THE FIFTH
ELEMENT
 
STARRING:
Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, Milla Jovovich, Chris Tucker, Luke
Perry
1997, 127 Minutes, Directed by: Luc Besson
 Description:
Bruce Willis stars as a down-and-out cabbie who must win the love of Leeloo (Milla
Jovovich) to save Earth from destruction by Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg (Gary
Oldman) and a dark, unearthly force. —
Amazon.com
Die
Hard in outer space? No, that would be unfair to The Fifth
Element. In fact, the movie has a lot more going for it than
this. For one, the film is a visual delight - from the excellent
special effects to the costumes designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier
(perhaps best known for dressing Madonna occasionally). Perhaps
the best thing is its overall look and feel: it
manages to stay away from the Blade
Runner-like
post-apocalypse urban landscape that has become a cliché in
recent science fiction movies. Its look is all its own.
The last
sci-fi movie with such an individualistic look was Total
Recall. While it
doesn't go for the dark dystopic look, it does borrow liberally
from the European Heavy Metal magazine's visual style (and
most specifically, from the artist Moebius). It borrows more than
that: viewers of the 1980 Heavy
Metal movie
will notice more than shades of the taxi cabby in the New York of
the distant future story segment from that movie.
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"Best thing about this movie is its overall look and feel
. . ." |
Whereas Heavy
Metal had a cynical grin around its mouth, The Fifth
Element movie takes itself more seriously. Sure, there's some
unexpected humour in the film - but there's no self-conscious Last
Action Hero or Gremlins
II type of
post-modernism. Another thing going for it is the sight of model
turned actress Milla Jovovich gallivanting about in the scantiest
of clothing, some excellent well-done bad guy aliens, great sets
and more special effects. All with a distinct European flavor -
after all, it is the most expensive European film ever made. (It
is directed by Frenchman Luc Besson who scored hits with The
Big Blue and The Professional.)
What it doesn't
have going for it, is the plot. It involves the earth being threatened
by an "ultimate evil" and Bruce Willis as a hapless New York
cabby in the 24th century becoming embroiled in a chase to
track down four stones (each symbolizing the four elements from ancient
Greek philosophy) to stop this evil. The fifth element, which triggers
the other stones and unleashes the power to stop this evil, is Milla Jovovich
herself.
However, the plots with films like these are inconsequential
- they just serve as set-pieces for elaborate action sequences and special
effects. And director Besson keeps the action moving fast enough to satisfy
any action movie junkie. It is doubtful whether The Fifth Element
will translate well to the small screen - but that is a common complaint
with most of today's big blockbuster pics. So watch The Fifth Element
on a big screen - you won't be disappointed.
Voted
# 57
of the
Top 100 Sci-Fi
Movies
of all time
by:
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