screenjunkies.com/movies/movie-news/looper-anonymous-and-lockout-do-the-release-date-shuffle/ "‘Looper’, ‘Anonymous’, And ‘Lockout’ Do The Release Date Shuffle'"], Screenjunkies.com.</ref>

[[File:Luc Besson Cannes cropped.jpg|thumb|upright|Besson at the 2000 [[Cannes Film Festival]]]]From 2002 to 2005 Besson created the hugely successful [[Arthur series (Besson)|Arthur series]] of children's fantasy novels, which comprises ''Arthur and the Minimoys'', ''Arthur and the Forbidden City'', ''[[Arthur and the Vengeance of Maltazard]]'' and ''Arthur and the War of the Two Worlds''.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Wolf |first=Jaime |date=2007-05-20 |title=Luc Besson: The most Hollywood of French filmmakers |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/arts/20iht-20besson.5796788.html |access-date=2024-08-01 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He directed ''[[Arthur and the Invisibles]]'' (2006), a feature film adaptation of the first two books of the collection, starring [[Madonna]] and [[Robert De Niro|Robert DeNiro]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Genzlinger |first=Neil |date=2007-01-12 |title=The Human and the Animated, Shrunk to Size |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/12/movies/12art.html |access-date=2024-08-01 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Combining [[Films with live action and animation|live action and animation]], it was released in the UK and the US, as well as in  France.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC - Movies - review - Arthur And The Invisibles |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2007/01/29/arthur_and_the_invisibles_2007_review.shtml |access-date=2024-08-01 |website=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref><ref name=":4" />

His English-language films ''[[Taken (film)|Taken]]'', ''[[Taken 2]]'', and ''[[Taken 3]]'' have been major successes; ''Taken 2'' became the largest-grossing export French film.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hopewell |first=John |date=2010-01-15 |title='Taken' leads French film exports |url=https://variety.com/2010/biz/news/taken-leads-french-film-exports-1118013865/ |access-date=2024-08-01 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref> Besson produced the promotional movie for the [[Paris 2012 Olympic bid]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Zinser|first=Lynn|date=2005-07-06|title=Costly Race for Olympic Bid Reaches Its Frenzied Finish (Published 2005)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/06/sports/othersports/costly-race-for-olympic-bid-reaches-its-frenzied-finish.html|access-date=2021-03-11|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>