The Fifth Element
The Fifth Element, the new movie by Luc Besson, is one of the most technically brilliant films I have seen in a long time. Luc Besson admits that he began writing the story for The Fifth Element when he was 16 years old. This is quite an amazing fact, but it also explains why the story is overly complex. While watching The Fifth Element, I never felt that the earth was really in danger. A fireball, which represents evil, is supposedly flying towards the earth, which shall destroy the entire planet.
For me, the blame lands entirely on the director. Besson is only a mediocre director, and he wasn't good enough to tackle this story, even though he wrote it. Much of it lands on the shabby editing job done, but the editors only do what the director tells them to do. I never quite understood what was going on because Besson tried to tell the story of the dangerous fireball flying towards the earth, while mixing it with several other stories happening at the same time. I don't know why Besson didn't just tell one thing at a time; yet on the other hand, the technical elements of the film clearly make up for his poor directing job.
The movie opens in Egypt in 1914 where an archeological exploration of a pyramid is being done. The archeologist discovers ancient hieroglyphics depicting the tomb of the five elements: earth, air, fire, water, and a perfect being. Suddenly, a spaceship, lands next to the pyramid and big, metal creatures slowly walk out. These creatures take the five elements to protect, and when the "evil" appears again in three hundred years, so will they. Three hundred years later, Earth has become a gigantic metropolis. Buildings tower in the sky and rooms are small hallways. We are introduced to Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis) who lives in one of these hallways. He drives a taxi for a living and smokes cigarettes which are three-fourths filter.
At the same time, the aforementioned aliens crash after being attacked by their enemy. The four elements are not aboard the ship, but the fifth one is. Well, at least the hand is. The hand of the sculpture (if that's what it was) is recreated in human form. This "perfect being" has bright red hair and a costume made out of bandages. Her name is Leeloo (Milla Jovovich). After being recreated, Leeloo escapes and jumps off of the towering building. She falls and lands right in Dallas' taxi. An impressive chase ensues as Dallas weaves and dodges the police and other cars.
The Fifth Element is too complex to explain the plot, so I will let you find that out for yourselves. What I will explain is the brilliant vision of Besson. While he may not be a very good director, he does have a creative eye, especially for the details of the futuristic New York. The movie is eye candy and visually appealing, but it almost gives us too much to look at. The busy scenery distracts slightly from the action going on in the foreground. However, Besson's choice in casting helps maintain the focus of the film.
Bruce Willis is a very talented actor when he gets a good script, and he does a good job with his character in this film. Ian Holm is very good as Cornelius, the protector of Leeloo. He almost reminded me of Obi-wan Kinobi in Star Wars. Gary Oldman is hilarious as the over-the-top villain, Zorg (sounds like a name made up by a 16 year old, doesn't it?). But the two scene-stealers are Chris Tucker as the DJ Ruby Rhod and Milla Jovovich as Leeloo. Tucker is hilarious and is a delight to watch. Jovovich does a phenomenal job and stuck out from the rest of the cast, speaking in her own language for the first part of the film and wear skimpy outfits.
The Fifth Element isn't the best film ever made, and it certainly isn't Star Wars for the 90s. But it does have many things going for it, mainly its visual appeal. There are many fantastic moments in this film, and my favorite is a fight scene between Jovovich and aliens, which cuts between her fighting and a sky-blue alien singing opera. This scene is probably the best in the film, which almost makes the film seem lyrical and poetic. If I were just to have seen this scene, I would have thought Besson was a fantastic director. Despite this one great moment, the movie also has many downpoints, mainly its slow pace and longevity.
The Fifth Element is rated PG-13, which seems slightly harsh and isn't very appropriate for children. There is intense sci-fi violence, some sexuality, and nudity (Jovovich's chest is shown a couple times). While I was entertained by The Fifth Element and will probably see it again, I wouldn't suggest trying to think your way through the plot while watching it. Just go and enjoy it, and try to figure it out afterwards. And one final note: don't go expecting serious science fiction... it's also a comedy.