Could Have Been Much, Much, Better

Rating: 3/10 (14 January 2001)

The Fifth Element was...okay. It had a good storyline and a strong heroine character, but it was too out of touch with reality. A good sci-fi film makes you wonder could this ever really happen? The Fifth Element did not do that. For one, all of the bright colors and ridiculous outfits were completely unbelievable, and I mean that negatively. The storyline, although it's been done a hundred times, suffered from the cartoony set design. How could I believe the world was coming to an end when everything looks like it came out of a Saturday morning kids program? A dark, brooding set design would have been better. The film does have one saving grace-Mila Jovovich. Her character is interesting and fun because of her conflict; she was built as a weapon but was like a child. Other than that, all of the other performances, especially Bruce Willis's flat Rambo wannabe, were uninspired and the set design crippled the film so badly it wasn't even worth watching.